Edgar Ricardo Arjona Morales, known as Ricardo Arjona, is a Guatemalan singer-songwriter as well as a former basketball player and school teacher. He is considered one of the most successful Latin American artists with more than 20 million albums sold. Known for his lyrical style and his ability to beautifully address topics like love, sexuality, violence, racism, and immigration in his music, he has won numerous Latin music awards including one Grammy, one Latin Grammy, and two Billboard Latin Music Awards.
In 1996, Ricardo Arjona released his sixth studio album, entitled Si el Norte Fuera el Sur. This song contains a powerful message about the division between the United States and Latin America. It pushes us to visualize a different world where Latin America would be located in North America, and the United States in South America. In this upside down world we would find a Disneyland in Guatemala, Che Guevara would make double meat burgers, and people would try to escape to a better life from Miami to Havana.
The main message of this song composed by Ricardo Arjona himself, is to break free of geography and its limitations to live in a society where we accept each other and live truly free lives. As Ghandi once said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
All big changes start from within.
Live, let live, and be free mis amigos!
