MegaMix 25

Once in a while I allow myself to ask a rhetoric question. Here’s one: How come that Zumba Fitness LLC which cares so much about protecting its own brand cares so little about acknowledging the music it uses?

For instance: ZIN CDs and DVDs come without proper sleeves which means that the only place where the song details can be printed are the discs themselves. I don’t know whether it is an oversight or a clever trick; in any case we are provided with as little details as possible. Needless to say (but I was going to say it anyway), it is also rather inconvenient for the user.

Take the latest ZIN MegaMix. Of 14 (fourteen) tracks, only two (Zoomer and Masha Dia) explicitly acknowledge the artists. The rest are either “covers” (indicated by an asterisk *) or “Zumba Fitness originals” (indicated by a diamond ◊). There is nothing wrong with covers, but still I’d love to know both the authors and performers. As for the “originals”... well, there is no such musician or composer called Zumba Fitness, is there? (I will come back to this in my future posts, I promise.)

Now for the music itself. I quite liked the opening track Hola My Friend (but what on earth is “Pacific Rhythm”? I would say it is Caribbean) and cumbia La Cachucha Bacana. The closing Baila Me is not bad but I prefer the Gipsy Kings original. Meniando La Cola (surely it must be spelled Meneando La Cola) is truly great salsa song, unfortunately ruined here beyond repair by annoying “Zumba Fitness” watermarking. Luckily, the uncontaminated versions of this song are available elsewhere — such as this one by Sexappeal.

All in all, MegaMix 25 is not worse and not better than most of ZIN MegaMixes: two or three decent songs, couple of really awful ones and the forgettable rest.

Song List

1. Hola My Friend — Pacific Rhythm ◊
2. Zoomer — African Dance — by Les Jumo
3. Desert Groove — Bellydance ◊
4. Masha Dia — Ragga Caribbean — by K-Liber4Life
5. Vem Vem — Brazilian Funk ◊
6. Meniando La Cola — Salsa *
7. La Cachucha Bacana — Cumbia Calypso *
8. Knock On Wood — Pop / Dance *
9. El Batazo — Reggaeton ◊
10. Tao Tao — Quebradita *
11. Gazab — Hindu Beat *
12. Shawty Got Moves — Hip-Hop *
13. 96,000 — Broadway *
14. Baila Me — Rumba Flamenca *