Mi Gente’s Surprising Roots

Anonymous

If you’ve listened to the radio or gone to a club in the past year, chances are that you’ve heard Mi Gente¸ the hit song by J. Balvin and Willy Williams. The original version of this Latin hit peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the combined chart entries for its remix featuring Beyoncé surpassed it by reaching No.3. Mi Gente has become a symbol of pride and unity for the Latin community, especially after Beyoncé announced that the proceeds from her remix would be donated to relief efforts in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Puerto Rico following the hurricanes in mid-2017. The title translates to “My People,” which underscores its message of solidarity among Spanish-speaking communities around the world. Despite its strong ties to Spanish, the song also includes lyrics in French and English.

What originally drew me to this song were the French lyrics sprinkled throughout it. Co-writer Willy William is a French DJ, and he provides the lines “mais fais bouger la tête” and “c’est comme ci, c’est comme ça, ma chérie.” The first contribution hints at the fact that the original version of this song isn’t completely original. The line is taken directly from Voodoo Song, which Williams had released earlier in 2017. Mi Gente also borrowed Voodoo Song’s background hook. Since Williams collaborated with Colombian artist J. Balvin to create the Spanish sensation, it’s no surprise that he’d lend his previous creative works to the project. However, that catchy hook wasn’t even Williams’ to donate; it wasn’t completely his original work.

The hook itself is a slowed-down, embellished version of a sample from a Bengali/Bangladeshi song called Heila Duila Nach by artists Akassh and Bidya Sinha Saha Mim. Even to the untrained ear, listening to a short section of each of the three songs demonstrates that they all share their signature sound. Heila Duila Nach was released in December of 2016, and Voodoo Song came out in May of 2017, so it’s highly unlikely that the sampling went the other way around. Interestingly, when asked about the creation of the hook, Williams has answered, “I don’t know if it’s a secret, how I made this hook, it’s a mix of vocal, flute and sax,” and that he “made [the] track in two hours.” In neither of those interviews did he ever reference Heila Duila Nach, and neither he nor J. Balvin ever mentioned the Bangladeshi song in any of their interviews that I have found. While I’m sure Williams and Balvin have followed any copyright procedures regarding sampling other songs, I am surprised that neither artist has made the track’s source more widely known. The message of Mi Gente is all about embracing cultural differences and celebrating our similarities, but it seems odd that a song so entrenched in collaboration is so lacking in recognition of its sources.

Despite any potential foul play on Williams and Balvin’s part, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed listening to and analyzing all three pieces (or four, if you count the Beyoncé remix), and found they have a lot in common. A core theme of all three songs is dancing and letting yourself be free. The words “heila duila nach” translate to “move and dance,” and another line in the song, “tension fension cha,” means “shake the stress out.” In Voodoo Song, Williams tells his listeners, “ne retiens pas ton corps, il veut danser,” which means “don’t hold back your body, it wants to dance.” Williams tells listeners of both Voodoo Song and Mi Gente “fais bouger la tête,” or “move your head,” while Balvin proclaims “Toda mi gente se mueve, mira el ritmo cómo los tiene,” or “All of my people are moving, look how the rhythm has them!” Each artist created their song to encourage their listeners to move their bodies and shake away their troubles.

Another core piece of Mi Gente’s message is embodied by Balvin’s line, “Mi música no discrimina a nadie,” or “my music doesn’t discriminate against anyone.” Based on the overwhelmingly positive worldwide reception of the song, Balvin seems to have gotten his message across. Even in the US, a country that typically has been reluctant to listen to songs that aren’t in English, the song gained widespread popularity. The only word in English in the original version is “freeze,” and the rest is in Spanish with the few French exceptions. Perhaps this small instance of code-switching to English was enough to make it more enjoyable to anglophone audiences, but what initially interested me was the code-switching to French. I don’t speak Spanish, and most of my friends don’t speak French, so those few lines always made me feel like they were being sung especially for me. Beyoncé added a few lines in English in her version, so with America’s monumental pride in her and the English language, it’s no surprise that the remix boosted and solidified Mi Gente’s spot as one of the most popular songs in the US for the year.

Mi Gente isn’t the only song of this set to utilize code switching, however. Heila Duila Nach includes the words “frustration” and “depression” towards the end of the song, perhaps to pique the interest of an English-speaking audience. Another common reason for code-switching is to express ideas or emotions more effectively, so Mim may have been trying to articulate her feelings of frustration in a way that her native tongue couldn’t connote. No matter the reason, the song went viral and got over 400,000 views within three days after its release, and it has now garnered over 10 million. Williams’ Voodoo Song is the only one of the set not to have utilized code-switching, but its popularity is not to be understated, with its music video having over 14 million views. However, the original Mi Gente video has over 1.5 trillion, and the Beyoncé remix video has over 74 million.

In comparing the music videos themselves, I noticed an evolution from pieces attempting to gain international appeal, as in Heila Duila Nach, Voodoo Song, and the original Mi Gente, into a clear statement of cross-cultural solidarity in the Beyoncé remix; while the first three songs all have traditional music videos, with carefully crafted shots of the artists singing their lyrics in a set location, the Beyoncé remix video is a compilation of short clips of many different groups of people dancing. These vignettes do not look polished, they seem to be intentionally left raw and natural. The video even has karaoke-esque lyrics along the bottom with images of each artist’s face bouncing along on top of them. This shift truly makes the song feel accessible, as it implies that everyone, no matter their walk of life or style of dancing, is invited to sing along. Combined with the lyrics’ message and Beyoncé’s donation of her profits, the remix fosters a feeling of worldwide solidarity. It code-switches seamlessly between Spanish and French and English, celebrating the artists’ cultural differences and showing that they can be enjoyed by all audiences. There is a more prominent message, however, that unifies all the songs in this set, from the Bengali/Bangladeshi hit to the Spanish sensation: whatever language we speak, sometimes we just need to close our mouths and let our feet do the talking.

Sources:

“‘Mi Gente’ English Lyric Translation: Do You Know what Beyoncé is Saying?” https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/latin/7948973/mi-gente-lyrics-english-translation-meaning-beyonce.

“Beyoncé Joins ‘Mi Gente’ Remix, Donates Proceeds to Hurricane Relief.” https://www.npr.org/sections/altlatino/2017/09/28/554394426/beyonc-joins-j-balvin-and-willy-william-for-mi-gente-remix.

“Beyoncé on Instagram: “I Am Donating My Proceeds from this Song to Hurricane Relief Charities for Puerto Rico, Mexico and the Other Affected Caribbean Islands. to…”.” https://www.instagram.com/p/BZmx_nbH4BT/.

“Code-Switching | Linguistics.” https://www.britannica.com/topic/code-switching.

Heila Duila Nach Lyrics – Ami Tomar Hote Chai | Kona, Akassh.  http://bengalilyrics24.blogspot.com/2016/12/heila-duila-nach-ami-tomar-hote-chai.html.

J Balvin & Willy William – Mi Gente, https://genius.com/J-balvin-and-willy-william-mi-gente-lyrics.

“J Balvin Mi Gente Chart History.” http://qa.billboard.com//music/j-balvin.

“J Balvin Talks Latin Music’s Meteoric Rise and Why Working with Beyoncé was Fate.” https://www.fuse.tv/2018/02/j-balvin-mi-gente-beyonce-latin-music-success-interview.

“J Balvin, Willy William – Mi Gente (Official Video).” directed by Anonymous , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnJ6LuUFpMo.

“J Balvin, Willy William – Mi Gente Ft. Beyoncé.” directed by Anonymous , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APHgDFRpCi0.

“Mim’s First Item Song ‘Heila Duila Nach’ Becomes Viral.” http://www.daily-sun.com/post/192113.

Okamoto, Lisa. “Five Reasons Why People Code-Switch.” https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/04/13/177126294/five-reasons-why-people-code-switch.

“Support Relief Efforts Around the World.” https://aws-api-beyonce.parkwood-digital.com/reliefefforts/.

“Willy William – Voodoo Song (Official Music Video).” , directed by Anonymous, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CXrYuLRmgM.

“Willy William – Voodoo Song Translation in English.” https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/Willy-William/Voodoo-Song/translation/english.

“Willy William Interview about Mi Gente and Working with J Balvin.” -08-15T07:51:16+00:00, 2017, https://www.somethingaboutmagazine.com/willy-william-interview/.

“Willy William on His Hot 100 Debut & how ‘Mi Gente’ with J Balvin Became a ‘Global Hit’.” https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/latin/7881749/willy-william-j-balvin-mi-gente-hot-100-interview.

English as the Official Language: Marginalization of the “Other”

by Danielle

The United States is one of the last countries in the world without an official language. With the political debates for the 2016 presidential election, the discourse surrounding making English the official language is being highlighted within numerous issues and political rhetoric. Ideologies that value English as the official language have taken an aggressive stance with rhetoric such as from republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s statement, “we speak English in this country” to fuel them. However, more than 1 in 5 residents in the United States speak a language other than English at home and that number is increasing with the number of non-English speaking refugees being admitted yearly. The number of Hispanic immigrants and Middle Eastern Refugees feel the direct effects of these attacks, not only based on language difference but also due to ethnic and religious differences. While European languages are viewed with a fond nostalgia as being the language of White American’s ancestors, Spanish and Arabic speakers are immediately marked as “other”, “not like me”. Services that help these populations to make a living, such as bilingual education and supplemental incomes, are being threatened. If English is officiated, these services may completely disappear- marginalizing them further within society with the expectation of failure if they do not assimilate.

Even though there is no official language, to become a citizen of the United States, a knowledge of English is still required. Once arriving, potential citizens have a seven year time limitation to pass the Naturalization exam, which consists of an English and a Civics exam. The English test consists of three sections: reading, writing, and speaking in which one out of three responses must be correct. Potential citizens have two chances to take the test, and is citizenship is not granted, governmental aid such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is taken away with no other support offered.

Since SSI is considered an additional income, the amount of money provided each month is not enough for a decent living. Sugow Said, a refugee from Somalia, has to support his wife and three teenaged children on an income of $324 a month with food stamps. Due to government documentation being written in English, Said was never aware of the time restriction and eventually lost his aid- resulting in his income dropping to nothing.

The case of Sugow Said is not uncommon among many refugees and immigrants. A seven year window may seem like ample time to learn English, however fails to acknowledge issues brought up by language acquisition experts and psychologists. Linguist Stephen Krashen’s theory of the Critical Learning Period states that it is more difficult to learn a language the older the learner is. While many children may quickly adapt to English, their parents and older family members may struggle due to different language patterns and difficult grammar structures. Combined with the theory of the Critical Learning Period is the pressure of starting a new life in another country, one they were probably forced to come to, while possibly suffering from issues such as PTSD. PTSD is an issues frequently brought up by psychologists, especially associated with refugees populations from war stricken countries. Due to these issues and the fact that the refugees may have never wanted to leave their country before the breakout of conflict, the seven year window may not be sufficient time at all.

Bilingual education is another service aimed to help speakers of other languages that is currently being targeted. Its intention is to teach core school subjects in the students’ first language while teaching other subjects in English in order for the language barrier to not be an issue. The aim was so students do not fall behind their American peers, however the opposition states that it does not enforce or motivate English learning- instead offering a community where English is not required. Due to the high number of children born to immigrants and refugees not speaking English fluently, bilingual education is under constant threat of being banned nationwide, following the steps of California, Arizona, and Massachusetts. Its effectiveness only causes more tension amongst these languages, especially in southern states that have more need for such services.

Tensions between English and the numerous other languages spoken in the United States is visible, primarily in rural areas and states along the border. The Southern states are where Spanish and English coexist amidst tension. There are large bilingual and monolingual communities that are constantly being scrutinized and services that aid the residents are viewed to hinder the residents from reaching the standard values of Anglophones. Billboards and shop signs are written in both Spanish and English, though the former is often written in bigger font. Many Anglophones express offensive to this, feeling as though “English is under attack”. Many want these signs replaced without Spanish even though the majority of the community is Hispanic.

If English is officiated, bilingual education and signs would be the first services that would disappear. Bilingual billboards would be replaced with all English because of the language standard to live in the United States. Also, bilingual education may eventually be banned on a national level, following with the other states as it is seen as a hindrance to English learning instead of a benefit. Services that allow for some relieve of pressure from the language barrier would be seen as a road block in learning English, thus would be banned or viewed as unnecessary.

The language test to enter the exam may also be changed to match the increase of standards. People can become citizens with still a low proficiency in English- thus, it would be expected for the standards to be increased if English is officiated. Instead of one of three sentences correct, the requirement may be increased to reflect the change in language policy and dominant ideology. Ultimately, the direct effect of the official language being implemented would be to see a decrease in non-English speaking immigrants and refugee populations.

Much of English Only rhetoric that centers on English becoming the official language is a direct attack against increasing Hispanic and Middle Eastern populations. Fueled by political rhetoric, foreign language is often viewed as the “other” and a “threat” to American culture. Aid designed to help these populations survive and not fall behind English speaking counterparts are seen as a “war on English”, thus leads to often aggressive discourse about their existence. Without them, it would be difficult for many immigrants and refugees to survive, marginalizing them within society with the expectation of failure. The consequences of English being officiated is more than on a government level. It would uphold this false belief in a language hierarchy, with English and its native speakers being superior. In times of political tensions, we should focus on providing better services, implementing a more realistic time limitation for becoming a citizen, and preserving our diversity instead of endangering it.

Language Exchange or Abuse? Looking at Language Mixing in America and “Mock Spanish”

by Angelo Hurley

            “What’s wrong with the fridge, Angelo?”

            “Looks like it went kaput again. I think it’s time for a new fridge, buddy.”

            “No Bueno, that’s for sure.”

            In Modern Standard American English, speech is rife with influences from all over the world. English in itself is a language that is heavily borrowed from Latin, French, Germanic, Greek, and many other languages that have mixed together and refined itself into its own solid language. Though the influence isn’t always directly apparent, one way that English’s broad variety can be seen is through looking at loanwords and borrowed phrases from other languages all across the globe. Residing in a prime example of a “melting pot” country, American English truly encapsulates a wildly diverse and multicultural form of language. Yet, even though American English borrows many key loanwords and phrases from languages worldwide, there is also a dark side to all of this language exchange. Various mock forms of foreign languages within the United States developed over time, and with this, showed that racial bias and discrimination can be prevalent as far deep as the very words we say.

Knowing and understanding the background of foreign loanwords in American English can be extremely helpful when discussing racism in language. English in America, especially in casual speech, borrows a lot from languages all across the world. In many cases, some words run so deep in English language that many people would not know that the borrowed phrases they spoke didn’t originate from American English. It is generally accepted that once a foreign word or phrase becomes commonplace in a language, that is when it officially becomes a loanword (Kemmer). For those who may not immediately recognize foreign loanwords in American English, here are some examples one might recognize:

from German: Schadenfreude (pleasure in other peoples’ pain), Lager (a type of beer), Blitz (from Blitzkreig, a form of war in Nazi Germany, “lightning war”), Kaput (broken), Dummkopf (blockhead)

from Japanese: Emoji (絵文字), Tycoon (大君), Futon (布団), Ramen (ラーメン)

from French: adieu, bouquet, chic, genre

from Spanish: macho, plaza, poncho, vigilante

These loanwords, among many more within American English, show that Americans have truly embraced a more “worldly” language, and that linguistic purity within English has rarely been an issue within American society. Many Americans have accepted and embraced other languages’ influence on culture in the United States. What has become an issue, though, is the intentional misuse and abuse of other languages. This intentional misuse or incorrect mixing of a native language, known as a mock language, has presented itself within America, and predominantly affects the Spanish language.

Before diving into the concept of “Mock Spanish”, a distinct difference between Spanish-infused English (known as “Spanglish”) and “Mock Spanish” must be explained. Spanglish is a form of speech that results from an interaction between Spanish and English used by people who speak both languages or parts of them. Spanglish has many dialects throughout the United States, and “is currently considered a hybrid language by linguists—many actually refer to Spanglish as “Spanish-English code-switching”, though there is some influence of borrowing, and lexical and grammatical shifts as well” (Martinez). The origin of Spanglish is considered to have been caused mainly by immigration, and lacks a definite dialect due to its widespread speaking population. The “synergy of cultures and struggle with identity is reflected in language use and results in the mixing of Spanish and English.” This struggle with identity in turn has encouraged the usage of Spanglish in America, and society has gained quite a bit from this interesting form of cultural exchange. The existence of Spanglish and code-switching has given birth to the rise of musicians and writers who encompass both Spanish and English into their work, giving way to much more culturally-diverse pieces of work. Commonly-known musicians such as Pitbull and Enrique Iglesias could certainly be considered champions of Spanglish music and great figures of linguistic diversity to look up to. Spanglish overall promotes an understanding of both Spanish and English nouns and grammatical forms, and helps to culturally enrich the people that engage in speaking it.

Mock Spanish, on the other hand, is part of the darker side of linguistic diversity in the United States. Mock Spanish consists of Spanish words or phrases that are borrowed by groups of people that are considered to be mostly mono-lingual circles within America. Examples of Mock Spanish are words and phrases such as: “hasty banana” (for hasta mañana), “buenos nachos” (for buenas noches), “el cheapo”, “no problemo”, “hasta la bye-bye” (Hill), among many others. The usage of Mock Spanish can certainly be considered to be quite offensive towards native speakers of Spanish because of its intentional mispronunciation and usage of incorrect Spanish grammatical structure. The main problem stemming from this is that Mock Spanish facilitates a lack of understanding and appreciation for an important minority language in the United States, and deliberately disrespect a vital part of a group of peoples’ culture. With this, many scholars argue that “the incorporation of pseudo-Spanish terms and other humorous uses (of Spanish)… constitute a type of covert racism” (Hill). Though Mock Spanish can at times be considered “harmless” and unintentionally racist, more care should be taken when using another group’s language in order to “spice up” a conversation or to try and be more Spanish-lingo savvy. Learning and trying to understand another language is certainly a very positive and self-enriching thing to do, but one must make sure that it is being done and used with the right motive and correct form.

Thanks to the amazingly diverse American populous, the English used here in everyday interaction is full of different words and expressions with origins from all around the globe. With this, though, comes the responsibility of Americans to make sure that the ever-growing and changing linguistic diversity of English in the United States remains open-minded and aware of proper usage and possibly discriminatory language practices within society. As long as Americans keep themselves educated about the various language forms their using, while at the same time, seeking to try out new languages and different (but respectful) forms of foreign lingo in American English, the United States can remain being the bastion of true cultural openness and linguistic diversity.

Sources:

Hill, Jane H. (1993). “Hasta La Vista, Baby: Anglo Spanish in the American Southwest”. Critique of Anthropology, 13(2):145-176

Martinez, Ramón Antonio (2010). “Spanglish” as Literacy Tool: Toward an Understanding of the potential Role of Spanish-English Code-Switching in the Development of Academic Literacy (45.2 ed.). Research in the Teaching of English: National Council of Teachers of English. pp. 124–129.

Hill, Jane H. (1995-10-09). “Mock Spanish: A Site For The Indexical Reproduction Of Racism In American English”. Language & Culture, Symposium 2. Retrieved 2008-11-11.