Stop thief! A stranger with a foreign accent and talk of riches has come in and taken all the native gold, leaving poverty in his wake. Colombia’s talented ChocQuibTown manage to sing about serious geopolitical exploitation in a way that’s fun to listen to (and danceable, too).

This Puerto Rican band wasn’t on the island from the get-go. Two of La Secta’s members, Mark and Gustavo, met in Orlando during school and then moved to Miami Beach. There, they met up with John and Carlos and started writing songs. The message of their album Fuego, which shines through in “Déjalos que hablen,” is, according to John, “to be positive in the face of a moment of so many changes in the world.”

Have you ever been at the end of a dark alley wondering why, how, when? Well that’s exactly the mood of this Café Tacuba song: a metaphysical alley where we wonder what did we do wrong and ask for a second chance. It seems that this guy needs a metaphysical GPS system.

Calle 13 joins up with Cuba’s Orishas to sing a paean to those pobres who hike pa’l norte (northward) in search of a better life. The first 13 captions are very colloquial and difficult, but after that this video is very clearly annunciated with lots of great vocabulary, so hang in there! This song is thought-provoking and catchy. No one will ever accuse Calle 13 of taking a weak position in rhythm or in politics!

There’s a lot to love about Panama’s Cienfue. Take this great song and its even better video. It makes you want to walk right into the ocean to play guitar underwater on a sunny day, doesn’t it?

Meet Enrique Bunbury, a big name in rock en español. The Spaniard was the lead singer of the classic rock band Héroes del Silencio for 12 years. When the group disbanded in 1996, Bunbury began his solo career. "Frente a frente"—a cover of the song first recorded by Euro-pop star Jeanette in 1981—is the first single from Bunbury’s 2010 album Las Consecuencias.

Mmmm. A feast of flowers. Literally. This music video features lovely ladies in flowing dresses stuffing their faces with petals, stems and pollen. We can’t tell whether it’s right or wrong, but it’s fun to watch.

Guess who was voted the best new band in the world in 2009? Drum-roll, please… Our friends Bomba Estéreo! Yabla met them back when they were the opening act of (the also great and friendly) ChocQuibTown. Since then, Bomba Estéreo have been spreading like fire all over America and Europe.

Shakira certainly knows something of the change-up life. A Colombian, she lives in the Bahamas, dates an Argentinian, switched to English, was a brunette, is now a blonde. In this video for “Gitana” (Gypsy), watch her flirt with Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal as she tells us what fans already know.

Argentinian born and Mexico-based, Noel Schajris is better known as half of the sensational duet “Sin Bandera.” Since 2000, Noel, along with Leonel Garcia, has composed, played and sung hit after hit after hit. But in 2007, Noel and Leonel decided to part ways. Lucky for us, we still can listen to their emotive songs!

This video is about all those things that make us different—they are many! But it doesn’t matter how different we are, Mexican band Café Tacuba has been around long enough to have a song for every taste! Artists of self-invention, they rock the house from Mexico City to Japan!

The old saying goes “Hijo de tigre, sale pintado”. Literally, it means the baby tiger is going to bear the same marks as his father. But it also means that there are some things we inherit and carry with us. Here, Aterciopelados is singing about leaving some inherited, violent habits behind.

Former lead singer of Elefante, Reyli Barba is also a well respected songwriter. He has written songs for the likes of Latin Grammy winner Alejandro Fernández. "¿Qué nos pasó?" is his very emotional song about being dumped, replaced and wanting to hear the truth about it.

Cienfue is a charismatic Panamanian singer. He manages to have a rock star attitude and still be a nice guy. We know: we had a chance to meet him. Make sure to visit his webpage.

Surprised to find two Brazilian singers on this site? Native Portuguese speakers Victor & Leo compose, play, arrange and produce their own music in Spanish, too. They’re multi-talented—and they’re not the first Brazilians to jump into their neighbors’ language and market.