Recently, I was asked by the Houston American Disc Jockey Association to give a presentation about the different genres of Latin Music. This was pretty simple since I am pretty familiar with all the different sounds of the Latin Music world. I had done all the hard work before, when I was beginning my road down my DJ journey. I needed to sort all my music in a way that would be easy for me to find and in a way that I could have all the music of the same Genre in the same folder. Since I’ve always used a PC for storing the music, I did this step in the very beginning and it took me a few months to perfect, but I have been using this layout for the last 8 years, so apparently it works.

The firs thing I did was to break it down into the main groups that I could think of which are; Mexican Music, Latin Music, and Tejano Music. These are the main groups of people here in Houston, so I had specify which music went with what group. That does not mean that Mexican people do not like listening to Latin Music or Tejano Music and so on.

Mexican Genres:

I did Mexican music, because a lot of the Latin music here in Houston is from Mexico. Even in the Mexican Music group you have a lot of genres to cover. Here is how I broke the Mexican Music Down:

Huapangos (Song Names)

1. Redoblando
2. Entrale En Ayunas
3. Tamaulipas, Tamaulipas

Cumbia

1. Fito Olivares - La Cobra
2. Kumbia Kings - Sabes a Chocolate
3. Control - Cumbia con la Luna

Norteñas

1. Duelo - Un Minuto Mas
2. Pesado - Ojala Que te Mueras
3. Intocable - El Amigo Que se Fue

Norteno Cumbias:

1. El Poder del Norte - Enamorate de Alguien
2. Palomo - Mi Verdad
3. Cardenales de Nuevo Leon - Para Olvidarme de Ti

Corridos

1. Los Tigres Del Norte - Most Songs
2. Los Invasores de Nuevo Leon - Mi Casa Nueve
3. Los Traileros - Cuando Nadie Quiera

Banda (Artist Names)

1. Banda el Recodo
2. Banda Machos

Sonidero

1. Aniceto Molina - Cumbia Cienaguera
2. Sabor Kolombia - Ritmo de Bota y Tambor
3. SupermerK2 - Que Calor

Huaracha (Song Names)

1. La Huaracha Sabrosona
2. El Gigante de Hierro
3. Paloma

Duranguense

1. Horoscopos de Durango - Mi Amor Por Ti
2. Montez de Durango - Pasito Duranguense
3. Patrulla 81 - Como Pude Enamorarme de Ti

Spanish Rock

1. Mana - Me Vale
2. Enanitos Verdes - Lamento Boliviano
3. Hombres G - Marta Tiene un Marcapasos

Latin Music

Latin music is probably a lot more extensive than this list, but as far as weddings in Houston go, a DJ only needs to be concerned with these top genres.

Salsa (Top Artists Names)

1. Sonora Carruseles
2. Marc Anthony
3. Jerry Rivera

Merengue (Top Artists Names)

1. Elvis Crespo
2. Oro Solido
3. La Banda Gorda

Punta (Top Artist Names)

1. Kazzabe
2. La Gran Banda
3. Los Roland’s

Bachata (Top Artists Names)

1. Aventura
2. Optimo
3. Xtreme

Reggaeton

1. Daddy Yankee - Rompe
2. Don Omar - Salio el Sol
3. Angel y Khriz - Ven Bailalo

Latin Dance (Top Artist Names)

1. Shakira
2. Ricky Martin
3. Enrique Iglesias

Tejano Music

Tejano Music is very popular here in Houston, San Antonio, and Corpus Christi. For a DJ to be from Houston or any of these cities and not know Tejano Music, it’s pretty rare. Almost any party or any wedding that has a Latin crowd will dance to the most popular Tejano songs.

Tejano (Polka?) (Artists)

1. Hometown Boys - Mire Amigo
2. Emilio Navaira - Como Le Hare
3. Jaime y Los Chamacos - Puerta Negra

Tejano Cumbias

1. Selena - Como La Flor
2. Shelly Lares - Soy tu Amor
3. La Mafia - Un Millon de Rosas

It’s important to note that the method I used to separate these genres is by the way they are danced. What I mean is that all these sections are danced exactly the same way. They speed on the song may vary, but the way they are danced are the same. The Cumbia step is the same for all Cumbias listed above, however I broke even that down into several sections. Some DJ’s prefer to have ALL their Cumbias together, but I find it that if I go from one Mexican cumbia to a Tejano cumbia, I lose some people on the dance floor. Not always, but generally speaking. Why? Because they would probably like to hear another Mexican cumbia, that they know.

If you pay attention to the Tejano, the same artists will sing a Cumbia and a Polka. Now polka is not the official name, it’s just how I differentiate the steps. The tejano cumbias are danced the same way as any other cumbia, and the rest of the tejano is almost like a Polka step, and it is a lot easier to dance.

Another recommendation of mine, if the DJ is able to Beatmix, or keep one continuous beat going from song to song, the dance floor will remain full all night. However, if there is any gap between songs, a lot of people will go sit down. Sometimes, the dancers are waiting for a small break in the music to go sit down.

That’s all my knowledge of Latin music, anybody can feel free to email me and correct me if I am wrong or misrepresenting anything on this article.

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Happy Planning!
Your Professional Bilingual DJ in Houston

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