I wish I could say, after a wild and invigorating journey across the world to find popular songs sung in minority languages, that I found something exciting and unexpected in my home region of the world. Or at least, something that fit my parameters. I tried so hard to find a musician or band from the US or Canada that performs in their indigenous language. And while I did encounter the truly fascinating genre of Navajo (Diné) country music, all of the songs I could find by any Navajo artist were sung in English. I suppose this could go to show than even the largest indigenous language group in the United States is not trusted by U.S. record companies to turn a profit with songs in their native language.
In the end, I decided to go in a direction I knew would yield results. Spanish-language music is a large sector of the U.S. music industry that will only continue to grow. I chose a love ballad from household name Ricky Martin as a representation of the mainstream appeal music sung in Spanish has become in the United States. It is a lovely, moving song in a language that is only spoken at home by twelve percent of the population.
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