La Rebelión

"La Rebelión"
Song by Joe Arroyo y La Verdad
from the album Musa Original
Released1986
GenreSalsa
SongwriterJoe Arroyo

"La Rebelión (No le pegue a la negra)" (translation "The Rebellion: Don't Hit the Black Woman") is a salsa song written by the Colombian singer-songwriter Joe Arroyo and performed by Arroyo and his band, La Verdad. It was released in 1986 on the Discos Fuentes label as the opening track on the "B" side of Arroyo's seventh studio album, Musa Original (SOF-5618). The song was an international hit.[1][2][3][4][5]

According to multiple sources, the song was a self-plagiarism of an earlier song, "El Mulato", also written by Arroyo, that was released in 1978 by Robert y Su Banda on the album Soy la ley.[1][2][6]

The recording features a piano solo by Chelito De Castro.

Lyrics

The song tells the story of a married African couple, slaves of a Spaniard, in Cartagena, Colombia in the 17th century. The slave owner beat the wife, and the husband avenges her by starting a rebellion. The lyrics state that the black woman deserves respect and repeats variations on the chorus, "No le pegue a la negra" ("Don't hit the black woman").[7]

Honors

The song became an anthem of pride for Black people in Latin America.[8] It has been included in several lists of the greatest Colombian and salsa songs of all time:

  • Viva Music Colombia rated the song No. 1 on its list of the 100 most important Colombian songs of all time.[9]
  • It was listed in 2018 on Billboard's "15 Best Salsa Songs Ever".[10]
  • It was selected by Hip Latina in 2017 as one of the "13 Old School Songs Every Colombian Grew Up Listening To"; it was praised for its powerful lyrics and described as "one of those 'hold my drink, I'm going to go dance,' songs."[11]
  • In its list of the 50 best Colombian songs of all time, El Tiempo, Colombia's most widely circulated newspaper, ranked the song at No. 43.[12]

Covers

The song has since been covered by numerous artists, including the following:

  • Raulin Rosendo covered the song on his 1991 album Salsa Solamente.[13]
  • François Raulin covered the song in 1995.
  • Alberto Barros covered the song on his 2007 album Tributo a la Salsa Colombiana, Vol. 1.
  • Blanca Star Olivera covered the song on her album New York Latin Hits.
  • J Balvin covered the song in 2019 in a salsa-reggaeton blend,[14] and performed it for a television commercial for Aguila beer.[15]

References

  1. 1 2 Greta Padilla. "La historia detrás de "La rebelión", un himno de la salsa". Sopitas.com. Retrieved March 21, 2026.
  2. 1 2 "'Rebelión', la canción del Joe y el himno de lo Afro cumple 30 anos: La letra es el emblema definitivo del cantante. Lo que pocos saben es que fue un curioso autoplagio". El Tiempo. July 25, 2016.
  3. ↑ "The History Of Joe Arroyo's Song – Rebelion". Latino Music Cafe. February 28, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Rebelión', la canción del Joe y el himno de lo afro, cumple 30 años: La letra e". El Salsero. July 30, 2011.
  5. ↑ "La Rebelión". Spanish Con Salsa. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
  6. ↑ "'La rebelión': no se aclara el misterio del himno de resistencia de Joe". El Heraldo. July 27, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Rebellion". Letras.com. Retrieved March 21, 2026.
  8. ↑ "La Rebelión, la canción de Joe Arroyo que se convirtió en un himno". Colombia.com. August 6, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Las 100 Canciones Colombianas Mas Importantes de Toda La Historia". Viva Music Colombia. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  10. ↑ Cantor-Navas, Judy (31 May 2018). "The 15 Best Salsa Songs Ever: Critic's Picks". Billboard. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  11. ↑ "13 Old School Songs Every Colombian Grew Up Listening To". Hiplatina.com. 18 September 2017. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Las 50 mejores canciones de Colombia". El Tiempo.
  13. ↑ "Salsa Solamente". AllMusic.com. Retrieved March 23, 2026.
  14. ↑ "J Balvin pays tribute to 'La Rebelión', a classic of Colombian music". Europa FM. April 15, 2019.
  15. ↑ "J Balvin Puts Trap Spin on Joe Arroyo's 'La Rebelion' for New Cerveza Aguila Ad". Billboard. March 5, 2019.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.