Azúcar
The Slang of Classic Salsa: Words That Celia Cruz, Héctor Lavoe and Rubén Blades Brought to the World
/Sounds like "soh-NEH-roh"/
A salsa singer who specializes in improvising lyrics over the chorus of a song, the hardest art in the genre. The sonero doesn't sing fixed verses during the soneos: he invents lines on the spot, plays with the audience, responds to the chorus, drops local references, and all of it has to lock into the clave. Héctor Lavoe, Ismael Rivera, Rubén Blades are legendary soneros. Being a sonero is the highest level of respect in salsa.
Example
"Ese cantante no es sonero, solo repite la letra del disco. → That singer isn't a sonero, he just repeats the album lyrics."
"Rubén Blades es de los pocos soneros que todavía sorprenden. → Rubén Blades is one of the few soneros who still surprise live."
Word family
Regional synonyms:
Ver en español →
/Sounds like "soh-NEH-roh"/
A salsa singer who specializes in improvising lyrics over the chorus of a song, the hardest art in the genre. The sonero doesn't sing fixed verses during the soneos: he invents lines on the spot, plays with the audience, responds to the chorus, drops local references, and all of it has to lock into the clave. Héctor Lavoe, Ismael Rivera, Rubén Blades are legendary soneros. Being a sonero is the highest level of respect in salsa.
Example
"Ese cantante no es sonero, solo repite la letra del disco. → That singer isn't a sonero, he just repeats the album lyrics."
"Rubén Blades es de los pocos soneros que todavía sorprenden. → Rubén Blades is one of the few soneros who still surprise live."
Word family
Regional synonyms:
Articles featuring this word
Perol
An old, beat-up car that barely runs, stalls on its own, and makes weird noises. In Venezuela, a 'perol' is that car that should be in the junkyard.