Jennifer Lopez, Shakira and Ricky Martin.

Do you remember the turn of the century when the airwaves were dominated by the sounds of Latin music? Well, if you’re too young to envision the age when Ricky Martin, Shakira and Jennifer Lopez ruled the world, this edition of Way Back Wednesday will remind you of that time!

Gloria Estefan and Selena scored several Latin music hits in the early 1990s but it wasn’t until Los del Rio’s inescapable ‘Macarena’ launched onto the charts in 1995 did the movement really gain momentum. Indeed, from that moment until about 2004, the hip-shaking flavour of the Latin music era was reigned.

Watch some of the leading artists of the Latin music mania in action below:

Enrique Iglesias – ‘Bailamos’

Jennifer Lopez – ‘Get Loud’

Los del Rio – ‘Macarena’

Marc Anthony – ‘I Need To Know’

Ricky Martin – ‘Livin’ la Vida Loca’

Shakira – ‘Objection Tango’

What was most enjoyable about the Latin music era was that it was a true expression of culture. Drums, guitars, rhythm and tempo were the foundation of that period, instead of the baseless synths and redundant auto-tune of today’s Pop music.

It is highly unlikely that we will witness a Latin music chart revival any time soon but there is so much that we could learn from the acts of that movement. Most importantly, artists could learn to appreciate having a sense of identity and culture rather than simply fitting in with the crowd to score a trendy hit.

Thoughts?