Today, Selena Quintanilla would have been 44 years old. It’s a fool’s exercise to try to imagine where she’d be or the music she’d be making had she not been gunned down by Yolanda Saldívar 20 years ago, but you can bet she would have been a legend.
“Bidi Bidi Bom Bom” tends to be the track most people know—a crossover cumbia jam all about her heartbeat—but as her late-career (sadface) hits go, I’m partial to “Amor Prohibido,” above, about star-crossed lovers, which showed off her incredible range. In various styles of música Latina, the most beloved artists are vessels for raw and often heartbreaking emotion in addition to their pop appeal through personality and style. It’s why everyone loves Romeo Santos, with his own, very modern take on amor prohibido, and it’s why we loved Selena. She was young, but goddamn, she meant it.
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