Mexican singer/songwriter and Latin Grammy winner Natalia Lafourcade
is storming out of the pandemic gates with a newly recorded version of her hit tune, "Tu Si Sabes Quereme" featuring the legendary Ruben Blades and
Oaxacan poet-rapper Mare Advertencia.
Hit play and we’ll
talk:
The song comes from
Lafourcade’s new album, Un Canto Por Mexico Vol. 2, out
May 28. It’s a sort of sequel to last year’s Latin Grammy-winning
Un Canto Por Mexico Vol. 1,
which was conceived of as a
benefit album, sending proceeds to rebuilding the earthquake-damaged
Veracruz community center, the Centro de Documentación Del
Son Jarocho. Celebrating the reopening of the center, the new album has
a long list of guest stars, that are yet to be announced, but include some of Latin America's most beloved performers. Like its predecessor, it features Lafourcade originals alongside Mexican standards.
“It’s all coming together at the same time,” Lafourcade says in the press release. “We’re getting ready to release this second album into the world at the same time that the rebuilding of the community center is in its final stage. Save the Children and other organizations contributed funds. The center has been rebuilt with stronger foundations, so that it can withstand the future movements and shaking of the earth.”
Lafourcade
was performing “Tu Si
Sabes” at the Latin Grammys a few years back and found herself
seated next to Ruben Blades, who told her how much he liked the song.
“I didn’t know what to say,
I was speechless, trying to stay calm, and barely managed to reply,
'Please maestro, one day we can sing it together,’” she
relayed. Blades contributed his vocals from the safety of his home
studio. Mare Advertencia’s activism and commitment to her community inspired Lafourcade, and made the rapper a natural fit for the
record.
“It's taken us three years,” Lafourcade says “and I think of it as an album made in the spirit of community.”
