Today’s Mix Tape Diary Entry is Wilfredo Vargas “El Jardinero“. it’s like no song ever recorded – Hip Hop meets Merengue for the first time here – and… although you may have forgotten how brain melting this thing was in in 1984 (predating the Rock MEETS Rap colabos of “Sun City” and “Walk This Way” by about Two Years)
The mad Dominican genius Wilfredo Vargas displays enough creativity on this record that if he never did another one – you’d have to give him his props just for this … but he crams so much newness into this song from 1984 that it’s hard to fathom. It’s the FIRST Latino rap pacing the way for a lotta Latin rap in the 90s, (Proyecto Uno, for example, and the whole scene) it’s super creative and super danceable starting with a vaugly Hawaiian synth thing, and then becoming – just something else entirely. The sort of conventional part of this jammy, recounts the tale of a rich in spirit gardener who spends his life giving out flowers but saving the best ones for his true love. He brags about bringing Roses, Violets, Miosotis, all kinds of flowers to the girls. This, as you’d imagine, creates Great demand and women follow him everywhere- if he’s delayed anywhere women seek him out, and bring him ice cream. Why not? Ironically, they’re all trying to seduce him but he’s still asking for permission for things from his true love. And that’s when the song goes crazy – with the first Rap en Español and then in… I guess it’s English. Wilfredo’s got loot though he’s a simple man – rich, elegant and unpretentious. skip to 2:43 if you grow weary and long for when Wilfredo switches to English. Here he finds out he passed the test and he’s ready to rock your body (he swears this is in English) he names drops Bogart, James Bond, people in the park…
Yes, its a totally unique song in the history of Latin music – but… thanks to deep dive experts like Gonazlo Prieto Fandiño who’s TikTok and YouTube Channels are essential if you’re into knowing what makes many great and lost Latin Tropical songs work. A musicologist and researcher par excellence, he also makes INCREDIBLY ENTERTAINING videos – which force you to re-think what you think is of interest to you. His research and knowledge is wild – and it makes all this already fun and whimsical music even more fun, and he injects it with wisdom to add to the whimsy.
