Hi everyone! I was listening to the radio the other day and Las Ketchup was on the radio! I was so excited! "Asereje" was on Z100 (I think that only comes into NY)and the next day, everyone at school was singing it. I was so happy because my mom, Esperanza, had already had the CD for a few weeks to show her class...I just had to tell everyone (that lives in NY, at least) that Las Ketchup is BIG in the US now!

Hi marisa4444!
I've never heard of Las Ketchup but then I don't know most of Spain's pop-singers/groups. The song you heard on the radio in New York, was it in English or Spanish? I'm quite sure I haven't heard it here in Columbus, Ohio but then they never ever ever ever ever (twist my arm 'til it breaks) play ANY Spanish-language songs on our radio stations unless it's by chance on National Public Radio but that's it. I'm sure they play it in places like California, New Mexico, & Florida as well. But I'm happy you could hear it in New York! That's great!

Hi MadridMan...YOU HAVEN'T HEARD OF THEM?!? Las Ketchup is a pop group from southern Spain, and they are three sisters that named themselves "Las Ketchup" because their father, a flamenco dancer, was named "Tomate". I am sure that you have heard the "Macarena", right? Well, if you have, you might know that that was a popular song for a while...people are saying that "Asereje"(which, is not in english OR spanish, it is gibberish!)will be the new "macarena" of 2002-03! I am just so excited that a spanish group is becoming popular in the US!!!

Hey! I'm listening to their song " Aserejé " now and YES! I KNOW THAT SONG!!!!!!!

Terra has a good page on them (in Spanish) along with the song "Aserejé" they also have THE VIDEO of the same song.

By the way, don't even bother visiting LasKetchup.com . It's a VERY unofficial website "dedicated" very little to the group. It seems Las Ketchup doesn't yet have their own official website setup yet.

Also, it seems, at least to me, that Heinz Ketchup is either "backing" them in a HUGE way financially or Las Ketchup is making some good money from the big ketchup maker as celebrity spokespersons.

Enjoy the video and song! (click those links above to hear/see them in the window's RealOne player)

Saludos, MadridMan

It has been the song of this summer.
The song has been nº1 in 11 european countries and 3 other more in Southamerica. There is a version in Spanish and another one in Spanglish and maybe they will sing now another one in mandarín, although the chorus is a fonetic aproximation to the one of rapper's delight.
Today there's an article in El País :
http://www.elpais.es/articulo.html?d_dat...nchor=elpepiult

Las Ketchup in the USA??? Thanks so much for the heads up Marisa!!! When I studied in spain over the summer, my host brothers got me addicted to this group! I have been trying to hunt down their cd here, with no luck of course....maybe soon though

We got the CD ( which includes a DVD with the song, the kareoke version and an intro to the song) thru Best Buy and it came within a few days. BTW my students felt so excited to have heard the song on the radio here in NY, they had already heard it in my class and saw the videoclip from the DVD and got a kick out of it.

Wow!! thanks esperanza... I will definitely be ordering that cd

Las Ketchup definitely reached the usa! The Caroline Rhea show recently featured their music!( http://caroline.warnerbros.com/ )

OK, First let me say that normally I am a big fan of cheesy spanish pop music (mainly for nostalgic reasons), but Asereje? Come on! When I returned to Spain for two weeks this summer I was innundated with this song everywhere I turned, I really think spanish pop music has sunken to a new low- and when you consider that last spring/summer's hot song was Papa Levante's "Me pongo Colorada", you can begin to realize how low that is. Las Krap has simply taken Papa Levante's look (check out their stage show and horrible dance moves - they look awfully similiar), and stolen one of the first hip hop songs and massacred it with their terrible pronunciation!!

I could understand how the people of Spain could get caught up in the Las Krapchup (mainly the large amount of alcohol consumption and very little sleep), but dammit, I expect more out of my countrymen.

First I had to accept the fact that American Idol was a big hit in America, and now this!! Of all the wonderful things from spain we could of had imported to this country - the wine, flamenco, tapas, the women, SIESTAS - and we end up with Asereje.

Some Luck.

And now it's No 1 in the charts in the UK!

Bocata King, would you feel any better if a lovely española sang you the song "te mASEREJE" or rather "te masajaré"?

I didn't want to pronounce myself but.. I hate Aserejé!!!

From the first time I heard it I couldn't stand it. There are much better musicians with much better songs in Spain (have you ever heard Revolver/Carlos Goñi?).

Now my nightmares are coming to hunt me... not only I had to listen it during the summer, but I will have to see on the news (once more, as with the Macarena) some US Secretaries dancing it! GOD!

Forbid it! Make a law so we can just live! :p

Fernando

I'm in agreement with Bocata King & Fernando. The song sucks. I'd rather listen to Alvin & The Chipmunks doing an opera than this song. I tried listening to it several times and came away with a worse feeling for it each time.

Just because it's Spanish doesn't mean it's great. There's a lot of great Spanish music out there, but this certainly isn't going to be remembered as a classic (fortunately).

Then there's the video. I don't understand what crotch shots has to do with dancing or music --- or am I missing something. Maybe a Pagan ritual?

Wolf (Who does listen to Spanish music part of the time via the I-net, but makes it a point to change stations when this one plays. I don't want to have nightmares over it like Fernando - Geez! )

Yes there are other spanish groups that I enjoy much more than Las Ketchup...but I think it is a fun song! Any time a little bit of spain makes it to the usa, I applaud it!

Everyone repeat after me:

Aserejé ja de jé dejebe tude jebe desebi unouba majabi an de bugui an de buididipi.

Are you still practising the choreography?

The first time I heard the song I thought it was funny but I must confess that after having heard it 1348 times, it becomes a nightmare if you're not drunk enough.

Chica,

You've got that right! That is about the only thing that could improve this song!

BK

'Las Ketchup' have reached west coast! (before my post, i'm sure)

what a hilarious video and idea altogether!! that is so @$#@ typical of the Spanish!! so *clever*!! i love it...

i see it the same as the macarena craze of yesteryear, only cooler. that dance they were calling the macarena was around for a long time before they made that cheesy song, so it was amazing to see that sweep the world when all it was was a dance that you see everyone do at pueblo fairs, encierros, saint's day celebrations, and whatnot...

who says Spain does not still influence the world!?!

Andrew
:wq

Does this actually mean ANYTHING or is it just total jibberish? It seems it MUST be an actual sentence turned into marble-mouth-Spanish. No?? I'm trying to sing along while reading these "lyrics" (term used VERY loosely here) and it's tough! I'd like to "Amaze my Friends!" and "Impress Strangers!" by signing along with this one when I go to Spain next.

Saludos, MadridMan

It means absolutely nothing!

It is like if you say lalalalala following the melody of the song.

Fernando

I love all sorts of music, and I think Asereje is original and great!! It is one of my running songs. Of course there is better music in Spanish, but I can't help liking this one.

the chorus comes from a fonetic aproximation of Rapper's delight's
It's something like :
I sing an n on an n....
or something like that, I can't remember ...
I like the song, I find it funny and fresh, It was a real bomb when we first listen to it in May in the feria de Córdoba. Fortunately, I have been out of Spain in August and I could scape from the summer bombing, obviously it becomes boring after so many times, but I think it's better than many other summer songs, just thinking in Georgie Dann and his 'Mama que será lo que quiere el negro' frightens me.
No comment about the dance.

I have had enough of this song already! The only reason they play it over here is to annoy everyone, I'm sure! It beat S Club Junoirs to No.1 over here. I'm not sure which is worse. Pre pubescent teenagers singing about loving (do they actually know what it IS??) or the blinking ketchup song!!!
Castiza, does that mean you've actually been COUNTING the number of times you hear it? You keeping a tally on your bedroom wall?

well i would sure rather hear this song over and over than any more crap like:

eminem
n sync
shakira
back street boyz
etc...

know what i'm sayyin??!!

Okay it's Friday night, I've just got home after a shortened Friday Night Club at the local bar, put on the TV and saw, via satellite from England, Top Of The Pops..... There they were!! LAS KETCHUP! Nº 1 in the charts! Great stuff!

Now I'm off to catch a bus into San Pedro de Alcantara, where they are currently celebrating the last feria of the year on this coast. I wonder how many times I will hear this bloomin' song before the night is over?? Who cares - it's fun!! ¡Viva Las Ketchup!

From CNN.com:

http://www.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/Music/10/18/the.ketchup.song.ap/index.html

HEY! Interesting Las Ketchup article. And, according to CNN.com, they have a website too! (not much of a website though but what can you do when you're forced to "throw together" something in minutes, right? hehehe... - and get this!!!) It's @ http://www.theketchupsong.com/ & operated by Sony Music. (They JUST registerd this domain name, TheKetchupSong.com, on September 10th!)

In the article, it states: Hahahaha!! Thanks, Fernando!! hehehehe.. Just as you said!

And then the article says, just at the end:

As a follow-up of the Spanish->English translation thread, here's the song "Asereje" run through an Altavista translator. I think it makes just as much sense in "English" as it does in the original "Spanish."

Sight which is approached around the corner comes Diego plotting a course. With the moon in the pupils and their suit marine water it seems of contraband. And where but it does not fit a soul alli puts to occur to cane poseido by the rate ragatanga. And dj that knows headress the hymn the twelve for Diego the wished song but and dances it, and it enjoys it and it sings it... Aserejé, ja leaves tejebe tude jebere sebiunouba majabi an of bugui an of buididipí (x3) is not thing of brujeria that finds cough the days by where I am walking. Diego has chuleria and that afrogitano point of alegria rastafari and where but alli does not fit a soul puts to occur to cane poseido by the rate ragatanga. And dj that knows headress the hymn the twelve for Diego the wished song but and dances it, and it enjoys it and it sings it... Aserejé, ja leaves tejebe tude jebere sebiunouba majabi an of bugui an of buididipí (x3)

MMan, it's total jibberish that's supposed to sound a little like the lyrics of the Rapper's delight tune (also with a strong andalucian accent).
I believe it to be the same rap that an old lady sung in the movie "The wedding singer", but I might be wrong....
'Las Ketchup' so far, are nothing but a trio of andalucian sisters with a lot of 'cachondeo' about them, they confess to be 'halucinando', 'cause "half the world" is dancing a super-silly coreography that they came up with one day in their home just goofing around....has anyone heard any other song (apart from Aserejé) from these 'hijas del tomate'?

------------------------------------------------

Ooops! sorry getlemen, I posted the above info, before reading that Fernando had already replied to you MMan....

Tara,

Apart from the 'estribillo'(=refrain¿?), the rest of the lyrics do make sense in Spanish!
Never, never trust on-line translators! Once at work I was asked to translate the company's webpage in only two days; but I had lots of other stuff to do, so on the second day I became worried that I wouldn't meet that ridiculous deadline, and I thought maybe I could use a little help from one of these "magic translators", I tried, and....The moment I read that a French guy's name, Christophe Bacon(a manager) had been translated as 'el tocino de Christophe'(Christophe the pig), I knew that these "way-too-literal-translations" would never work!...

OK, so I guess most of you do NOT like "Asereje", but is it that you don't like Las Ketchup in general or that "Asereje" is just an annoying song?

Marisa,

The thing is, nobody knows any other song from them....

Fair is fair, and not all the past summer songs have been that bad; I'm thinking Alex Ubago, a total and very young newcomer, who sings a balad that I'd say has been played on the radio just as much as Aserejé, but less times in bars and discos, because it's not danceable (Aahh! back when I started going to discos, we did enjoy a time dedicated to 'las lentas', I feel so old now!). Anyway, his lyrics are surprisingly good for a teenager song-writer, and he definetely hasn't reached #1 because of his good looks, so he's worth checking out.

Today, while driving home from work I was listening to WCBE , our local National Public Radio station, they had a segment on the Spanish group, Las Ketchup, and how they STORMED onto our (the USA) radio stations just a week ago and how they're expected to reach the top of the charts here as they have in most western European countries already. Wow. Imagine my shock to turn on the radio and hear Eserejé playing in the background as they were talking about the group and their song!

Saludos, MadridMan

It's called MTD "Mad Tomato Disease"...and it's spreading! Their #2 & #3 songs on the Aserejé CD sound fun! C'mon, let's just enjoy the fun while it lasts, there's enough sadness in this world. And Luis Miguel is preparing a "bolero" lenta version of it: "Me voy a ser ejé contigo!"

I just read today that Aserejé has already been top 1 in 13 countries!!!. Macarena only made it in 8.

By the way, if anyone is curious about how to dance the Aserejé, I think Madridman is dancing it for all his beloved board members on Saturday nights. Just click here to see him live .

I agree Anchovy!!! It´s a fun song, it´s irritating in the extreme, it reached number 1 in the UK charts (!). But everyone sings along with it and everyone will remember it as the song of the summer of 2002. IT´S JUST FUN!!!!!

I think ALL of Las Ketchup's songs are good !!There is one song that I don't understand, though. Does anyone know what "Kusha Las Payas" means??

Kusha Las Payas? Mmmm, perhaps "Escucha a las payas" in a gypsie way.

Translated into english would be something like "Listen to the non-gypsie girls".

Fernando

And now..., "Aserejé" is a satanic song according to some religious authorities in Honduras...

This is an extract from Antena3 news, stating how those religion teachers equal Aserejé= A ser hereje (To be heretic) and how the phrase "Diego tiene chulería" means to them: Lucifer(Satan) was a beautiful angel.

In Spanish:

"Aserejé " es una canción satánica en Honduras
Ha sido la canción del verano y sigue rompiendo en las listas de todo el mundo. Pero el "Aserejé" de las Ketchup también tiene sus detractores. Algunos profesores de religión de Honduras han decretado que su contenido es "satánico"

Es el estribillo más cantado en medio mundo. Aparentemente una letra sin sentido que no es otra cosa que la traducción al "andaluz" de un éxitos de la música rap. Pero algunos profesores de religión de Honduras han decretado que su contenido es "satánico" y todo eso porque según dicen el Aserejé es una invitación, , A SER HEREJE. El protagonista rumbero de la canción Diego, que en la letra esta poseído por el ritmo es para estos profesores el mismísimo diablo y que la frase "Diego tiene chulería" oculta para ellos un estraño significado "Lucifer era un ángel hermoso". La encargada del Departamento Espiritual del colegio, ha aconsejado a las alumnas que la estudien para conocer su verdadero contenido en vez de prohibirles la canción. La casa discográfica de las Ketchup, Sony Music, se ha tomado a risa la denuncia. Juzguen ustedes si tiene motivos.

I found myself (TRYING TO) singing the chorus to myself ALL DAY today! It REALLY IS infectious!

Castiza, this remind me about the heavy rock songs, we were told that they had satanic messages when the records were played against the clock direction.... but who had a record player that could play in the other way??!!
Although I have heard also the news about aserejé on TV I can't hardly believe there's such a twisted mind to believe that ... people get so bored.

The song is in "Spanglish"(= little child English)
It is the story about a streetboy without education (un macho con muchas chulerias). He wears shabby clothes and likes to go to the disco. There he squeezes himself between the people and sings along an English song without knowing English.
Aserejé,ja ...= I said hey ho...

(sorry, my English is not so good as well )

Move over Azucar Moreno , these gals are taking over. Gracias MM for introducing me to Asereje, its a catchy tune. I have to buy their CD! Azucaaaar! :p

Oh, good! I am soooooo glad more people are beginning to ENJOY the song !!

Oops! It's just been banned in Honduras, because they think it has a hidden satanic message!! Must admit, the chicas don't look like princesses of darkness to me!!

Anchovy,
Those Chicas are going to laugh all the way to the bank now. Although Honduras is not Boston , all it takes is being " censored ", for a novel or album to become a best seller!

Now, let's compare the lyrics from Sugarhill's song, "Rapper's Delight", with Las Ketchup's "Eserejé".

Rapper's Delight, 1979 by Sugarhill Gang:

I said a hip hop a hippie the hippie to the hip hip hop, a you dont stop a rock to the bang bang boogy say upchuck the boogy, to the rhythm of the boogity beat.
(read the lyrics HERE in its entirety - and my god, seems to be about 10 pages total! That's fast-rappin' for ya'!)

Eserejé, 2002 by Las Ketchup:

"Aserejé ja de jé dejebe tude jebe desebi unouba majabi an de bugui an de buididipi."

hi...i was looking at z100.com and i scrolled down and saw "learn how to do the ketchup song dance!" They have instructions on how to dance to the song, sing to the song, and you can also see the music video! If you click on this , it will take you to the instructions on how to dance to Asereje.

In the new People magazine they give instructions on how to do the dance too.

Back in July's MM gathering, Miguelito was explaining the words to 'Asereje' to me, he can sing it you know!...but can he do the dance?! Aserejejejeje A man with vision.

Of course he can - there was never any doubt was there?

Click here to see the action

I'm sorry, this is the third time I have posted this picture - I just can't help it. Aserejejejeejeeheehee!

Jo

keep posting it Jo! It cracks me up everytime I see it!! And heck, we all need a good laugh every now and then...

Postable a fourth or fifth time too!

There were also 2 mentions about it in the latest Entertainment Weekly (November 1, with Avril Lavigne on the cover):
page 14: (from Hot Sheet): #15: Las Ketchup: The Spanish group's novelty song "The Ketchup Song (Hey Hah)" could be the next "Macarena." And the band could be the next what's-their-name.
page 21: A nice excerpt with a picture of the 3 of them; brief write-up compares it to Macarena and is very complementary toward it (keep in mind, this is a very pop culture-focused magazine).
Also, on Univision 's news tonight there was an a segment about the Honduras-Satanic-message thing, but also another theory that they advocate smoking marijuana, as proven if you play it backwards. One host believes it's a marketing ploy hatched by the group's management to get additional publicity, and he thinks it's ingenious.
And finally, the Mexican City Operacion Triunfo kids did a version of this on one of their recent segments: (you need Real One Player):
C LICK HERE!!

Has anyone heard "the Ketchup song"(asereje...but in ENGLISH !) It is sooooo horrible! The parts of the song that were understandable and NOT in gibberish were translated into english ( ) and all they left of the original song is the "asereje ja etc. part!

I also heard the english version the other day . You are correct, the song really loses something in the translation...Not to mention, I had to really concentrate to understand the english version, the lyrics of the original spanish version are much easier to understand !

it IS harder to understand the english version!!! Well...that makes the original even better !

HOLA
I have been in Spain THis summer, and I love "ASEREJE".
BUT!!!Yesterday I heard this song has been sang in CHINESE!!!(In Taiwan)
The singer are a group of young boys, and I think it's their debut song.
OH~~MY~~GOD~~~"ASEREJE" IN MANDARIN~~~~~~
It's horrible......

Mandarin?!?!?!?! wow! I knew Asereje was popular but that seems rediculous...wouldn't it be hard to translate spanish and gibberish into Mandarin?

[originally posted by Booklady on 11-29-2002 12:16 PM]
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Great New York Times article about Las Ketchup!
New York Times 11/29/02 International Edition!

MADRID, Nov. 28 — It began almost as a joke, a garbled tribute to one of rap's earliest hits. But "Asereje," the single recorded by Las Ketchup, has become a global phenomenon, selling four million copies, topping the charts in 17 countries and sneaking into the United States in a Spanglish version known as "The Ketchup Song," just as the Christmas party season gets under way.

"We weren't expecting to be a success even in Spain," Lola Muñoz, one of three sisters who make up Las Ketchup, said in a phone interview.

"We went into the recording studio almost as a joke," she said. "But the single began to get radio play and everyone liked it, so we finished the album very quickly and set out to do a lot of promotion in Spain."

It worked. The song is so infectious and, in Spain, so ubiquitous, that here even toddlers recognize the opening beats and start to dance, their less than slick moves still faithful to Las Ketchup's arm-waving, hand-crossing, knee-knocking style.

Comparisons with "La Macarena," the last Spanish dance-along song to conquer the world, are inevitable, but many here say they find "The Ketchup Song" significantly less annoying.

The Muñoz sisters — Pilar, Lucía and Lola — called themselves Las Ketchup as a tribute to their father, a flamenco guitarist known as El Tomate, or Tomato, from the southern city of Córdoba, famous for its gorgeous Moorish mosque and long history of flamenco music and dance.

The three had no particular pop ambitions. Pilar, the eldest, is an actress. Lucía, the youngest, was singing in a flamenco fusion group while Lola was completing a university degree in industrial relations — which helped somewhat when cutting a record deal.

But Manuel (Queco) Ruiz, a producer and composer, heard about the trio and wrote "Asereje" for them. "He liked the name, more than anything," says Rafael Madroñal of Columbia Records, which signed the group in Spain.

The original Spanish lyrics tell the story of Diego, a "Rastafarian Afro-Gypsy" who wears "a navy blue suit and goes after contraband," and his visit to a disco where the DJ plays Diego's favorite song.

That turns out to be "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang, but Diego's attempt to sing along to the chorus — along the lines of "I said a hip, hop, the hippie, the hippie to the hip hip hop, you don't stop" — comes out as: "Asereje, ja deje, dejebe tu dejebe deseri iowa a mavy an de bugui an de guidibidi," which is even more nonsensical in Spanish than the original is in English.

That has not stopped millions from happily singing along, many of them tourists who spent their summer vacations dancing in Spain and then took the record back home.

The song has been parodied in Germany, where Chancellor Gerhard Schröder is said to be unamused by "Der Steuersong" ("The Tax Song"), a version of "Asereje" that castigates him for breaking his election promise and raising taxes.

The Ketchup sisters, who will be touring the United States in January, have barely found time to enjoy their newfound celebrity. "This is an opportunity, and we have to make the most of it," Ms. Muñoz said. "There will be time for having fun later."

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Booklady