"Contra la Corriente" (transl. "Against the Current") is a song by American singer Marc Anthony from his third studio album of the same name (1997). It was released in 1998 by RMM and served as the album's fifth single. The song was written by Omar Alfanno, with co-production handled by Ángel "Cucco" Peña and Anthony. "Contra la Corriente" is a salsa song, that lyrically recalls a "good love from the past."
By 1996, Marc Anthony's studio albums, Otra Nota (1993) and Todo a Su Tiempo (1995), both released by RMM, had sold over 600,000 copies combined.[1]Sergio George, who produced both albums, had left RMM to establish his own record label and was working with his own artists.[2] As a result, George was unable to produce Anthony's next record.[3] Puerto Rican musician Angel "Cucco" Peña took up the position as the co-producer for Anthony's third studio album Contra la Corriente (1997).[4][5][3] As Anthony was involved with the production of The Capeman (1998), he recorded in New York and Puerto Rico and took three weeks to complete Contra la Corriente.[6][4]
Omar Alfanno, who composed three tracks on Todo a Su Tiempo,[7] wrote five tracks for Contra la Corriente including the title track.[5] The song begins with an acoustic guitar before transitioning into a "medium-paced salsa rhythm", according to The San Diego Union-Tribune editor Ernesto Portillo, Jr.[8] In the lyrics, Diana Raquel of La Prensa de San Antonio noted that the track "nostalgically evokes the memory of a good love from the past."[9]
Promotion and reception
The title track was released as the fifth single from Contra la Corriente in 1998.[10] A truncated version of the song was released on Anthony's greatest hits albumDesde un Principio: From the Beginning (1999), while the original recording was included on the compilation album Éxitos Eternos (2003).[11][12] Anthony delivered a performance of the track prior to the album's release at the Madison Square Garden in New York City on October 18, 1997.[13] He performed the song live at the same venue three years later, which was recorded for the live video album The Concert from Madison Square Garden (2001).[14] In 2010, Puerto Rican singer Ángel López covered "Contra la Corriente" as a ballad for his studio album Historias de Amor, a collection of songs Alfanno had previously composed.[15] López's rendition, along with the rest of the album, were arranged and produced by Alfanno.[16][17]
^"Marc Anthony: A Portrait of the Salsero As a Young Man". Saludos Hispanos. 15: 35. 1998. ...but when it came time to do the third album, he dropped off the face of the earth. He simply didn't want to produce my record. He was into other things, his new label with his own artists.
^ abCamarena, Ricardo (June 22, 1998). "Marc Anthony a contracorriente: El salsero dice traer 'todos los hierros' para su presentacion del viernes en el Teatro Griego". La Opinión (in Spanish). p. 1D – via ImpreMedia.
^Lechner, Ernesto (June 14, 1998). "His Heart Belongs to Salsa". Los Angeles Times. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original on February 5, 2022. Retrieved June 5, 2010. It was a time crunch, I had three weeks to record it. I picked those nine tunes after listening to 1,300 of them, so I knew [they] would work.
^ abRaquel, Diana (December 4, 1997). "Aqui y alla: Marc Anthony...Contra la corriente". La Prensa de San Antonio (in Spanish). p. 24. Este tema evoca nostálgicamente el recuerdo de un buen amor del pasado.
^Contra la Corriente (CD Single) (Media notes). Marc Anthony. Spain: RMM. 1997. BT 148CDS.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Barraza, Yanina (December 4, 2009). "Inicia su gira en Panamá". Crítica (in Spanish). Archived from the original on April 22, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
