#2 Juan Luis Guerra

The Dominican Republic is a country that loves music-it is an integral part of the culture (along with plantains). Now, ask any Dominican and they will tell you without missing a beat (ha! pun intended) that Juan Luis Guerra is the greatest living Dominican musician.

Guerra takes a vast array of musical genres [jazz, bolero, bachata, merengue, salsa, rock, gospel, African] and blends them into his own unique style. His musical influences include The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, the Rolling Stones, Pat Metheny, and Chick Corea (pretty diverse for an islander). He even traveled across an ocean to refine his skills at Berklee’s College of Music. Dominicans love it when other Dominicans know their shit!

The folks on the east side of Hispanola aren’t the only ones who have praised Juan Luis Guerra’s talent. He has sold over 14 million albums worldwide (no, they weren’t purchased by only Dominican folks) and has won TEN Grammy awards. The world hearts this man!

And another thing…not only does his music have an amazing sound, he is also an incredible lyricist. A modern day Shakespeare, a master of the Spanish language, a 20th century poet -however you wish to say it-the man has a way with words.

As wonderful & talented as Mr. Guerra is-there is one tiny detail that causes excruciating pain for the Dominican people: It is impossible to translate one of his songs into English without sounding like a complete crackhead. It makes it very difficult for Dominicans to share their love of Juan Luis Guerra and his music with the English/any other language speaking masses. Because quite frankly, it’s just a tad silly.

Example: What is perhaps one of the most romantic phrases ever uttered in the Spanish language follows…

Quisiera ser un pez, Para tocar mi nariz en tu pecera, y hacer burbujas de amor donde quiera, ohhhh, pasar la noche en vela, mojado en ti-un pez. Para bordar de corales tu cintura, ya hacer siluetas de amor bajo la luna, saciar esta locura-mojado en ti.

Gorgeous right? Don’t you just want to run off to make burbujas de amor? Well…here is that same exact phrase in English.

I would like to be a fish, and put my nose up against your fishbowl and blow bubbles of love all over…ohh to spend a sleepless night soaked in you. A fish, to decorate your hips with corals, and make silhouettes of love under the moon, ease this madness, soaked in you.

Right. Still pretty romantic. Just…a tad…odd. No matter though! Juan Luis Guerra is one of the DR’s most beloved sons. He can do no wrong. He can accept Jesus Christ as his personal savior. He can wear hats all the friggen time. He can even do remixes of his songs with the Black Eyed Peas! Dominicans will always love him. I’m talking Whitney in ‘The Body Guard’ always love him. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go check on things outside-I’m pretty sure it just started raining coffee beans.