Maestro Don sees benefits in experimenting with languages - ‘Señorita’ collaboration making waves in Latin market

Recording artistes have successfully charmed their way into Latin markets by dropping one liners and even one word in Spanish in their lyrics.

Convicted dancehall star Vybz Kartel is notorious for this style with tracks like Mamacita and Mi Amor and recording artistes, having seen the benefit of using a second language, are taking notes.

Fast-rising dancehall deejay Maestro Don said that while attending Kingston College, he paid keen attention in Spanish class.

"I did that up until third form, then my attention shifted to music more than schoolwork," he told THE STAR. The artiste, given name Jason Dunn, quickly earned the alias 'Maestro', which coincidentally is a Spanish word for 'teacher'. Years later he had a collaboration with fellow artiste D'Yani and producer Kev Star Records titled Senorita.

"I have actually noticed a steady growth in listenership and in the number of fans across the Latin market, Panama and Puerto Rico for starters, and also in Italy, since the release of the single," said Maestro Don. "I definitely think it benefits artistes who know a second language because it enables them to correspond, through music, to a whole different diaspora of people. Hence, it will develop a new fan base and propel his or her music across borders that the average song with plain English would not."

It is also a favourite among female fans, and, for this, the entertainer credits D'Yani for his smooth vocals on the chorus and Kev Star for the sensual instrumental composition.

"Some Jamaican women find it intriguing when men address them in a foreign language. It is seen as a romantic gesture. Just the mere fact that just a small percentage of Jamaicans know or can speak a second language fluently, that alone may spark the interests of a female," he said. "I have never done so before, but I have been around friends who use that approach and I see the effect it has."

Great milestone

On YouTube, the music video, which features several female models and dancers seductively moving to the rhythm, has garnered 2.7 million views, and more than 500,000 streams on Audiomack.

"This is a great milestone, especially with it reflecting in the streaming numbers. It shows how popular and successful Senorita is. I'm elated about the added popularity to the image and name Maestro Don. This is just the beginning of what is to come," he said. Kev Star is just as excited about the collaboration which was first conceptualised in 2017.

"It wasn't the intention to attract the Latin market but just to create a banger that would have an impact both locally and abroad with the two uprising artistes. However, we do have an interest to do a reggaeton-type remix to Senorita and dive deeper into the language," he said.