Bailamos - Song Information

Song Information

"Bailamos" was written by Paul Barry and Mark Taylor and produced by Barry and Brian Rawling, the same team which wrote and produced Cher's hit "Believe". The track first appeared on a limited edition of his Spanish studio album Cosas del Amor and was released as a single in parts of Latin America and Europe. After attending one of Enrique's concerts, Will Smith asked Enrique to contribute to the soundtrack of his upcoming movie Wild Wild West and Bailamos was chosen to appear. The song quickly became most requested on pop radio in New York, Los Angeles and Miami. Due to the song's popularity, it was released as a single throughout the world. In English, Bailamos means "We Dance" (We Are Dancing), or in this case, "Let's Dance". In the United States, the song was seen as part of a wave of crossover music from Latin American singers and a general increase in interest in Latin music, which was started by Ricky Martin's release "Livin' La Vida Loca". The single reached number one on the US pop charts, making it Iglesias' first chart topper on Billboard's Hot 100. The Latin song "Smooth" by Carlos Santana released at the end of the year was one of the most successful songs in chart history. Its immense success could, to some extent, be credited to "Bailamos"' and other Latin pop songs during the era. The success of "Bailamos" was a breakthrough for Iglesias, which enabled him to sign a multi-album deal with Interscope. The song would go on to appear on his debut English album Enrique, though slightly altered to fit with the sound of the album. The soundtrack version has a different arrangement in mix from the Album Version.