My second Spanish-language selection comes from the soundtrack of Alejandro González Iñárritu’s great 2000 film, Amores Perros. Mexican rap group Control Machete contributed two songs to the soundtrack, only one of which actually appears in the film.
This one was played in the film’s trailer — one of the best trailers I’ve seen. Foreign language films often have great trailers because, in order to appeal to American audiences, they usually leave the subtitled dialogue out completely and tell the story with only images and sound. Here’s a link to the trailer, if you’re interested… I didn’t use it below because it doesn’t feature the whole song and it contains some spoilers.
What I love about this song is the anger and aggression in the rapped verses contrasted with the angelic voice in the chorus. It’s a great metaphor for the film, which is a blend of brutal hostility and transcendent moments of grace.
Meet Me In Montauk 
Lo siento, no comprendo. Does that make me shallow?)
“its way better than babel
cuz they show dog fights” says one brilliant YouTube comment. Regardless, the trailer confirms all the reasons I’ve avoided watching this film for so long 🙂 Meanwhile, I can’t tell you how amused I was to come from reading the ongoing exchange about James Taylor to find this entry on “the Mexican rap group Control Machete.” Not sure why it struck me as funny as it did, but it made me laugh, literally, out loud.
To turn to the music, I don’t particularly like it, though the juxtaposition of the chorus and the aggression of the rapped verses reminds me of what Eminem did with “Stan.” Maybe I like “Stan” so much more because I’m able to easily understand the “story” of that song. Perhpas if I had these lyrics in front of me and I could translate them as I was listening to the song, I would appreciate it more. Right now I just find it assaulting.
I think it’s supposed to be assaulting. That’s part of what I like about it.
Aha! Now I understand why you don’t like James Taylor. You don’t have to wear body armor to listen to him 😉
I often say to myself…”I’m really in the mood to be assaulted by some music. What on earth can I put on? Oh, maybe I should download that Control Machete!”
No, but you do put on some Eminem, don’t you? As Amy said, his music is also quite assaulting.
Most rap music has that quality of anger and outrage. And to be honest, that’s one reason I don’t listen to a lot of rap music. But I do like it once in awhile.
Actually, I tend to dislike the more assaulting of Eminem’s songs. In fact, I like him better than most rap artists because he more frequently uses melodies or at least a more sing-song approach to his rap. There is only so much of a song like “Remember Me” I can take, and, when I am in the mood for Eminem, that is not the type of track that springs to mind.