As your friendly neighborhood (half) Hispanic kid, I'm here to talk music with y'all. Reggaeton can be a difficult topic to discuss, let's just put that out there. It can be hard to separate the fact that there are these awesome beats and rhythms tied in with sexist messages that over-sexualize women. As a feminist, it's hard to handle these misogynistic lyrics. As a Hispana, it's hard to detach from music I grew up listening to that reminds me of my culture by association. I used to feel this intense guilt for listening to reggaeton, but I think that enjoying the musical aspects and not agreeing with the lyrical messages are not mutually exclusive behaviors.

I critically analyze the lyrics and interwoven messages of these reggaeton hits on my own time, which I think is important to encourage listeners to do. But, I think that if we take the time to consciously understand that the messages portrayed by the lyrics are not okay, it's acceptable to enjoy the beats of these canciones movidas, as we say in Spain. That being said, there are reggaeton songs that are not sexist, and songs in a lot of other Hispanic genres are not sexist. Realistically speaking, if you're at a party dancing, you aren't listening to the lyrics. It's a totally different story when you're driving or running. There's a time and place for this critical analysis. You can be a feminist and enjoy the music of your culture - as long as you are conscious of what you are taking in.

Here is a mix of Spanish songs that I'm really enjoying at the moment, both classics that I grew up with and songs that you'd hear on Radio Latino today. I labeled this playlist with reggaeton, but there are a few songs in here that are more bachata, salsa, flamenco, mambo, or Latin pop. I like a lot of genres of Spanish music, sue me.

I want to say this one last time so nobody angry tweets me; SEXISM IS NOT OKAY IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM. I AM NOT ENDORSING SEXISM. I AM JUST SHARING THE SONGS THAT I LIKE IN A GENRE OF MUSIC THAT BELONGS TO MY CULTURE, AND I AM CRITICIZING THE LYRICS ON MY OWN TIME WHILE ENJOYING THE BEATS AND DANCING WITH MY FAMILY.

Anyway, here you have it. Jam out and thank me later.