In Miami, it’s not snow or nippy weather that ushers in the holiday season. Instead, it’s the constant replays of the Santa’s Enchanted Forest commercial on TV, and, perhaps more importantly, Power 96 giving airtime to its remix versions of “Mi Burrito Sabanero.” For Miamians, it’s an anthem. The bop has been played on the radio for a majority of many young people’s lives – if not all their lives. Even those who come from non-Spanish speaking homes have a soft spot for the tune.
“Mi Burrito Sabanero,” originally written by Hugo Blanco in the 1970s, is popular throughout Latin America. But sometime in the ’90s, DJ Laz introduced a Miami bass version of the song, which prominently features Ricardo Cuenci and the Venezuelan Children’s Choir, who are heard on the song’s most popular version.
In the late 1990s, the station hired A.T. Molina to make it fresh once again. “I arranged and produced it … and it took fire with the station,” Molina told The New Tropic. “It got played every year.”
And it still does. Listen to the iconic Miami song below, and then check out tweets about why this song will always be a banger.