The legendary success of Papa Yankee, “Petrol”which opened the doors to the international reggaeton music market became RNational Recording Registry of the Library of Congress from the United States.
Along with Gasolina, the Library of Congress has added 24 other recordings to its national registry, including Flashdance…What a Feeling (1983), performed by Irene Karawho died last November and has a Puerto Rican father.
“Gasolina” is the first reggaeton recording to be part of the US National Registry, the Library of Congress reported.
Learning about the recognition his hit song “Gasolina” was receiving, Daddy Yankee explained, “When you do things with love, passion, determination and discipline, and add to that the support of all my wonderful people for more than three decades, everything what you dream of may be possible”.
“I look forward to this moment in the studio recording ‘Gasolina,’ and to have it in the Library of Congress now, almost 20 years later, is an inexplicable pride for me,” added the artist.
The song, which is part of the album Barrio Fino, debuted at number one on the Top Latin Albums Chart. In 2005, Daddy Yankee became the first reggaeton nominee for a Latin Grammy in the Record of the Year category with Gasolina.
Daddy Yankee has hinted that he is retiring from music. But before he ends his musical career, he said he will be offering concerts in Puerto Rico this year.
“The closure goes to my house,” said the artist when he had to postpone his concerts planned for last January.
The songs that belong to the Class of 2023 include other compositions that have become legends, such as “Imagine” by John Lennon and Yoko Ono (1971); Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” (1971); Madonna’s Like a Virgin (1984); “All I Want for Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey (1994); and “All Hail the Queen” by Queen Latifah.
Also selected as musical treasures were John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” (1971); “Margaritaville” sung by Jimmy Buffett (1977); and “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)”, performed by Eurythmics (1983).
The oldest of the 25 recordings is “The Very First Mariachi Recordings” from 1908 and 1909, made in Mexico City by four musicians from the Mexican state of Jalisco as a gift to the President of that North American country.
According to the Library of Congress, academics and audio archivists reissued the album in 1998.
Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress, reported that they received more than 1,100 nominations this year.
“The National Library is proud to help ensure that these records are preserved for generations to come, and we welcome public input on which song, speech, podcast or recorded sound we should preserve next.” stressed Hayden.
Class 2023 of the National Recording Registry contains the first sounds of a video game, the theme of Super Mario Bros, composed by the Japanese Koji Kondo. The film “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is currently in cinemas.
Under a 2000 law, the Librarian of Congress holder, with guidance from the National Recording Preservation Board, selects 25 titles each year that are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” and were publicly featured at least 10 years ago.
With the 25 recordings of the Class of 2023, the national register has 625. But the library has a collection of almost 4 million recordings.
Last year, Puerto Rican star Ricky Martin’s hit song “Livin’ la Vida Loca,” composed by Draco Rosa, was included in that prestigious list of recordings.
Previously, Puerto Rican artists included Eddie Palmieri’s album Azúcar Pa’ Ti (1965); “Lamento Borincano” by Rafael Hernández performed by Canario (Manuel Jiménez) and his group; and the album “Dance Mania” by Tito Puente (1958).
There are other recordings associated with Puerto Rico, such as the album Live at Yankee Stadium by the Fania All Stars (1975); and the original cast of the musical West Side Story (1957), which also included Chita Rivera.