Suavemente (song)
Encyclopedia
"Suavemente" is a song recorded and composed by Puerto Rican
-American
Elvis Crespo
on his first solo album, Suavemente
, which followed his departure from Grupo Manía
. Released as the lead single
, Suavemente reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks on May 16, 1998 and remained atop the chart for six weeks. Crespo re-recorded it with Spanglish lyrics. The song also hit the Billboard Hot 100 as well as received a Premios Lo Nuestro award and two Latin Billboard Music Awards
the following year. "Suavemente" was the tenth best-performing Latin single of 1998. The song has been covered by several artists some of who also charted.
. In 1995, he joined Puerto-Rican merengue band, Grupo Manía
as lead vocalist. He composed "Linda Eh'" for the group which reached number-eight on Hot Latin Tracks in 1996. In 1997, he left the band to pursue a solo career and recorded his first album, Suavemente
, on the Sony Discos label. Crespo credited his son for the success of the song stating that his son spent the entire afternoon singing it and told his father that the song would be a hit. The Spanglish version was featured in the 1998 film, Dance with Me
. Two music videos were made: the original version with various background montages,the other one a remix with Spanglish lyrics. In 2008, the song served as the intro and outro for the live album, Elvis Crespo Lives: Live at Las Vegas and the title reappeared in the title for his tenth anniversary compilation album, Suavemente... Los Éxitos.
12"
's El Costo de la Vida.
praised Suavemente as of one the two songs along with Tu Sonrisa alone worth the cost of the album. In 1999 Suavamente received Lo Nuestro award
for "Tropical Song of the Year" and two Billboard Latin Music
awards for "Tropical/Salsa Hot Latin Track of the Year" and "Latin Dance Max-Single of the Year". Crespo responded to the success by stating that "It took me by surprise, although I had many years of experience, first in the chorus and then as a singer in Grupomanía. I believe that it's a challenge because I have to take on the responsibility to be consistent in my future projects."
group Scooter
covered the song on their album Mind The Gap. It was released as the fourth and final single from the album. The music video for Suavemente features a tropical scene, with the three band members at the time (H. P. Baxxter
, Rick J. Jordan
, and Jay Frog) celebrating.
12"
featuring Paul Cless, Cuba Club, Danio Crespo, Israel Palma, Johnny Quintana, Ritmo Bros, Toño Rosario
, and Los Temibles del Norte. Banda Superbandido's version reached #29 on Latin Regional Mexican Airplay.
Brixx
's version of the song features German singer Paul Cless reached #28 the European Hot 100 singles chart. Angie Martinez
's song, "Coast 2 Coast", features Wyclef Jean
singing excerpts from Suavemente. It has also been sampled in the 2011 song Suave (Kiss Me)
by Nayer
featuring Pitbull
& Mohombi
.
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Elvis Crespo
Elvis Crespo
Elvis Crespo , is a Puerto Rican-American Grammy and Latin Grammy Award-winning Merengue singer.-Early years:Crespo was born in New York City and was named "Elvis" after Elvis Presley...
on his first solo album, Suavemente
Suavemente
Suavemente is an album by Puerto Rican merenguero Elvis Crespo, literally meaning "smoothly" or "softly" in Spanish. The album reached Number 1 on Billboard's "National Latin top 40" chart in 1998...
, which followed his departure from Grupo Manía
Grupo Manía
Grupo Manía is a popular merengue group from Puerto Rico that released its debut album in 1993. The group was formed by brothers Héctor, Edwin and Oscar Serrano together with Alfred Cotto in the early 90s...
. Released as the lead single
Lead single
A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...
, Suavemente reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks on May 16, 1998 and remained atop the chart for six weeks. Crespo re-recorded it with Spanglish lyrics. The song also hit the Billboard Hot 100 as well as received a Premios Lo Nuestro award and two Latin Billboard Music Awards
Billboard Latin Music Awards
The Billboard Latin Music Awards grew out of the Billboard Music Awards program from Billboard Magazine, an industry publication charting the sales and radio airplay success of musical recordings. The awards began in 1990...
the following year. "Suavemente" was the tenth best-performing Latin single of 1998. The song has been covered by several artists some of who also charted.
Background
Elvis Crespo started his singing career as a backup vocalist for merengue singers Willie Berrios, Lenny Perez, and Toño RosarioToño Rosario
Máximo Antonio del Rosario , commonly known as Toño Rosario, is a Grammy-award nominee Merengue musician born in the Dominican Republic.-Biography:Tono Rosario is a singer-songwriter, arranger and producer...
. In 1995, he joined Puerto-Rican merengue band, Grupo Manía
Grupo Manía
Grupo Manía is a popular merengue group from Puerto Rico that released its debut album in 1993. The group was formed by brothers Héctor, Edwin and Oscar Serrano together with Alfred Cotto in the early 90s...
as lead vocalist. He composed "Linda Eh'" for the group which reached number-eight on Hot Latin Tracks in 1996. In 1997, he left the band to pursue a solo career and recorded his first album, Suavemente
Suavemente
Suavemente is an album by Puerto Rican merenguero Elvis Crespo, literally meaning "smoothly" or "softly" in Spanish. The album reached Number 1 on Billboard's "National Latin top 40" chart in 1998...
, on the Sony Discos label. Crespo credited his son for the success of the song stating that his son spent the entire afternoon singing it and told his father that the song would be a hit. The Spanglish version was featured in the 1998 film, Dance with Me
Dance with Me (film)
Dance with Me is a 1998 drama film on love and dance directed by Randa Haines and starring Vanessa L. Williams and Puerto Rican singer Chayanne.-Plot:...
. Two music videos were made: the original version with various background montages,the other one a remix with Spanglish lyrics. In 2008, the song served as the intro and outro for the live album, Elvis Crespo Lives: Live at Las Vegas and the title reappeared in the title for his tenth anniversary compilation album, Suavemente... Los Éxitos.
Track listings
CD, Maxi- Side A
- "Suavemente" [Spanglish Dance Mix] (4:19)
- "Suavemente" [Spanglish Edit] (4:27)
- Side B
- "Suavemente" [The Factory Dance Mix] (6:40)
- "Suavemente" [Dance Radio Edit] (4:19)
12"
- "Suavemente" [Cibola Mix] (3:30)
- "Suavemente" [Hot Head Mix] (3:17)
- "Suavemente" [Cibola Extended Club] (5:35)
- "Suavemente" [Dance Sugar Mix] (4:19)
Chart performance
Suavamente debuted at #15 on the Hot Latin Tracks in April 1998 and jumped to #6 a week later. On May 16, 1998, the song peaked at #1 for six consecutive weeks. The song reached number-ten on the Billboard Top Latin Songs Year-End Chart of 1998. It became the second merengue song to reach number-one on Hot Latin Tracks after Juan Luis GuerraJuan Luis Guerra
Juan Luis Guerra is a singer, songwriter and producer from the Dominican Republic who has sold over 30 million records, and won numerous awards including 12 Latin Grammy Awards, two Grammy Awards, and two Latin Billboard Music Awards...
's El Costo de la Vida.
| Chart (1998/1999) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
84 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Latin Tracks | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Latin Tropical/Salsa Airplay Latin Tropical Airplay The Tropical Songs is a record chart published on Billboard magazine established in 1994 with the first number-one song to be published was "En Las Nubes" by Edgar Joel. It features Latin music information from tropical music such as salsa, merengue, bachata, cumbia, and vallenato... |
1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales | 7 |
| U.S. Billboard Dance Music/Club Play Singles | 46 |
Reception
Suavemente received generally positive reviews from critics. Terry Jenkins of Allmusic notes it as one of the highlights of the album of "wonderfully seductive" songs. An "editorial review" of the album, Ramiro Burr of Amazon.comAmazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
praised Suavemente as of one the two songs along with Tu Sonrisa alone worth the cost of the album. In 1999 Suavamente received Lo Nuestro award
Lo Nuestro Awards
Lo Nuestro is an awards show honoring the best of Latin music, presented by television network Univision. The awards began in 1989. Notable recipients include Selena, Gloria Estefan, Juan Gabriel, Olga Tañón, Marc Anthony, Ricky Martin, Juanes, Laura Pausini, Luis Miguel, Maná, Juan Luis Guerra, ...
for "Tropical Song of the Year" and two Billboard Latin Music
Billboard Latin Music Awards
The Billboard Latin Music Awards grew out of the Billboard Music Awards program from Billboard Magazine, an industry publication charting the sales and radio airplay success of musical recordings. The awards began in 1990...
awards for "Tropical/Salsa Hot Latin Track of the Year" and "Latin Dance Max-Single of the Year". Crespo responded to the success by stating that "It took me by surprise, although I had many years of experience, first in the chorus and then as a singer in Grupomanía. I believe that it's a challenge because I have to take on the responsibility to be consistent in my future projects."
Scooter version
In 2005, GermanGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
group Scooter
Scooter (band)
Scooter are a German hard dance band founded in Hamburg, who have sold over 25 million records and earned over 80 gold and platinum awards. Scooter are considered the most successful single-record German act with 23 top ten hits. The band is currently composed of members H.P. Baxxter, Rick J....
covered the song on their album Mind The Gap. It was released as the fourth and final single from the album. The music video for Suavemente features a tropical scene, with the three band members at the time (H. P. Baxxter
H. P. Baxxter
H.P. Baxxter , is a German entertainer and the frontman of the techno group Scooter. He founded Scooter with his friend Rick J. Jordan in 1993.-Early life:...
, Rick J. Jordan
Rick J. Jordan
Rick J. Jordan is a sound designer, audio engineer and song composer in the German band Scooter.On stage, Rick's main instruments are the and a...
, and Jay Frog) celebrating.
Track listings
CD Single & Download- "Suavemente" [Radio Edit] (3:35)
- "Suavemente" [Extended] (5:42)
- "Suavemente" [Club Mix] (6:48)
- "Suavemente" [Original Club] (3:30)
- "Trance Atlantic" [Club Mix] (4:05)
12"
- "Suavemente" [Extended] (5:42)
- "Suavemente" [Club Mix] (6:48)
Chart performance
| Chart (2005) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Singles Chart Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
27 |
| Belgium (Flanders) Singles Chart Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... |
25 |
| Belgium (Wallonia) Singles Chart Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... |
7 |
| Danish Singles Chart Tracklisten Tracklisten is a Danish top 40 record chart that is presented every Thursday midnight at .The weekly Danish Singles Chart also known as Track Top-40 combines the 40 best selling tracks from legal music downloads and the sales of music singles on either CD or vinyl... |
10 |
| German Singles Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
22 |
| Netherlands Singles Chart MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
18 |
| Spanish Singles Chart | 17 |
| Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
58 |
| Swiss Singles Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
39 |
Other covers
The song has been covered by Super Bandido, Breky, BrixxBrixx
Brixx was a Danish pop group which represented Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 1982, in which it sang "Video, Video".The group members were Brixx Hawthorne, Jens Brixtofte, John Hatting, Torben Jacobse, Steen Eljer Olsen and Bjørn Holmgård Sørensen....
featuring Paul Cless, Cuba Club, Danio Crespo, Israel Palma, Johnny Quintana, Ritmo Bros, Toño Rosario
Toño Rosario
Máximo Antonio del Rosario , commonly known as Toño Rosario, is a Grammy-award nominee Merengue musician born in the Dominican Republic.-Biography:Tono Rosario is a singer-songwriter, arranger and producer...
, and Los Temibles del Norte. Banda Superbandido's version reached #29 on Latin Regional Mexican Airplay.
Brixx
Brixx
Brixx was a Danish pop group which represented Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 1982, in which it sang "Video, Video".The group members were Brixx Hawthorne, Jens Brixtofte, John Hatting, Torben Jacobse, Steen Eljer Olsen and Bjørn Holmgård Sørensen....
's version of the song features German singer Paul Cless reached #28 the European Hot 100 singles chart. Angie Martinez
Angie Martinez
Angela "Angie" Martinez is an American radio personality and occasional rapper.-Radio career:Angie Martinez got her first break in radio at the age of 16 answering hot lines at the urban radio station WQHT . There she met popular DJ Funkmaster Flex, and began working as his protégé...
's song, "Coast 2 Coast", features Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean is a Haitian musician, record producer, and politician. At age nine, Jean moved to the United States with his family and has spent much of his life in the country...
singing excerpts from Suavemente. It has also been sampled in the 2011 song Suave (Kiss Me)
Suave (Kiss Me)
"Suave " is a song by American singer-songwriter Nayer featuring Swedish-Congolese singer-songwriter Mohombi and American rapper Pitbull. It was released on August 2, 2011 by Mr. 305 and 2101 Records . Produced by RedOne, the song interpolates elements from the 1998 Elvis Crespo song "Suavemente"...
by Nayer
Nayer
Nayer Regalado better known mononymously as Nayer, is an American singer-songwriter and model. She is best known as a featured artist on Pitbull's 2011 hit single "Give Me Everything."- Early life and career :...
featuring Pitbull
Pitbull (rapper)
Armando Christian Pérez , better known by his stage name Pitbull, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter and record producer. His first recorded performance was from the Lil Jon album Kings of Crunk in 2002, after which he released his debut album in 2004 titled M.I.A.M.I. under TVT Records...
& Mohombi
Mohombi
Mohombi Nzasi Moupondo , known professionally as Mohombi, is a Swedish-Congolese R&B singer-songwriter and dancer. He grew up in one of Stockholm's suburbs called Norsborg, Stockholm. Mohombi is RedOne's first signing to 2101 Records in joint venture with Universal Music Group...
.
See also
- List of number-one Billboard Hot Latin Tracks of 1998
- List of number-one Billboard Hot Tropical Songs from the 1990s