20 years after “Aserejé”: Diego’s drunken night which has become a worldwide success

They were 20, 21 and 23 years old. Those were the ages they were when life’s Pilar, Lola and Lucia Munoz. The three sisters born in Córdoba, Spain, who already know the music industry as the daughters of a flamenco guitarist.

At that time, the little girl, Pilar, wanted to be actressLola was finishing her degree Labor science and Lucia was hairdresser.

In August 2002 they released their first album, “Hijas del tomato”, baptized as The ketchupin direct reference to his father’s stage name, Juanma the tomato.

But despite it being their debut album, the main theme aserejé he soon began playing in discos, concert halls, bars and radios; the names of the sisters were already burned into the lists of Musical successes and especially in the hearts of millions of people around the world.

So much so that the topic was number one in more than 20 countriessold 7 million copies and quickly ranked at number 103 of the best-selling singles in music history, above “Hit me baby one more time” by Britney Spears, of the legendary Wherever, When of Shakira or of aspirant of the Spice Girls.

Asereje’s secret

aserejéwith sandunguero rhythms and dance steps similar to those of La Macarena, it has a rather peculiar refrain. “And aserejé-ja-dejé, de jebe tu de jebere seibiunouva majavi an de bugui an de güididípi”he says with a unique melody that few sing correctly.

Since the single came out, theories on meaning they have multiplied this incomprehensible saying, even circulating a rumor that associates it demonic songs in honor of Satan himself.

In fact, the lyrics are no longer far from reality. It is a young man Diegothat one evening he decides to go to the disco, slightly drunk and after having consumed a substance.

“Diego comes to celebrate, with the moon in his eyes and his seawater suit, the smuggling remains”. Diego is a friend of the disco DJso you decide to ask him to play his favorite song, “Rapper’s delight” by the American hip-hop trio The Sugarhill Gangappeared in 1979.

Diego, who is not fluent in English and who has also had a few drinks too many, fails to sing the lyrics correctly and distorts the melody. The result is the famous Asereje refrain.

Thus, Rapper’s Delight says, in English: “I said-a hip, hop, hippie, hippie to hip hip hop-a don’t stop the rock, it to the bang-bang boogie, let’s say, skip the boogie, to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat” .

If it’s sung fast and poorly, the result is similar to the Las Ketchup theme. “It seemed strange to us, really, and we thought the chorus was impossible to sing, but that same day it came out,” explained one of the sisters in an interview with EFE.

A devastating phenomenon (and conflicts)

Who says success says money. Las Ketchup’s record sales exploded during the summer of 2002, which started a lawsuit between the record label. Shaketown Musicmanufacturer of Asereje and the multinational Sonyresponsible for the distribution of the individual.

Shaketown is suing Sony for breach of contract, claiming they only received payments for 200,000 of the 7 million copies sold. At that time, there was no trace of what the outcome of the complaint was.

Asereje changed radically -but just for a while- the life of the three sisterswhose popularity waning came after her performance at the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, which ranked modest 21st with the song a bloody Maria.

A short but intense race. “The only promotion that was done, which wasn’t promotion, was to send us to Eurovision”Protested Lucía in an interview with La Sexta, calling the group’s decline in popularity unfair.

Today, The ketchup continue to do star appearances as guests in programs around the world.

In 2021 they performed for the Polish TV during the migration crisis on the border with Belarus, according to the news portal Notes from Poland: “Encourage the Polish troops in these difficult times”.

A controversial concert that soon drew strong criticism on Twitter, which claimed it wasn’t the best time to sing a song like aserejétoo festive and moved.

Isabel Carrillo de Albornoz, The Vanguard.