From the LP Siembra to the single “La gozadera”: the mestizo myth of Latin American integration

This article presents a comparative analysis between the album Siembra by Rubén Blades and Willie Colón and the single “La gozadera” by the group Gente de Zona. This comparison is based on two musical products of significant worldwide distribution, which foreground the representation of Latin American integration. The two proposals demonstrate the intention of building a sonic and textual discourse about what is Latino, and about Latinos themselves. Consequently, we seek to analyze the continuities and discontinuities in the way in which salsa and its derivatives have taken on Latin American identity, according to the different production contexts that frame the musical works in question. To this end, we combine formal and content analysis with certain sociological reflections. The selection of an LP and a single is justified by the fact that in the 70s the record industry focused mainly on the promotion of LPs, whereas more recently it has focused on singles