(5 of 5)
Anthony says there are still many stereotypes in the media about Latin performers. The other day, he recalls, he was watching 25 Lame (an MTV show about bad videos), and one of the hosts kept putting on a sombrero when a video by a Latin artist came on. Anthony also feels there's not enough effort put into promoting more traditional forms of Latin music.
Anthony's own English-language album, judging from an early listen, sounds extremely promising. What makes him great is his commitment to make vocal art, not simply trendy entertainment. Martin, of course, succeeds by doing the opposite. His new CD is not high art, but it is the kind of relentlessly affable confection that transcends radio formats, crosses generations and sells like crazy. Lopez, too, is well positioned. Her voice is slight, but then again, so is Madonna's. Lopez's talent lies in its diversity--she sings, she can act, and, as a former In Living Color "Fly Girl," she can dance. VH1 is already panting over her first video.
Trends come and go, stars wink and fade out. How long will this new crop hold out? "It's impossible to predict who will be a pop star forever," says Wayne Isaak, executive vice president of music and talent for VH1. "But [Martin, Anthony and Lopez] could have a longer career than most. Even if their pop following wanes a bit, they will always have this Latin fan base that can keep them playing Madison Square Garden and working with the best producers of the day."
And no doubt Latin music will continue to thrive as well. The Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges once wrote a story about an empire so obsessed with maps that its cartographers constructed a map as large as the empire itself. Indeed, one by one, Spanish-language stars are being mapped, represented in another form. This new map will no doubt prove useful for Anglo listeners unfamiliar with the territory. But true music lovers would be well advised to check out CDs like Anthony's Contra la Corriente or Elvis Crespo's Pintame or Shakira's Donde Estan los Ladrones? in addition to any Latin-tinged pop CDs they might buy. There is real ground beneath the map.
--With reporting by David E. Thigpen and Autumn de Leon/New York