Following up their trilingual collaboration with Leslie Grace and Play-N-Skillz on “Lo Siento,” the K-pop megastars Super Junior continues their push for the Latin American market, this time actually taking on the task of singing fully in Spanish. Their new EP “One More Time,” which features different Latin rhythms and even the cachanilla band Reik on the single, includes an unexpected cover of el Sol de Mexico’s 1987’s hit “Ahora Te Puedes Marchar.”
#SuperJunior cantando una de #LuisMiguel I can’t believe it ? #ahoratepuedesmarchar @SJofficial pic.twitter.com/XCskGWuvl8
— Eleonora (@EleAngeles) October 8, 2018
“Our slogan is ‘No challenge, no change.’ So we’re trying to open the door to a new market,” Siwon Choi, a member of the Hallyu group, told Remezcla this summer. And with “Ahora te puedes marchar,” a Luis Miguel classic that propelled him to superstardom across Latin America, and a feature with a mainstream act on their latest single, the South Korean outfit proves that “Lo Siento” wasn’t a one-off or a conceptual gimmick: they’re actually targeting the market.
A wedding and 3 a.m. ‘80s medley at a Mexican club staple, Super Junior slightly rearranged the Grammy-nominated song to have a more modern edge and reflect their funkier signature sound. And though none of the current seven members (the group’s lineup changes depending on military conscriptions and other issues) speak Spanish, their pronunciation is spot-on.
The last couple of years have seen more K-pop artists acknowledge not only their Latinx fans, but Latin America as a profitable market to pursue outside of Asia. Last month, the septet GOT7 released a Spanish version of their single “Lullaby,” and in 2015, Mexican boy band CD9 collaborated with K-pop girl group Crayon Pop on “Get Dumb” and the band Lunafly even released an entire album in Spanish.