Personal Narrative: Growing Up With Latin Music

I can’t specifically say how old I was when I first heard music, but what I can remember is growing up with Latin music. My parents are from Guanajuato, Mexico so there’s no surprise I’d hear the music they grew up listening to. It’s not just songs either, even now I can recall the lullabies my mom would sing to me. As I started growing up I became more open to different genres of music and figuring out which ones I preferred over others. As a child I remember every Saturday waking up to Latin music, which usually meant I was going to spend my morning helping my mom clean the house. I wasn’t exactly thrilled about this “tradition” but what I realize now is how this introduced me to Latin music and all its sub-genres. Bachata, Norteñas, Corridos, Rancheras, Reggaeton, and the list goes on and on. I’ve heard just about every sub-genre of Latin music

We’d talk about the songs we liked and they’d recommend me to listen to certain artists. After a while I would turn the radio station to 102 Jamz and listen to the songs they’d play. By doing this I introduced myself to many artists that I still listen to today. Some of my favorite are Bryson Tiller, Russ, Jhene Aiko, Drake, and PartyNextDoor. Aiko and Tiller helped me through the boy troubles I had in high school and boy oh boy did I have plenty of those! I have certain songs that I love by these artists but when I listen to them bad memories come flooding into my head. Despite this I can’t bring myself to delete any of them. There’s this beat to the music that I can really get into and the lyrics are relatable. In the words of Jhene Aiko, “I don’t want to see you go, but I don’t have time to solve this…” (Aiko, Jhene. “The Pressure”) I applied this phrase to all the relationships that didn’t work out. It was a way for me to cope with the sadness that comes with heartbreak. No wonder I know most of these songs by