The first couple of lines of this song are happy enough, and then—pow—she left and the pain won’t disappear. Mexican pop band Reik belts out a plaintive song about heartache. Have tissues handy.

Yago goes to his mother’s grave for some peace and comfort. Ramon goes to the bar. But we are left wondering: Is the puma still on the prowl? All is not quiet in the jungle….

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).

It’s so hard to just do your job: distractions and complications always get in the way. Marta accuses her mother, Socorro, of doing something disgraceful. Is it with Ramon that she committed this disgrace or with someone else? Or did she do it at all? Upset by this news, Lina blows off some steam. But is this problem worse than Madame Luisa’s drinking? Meanwhile, doing religious work seems to get passions stirring…

En route, Juan and friends tell about working far from home. Not only are there financial obstacles, there are cultural differences as well that lead to some misunderstandings. Americans don’t quite understand the saying Mi casa es su casa. Pay attention the next time someone from Mexico tells you there’s a party at your house!

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.”

A wounded puma is an angry puma, and with that in mind, Yago and Ramón make a plan. Morena tells her puma attack story. Will Laura be as impressed as she was with Tarzan’s bravery? Yago is thinking about his deceased mother while Lucio is at his sister’s grave… but will mourning make Lucio’s illness worse?

It’s not easy for most kids growing up in the Chaco region: before the morning bell rings, they have already been picking cotton in the fields. Hop on a boat with Eduardo and Luciana and learn about the community service they do for needy rural schools in Argentina.

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.

What do you like more, money or power? It seems like almost everyone on this show is after one or the other and is willing to do almost anything to get it. Madam has a headache… or is it something worse? Is madam hallucinating, drinking—or being set up?

People. People. People. We usually love them and that’s why we talk with them. People from Puerto Rico, people from Ecuador. It doesn’t matter if they are bleeding or in love. We just can’t stop talking to people!

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!

Yago is a simple man from the jungle—a man of brave deeds but few words. When Yago meets Morena, a talkative city slicker, he doesn’t know what to make of her. But he does know how to save her from an attacking puma.

“Reinvention” could be Enrique Bunbury's middle name. He’s a prolific composer, always finding inspiration in various books, movies, songs, and moods. And he thrives on creative collaborations. In the second part of YABLA’s exclusive interview, Bunbury opens up and tells us about the creative process behind his music.

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?