This week’s Beat Latino was inspired by a new album by Captain Planet titled “Esperanto Slang” which led me to reflect on the “invented” language of Esperanto. Esperanto was created with the hopes of bringing peace and unity to all of us by allowing us to easily communicate via a universal language. It was a wonderful idea, but never quite took off. Nevertheless, musicians successfully speak a universal language all the time, and this week we share tunes new and old in which musicians from outside Latino traditions sing in Spanish or build upon Latin melodies and rhythms; or conversely, Latin musicians that occasionally foray to sing in languages other than their native tongue.

Welcome to Planet Esperanto on Beat Latino!

Feature Photo: Captain Planet by Koury Angely, courtesy of the artist