Contra la Corriente (song)

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"Contra la Corriente"
CD single
CD single
Single by Marc Anthony
from the album Contra la Corriente
Released1998
StudioAltamar Music Studios, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Unique Recording Studio, New York City
GenreSalsa
Length5:13
LabelRMM
Songwriter(s)Omar Alfanno
Producer(s)Angel "Cuco" Peña
Marc Anthony singles chronology
""
(1998) 		"Contra la Corriente"
(1998) 		"I Want to Spend My Lifetime Loving You"
(1998)

"Contra la Corriente" (transl. "Against the Current") is a song by American singer Marc Anthony from his third studio album of the same name (1997). The song was written by Omar Alfanno, with production handled by Ángel "Cucco" Peña. RMM released it as the album's fifth single in 1998. A salsa song, Anthony is reminded of nostalgia of love from the past.

"Contra la Corriente" was praised by music critics and was nominated for Tropical Song of the Year at the 1999 Lo Nuestro Awards and Billboard Latin Music Awards, respectively. Commercially, it reached number four in El Salvador and Nicaragua according to Notimex and number two on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs in the United States. The song reached the top of the Tropical Airplay chart in the US where it spent four weeks at this position. Puerto Rican singer Ángel López covered this song as a ballad on his studio album Historias de Amor (2010).

Background and composition[]

By 1996, Marc Anthony's studio albums, Otra Nota (1993) and Todo a Su Tiempo (1995), both released by RMM, had sold over 600,000 copies combined.[1] Sergio George, who produced both albums, had left RMM to establish his own record label and was working with his own artists.[2] As a result, George was unable to produce Anthony's next record.[3] Angel "Cucco" Peña, who previously worked with other salsa musicians such as Gilberto Santa Rosa and Willie Colón, took up the position as producer for Anthony's third studio album.[4] to produce his third studio album Contra la Corriente (1997).[5][3] As Anthony was involved with the production of The Capeman, he recorded in New York and Puerto Rico and took three weeks to complete the album.[6][7] Omar Alfanno, who composed three tracks on Todo a Su Tiempo,[8] wrote five tracks for Contra la Corriente including the title track.[5] The song begins with an acoustic guitar before transitioning into a "medium-paced salsa rhythm" according to The San Diego Union-Tribune editor Ernesto Portillo, Jr. .[9] In the lyrics, Diana Raquel of La Prensa de San Antonio noted that the track "evokes nostalgia of a good love from the past".[10]

Promotion and reception[]

The title track was released as the fifth single from Contra la Corriente in 1998.[11] Marc Anthony delivered a performance the song in prior to the album's release at the Madison Square Garden in New York City.[12] Three years later, he performed the song live at the same venue which was later released on his live video album The Concert from Madison Square Garden (2001).[13] In 2010, Puerto Rican singer Ángel López covered the song as a ballad on his studio album Historias de Amor, a collection of songs Alfanno had previously composed.[14] The song, along with the rest of the album, was arranged and produced by Alfanno.[15][16]

On the review of the album for La Prensa de San Antonio, Diana Raquel lauded its "intense rhythm" and noted that the track has all the elements of a salsa romantica which progresses into a "tasty mambo".[10] Tom Moon of The Philadelphia Inquirer complimented Anthony for adlibbing "in a loose, refreshingly offhand way".[17] La Prensa listed it as one of Marc Anthony's best 15 songs.[18] "Contra la Corriente" was nominated in the category of Tropical Song of the Year at the 11th Annual Lo Nuestro Awards,[19] as well as "Tropical/Salsa Hot Track of the Year" at the 1999 Latin Billboard Music Awards.[20] It lost both awards to Elvis Crespo's "Suavemente".[20][21] Commercially in Central America, it reached number four in El Salvador and Nicaragua.[22][23] In the US, "Contra la Corriente" reached number two on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs,[24] with the top spot being held off by Carlos Ponce's song "Decir Adiós".[25] It topped the Billboard Tropical Airplay chart, becoming his tenth number one on the chart and remained on the spot for four weeks weeks.[26][27] It ranked number eight on the 1998 Tropical Airplay year-end chart.[28] A truncated version of the song was added to Marc Anthony's greatest hits album Desde un Principio: From the Beginning (1999), while the original recording was included on the compilation album Éxitos Eternos (2003).[29][30]

Charts[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Lopetegui, Enrique (May 1, 1996). "Marc Anthony's Putting a Real Kick in His Salsa". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  2. ^ "Marc Anthony: A Portrait of the Salsero As a Young Man". Saludos Hispanos. 15: 35. 1998. ...but when it came time to do the third album, he dropped off the face of the earth. He simply didn't want to produce my record. He was into other things, his new label with his own artists.
  3. ^ a b Camarena, Ricardo (June 22, 1998). "Marc Anthony a contracorriente: El salsero dice traer 'todos los hierros' para su presentacion del viernes en el Teatro Griego". La Opinión (in Spanish). p. 1D – via ImpreMedia.
  4. ^ "Artists – Peña, Angel "Cucco"". Music of Puerto Rico. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
  5. ^ a b Jenkins, Terry F. "Contra la Corriente – Marc Anthony". AllMusic. Archived from the original on November 20, 2015. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  6. ^ Lechner, Ernesto (June 14, 1998). "His Heart Belongs to Salsa". Los Angeles Times. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original on February 5, 2022. Retrieved June 5, 2010. It was a time crunch, I had three weeks to record it. I picked those nine tunes after listening to 1,300 of them, so I knew [they] would work.
  7. ^ Lannert, John (December 20, 1997). "RMM SALSA STAR MARC ANTHONY BUILDS INT'L CAREER". Billboard. Vol. 109, no. 51. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 108. Retrieved February 19, 2011.
  8. ^ "Sony/ATV Publishing: Omar Alfanno" (in Spanish). Sony Music Entertainment. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved August 6, 2010.
  9. ^ Portillo, Jr., Ernesto (January 15, 1998). "Album Reviews". The San Diego Union-Tribune. p. 15.
  10. ^ a b Raquel, Diana (December 4, 1997). "Aqui y alla: Marc Anthony...Contra la corriente". La Prensa de San Antonio (in Spanish). p. 24. Este tema evoca nostálgicamente el recuerdo de un buen amor del pasado.
  11. ^ Contra la Corriente (CD Single) (Media notes). Marc Anthony. Spain: RMM. 1997. BT 148CDS.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  12. ^ Watrous, Peter (October 20, 1997). "Pop Review; Hard-Driving Salsa, With a Sense of Humor Added". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 5, 2022. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
  13. ^ LeVasseur, Andrea. "The Concert from Madison Square Garden (Video/DVD) – Marc Anthony | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Archived from the original on January 3, 2020. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  14. ^ "Historias de Amor – Angel Lopez | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Archived from the original on August 11, 2020. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  15. ^ Cobo, Leila (April 16, 2010). "Songwriter Omar Alfanno launches hits project". Reuters. Archived from the original on April 20, 2021. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  16. ^ Barraza, Yanina (December 4, 2009). "Inicia su gira en Panamá". Crítica (in Spanish). Archived from the original on April 22, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  17. ^ Moon, Tom (December 21, 1997). "New Recordings". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia Media Network. p. 95. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  18. ^ "Marc Anthony: Recordemos 15 de sus mejores canciones en el día de su cumpleaños". La Prensa (in Spanish). September 19, 2019. Archived from the original on September 21, 2020. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  19. ^ "¿Quiénes se llevarán esta noche el Premio Lo Nuestro '99?". Panamá América (in Spanish). Grupo Epasa. May 6, 1999. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
  20. ^ a b Lannert, John (April 24, 1999). "10th Annual Latin Music Conference". Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 17. pp. LM-3. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  21. ^ "Lo Nuestro – Historia". Univision (in Spanish). Univision Communications. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  22. ^ a b "Carlos Ponce mantiene liderato en Centroamérica". El Siglo de Torreon (in Spanish). August 9, 1998. p. 125. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
  23. ^ a b "Mijares conquista Centroamérica con el tema 'El privilegio de amar'". El Siglo de Torreon (in Spanish). October 18, 1998. p. 141. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
  24. ^ a b "Marc Anthony Chart History (Hot Latin Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
  25. ^ "Hot Latin Songs: Week of September 26, 1998". Billboard. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  26. ^ a b "Marc Anthony Chart History (Tropical Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
  27. ^ "Tropical Airplay: Week of November 7, 1998". Billboard. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  28. ^ a b c "1998: The Year in Music". Billboard. Vol. 109, no. 52. Prometheus Global Media. December 26, 1998. p. YE-70, 75. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
  29. ^ Promis, Jose. "Desde un Principio: From the Beginning – Marc Anthony | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Archived from the original on June 18, 2020. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  30. ^ "Éxitos Eternos – Marc Anthony | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Archived from the original on March 1, 2017. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
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