The Ketchup Song (Aserejé)

Album

Hijas del Tomate

Label

Columbia Records

Genre

Dance

Composer(s)

Manuel Ruiz

Entered Chart

Oct 12, 2002

Peak Date

Nov 9, 2002

Released

10 June 2002

Recorded

Studio Lolmang

Catalog #

Sony Discos/Columbia 79822

The group is made up of Pilar, Lola, and Lucia Munoz - three sisters from the Andalusia region of Spain. They took their name in honor of their father, a flamenco guitarist known as "El Tomate." "The Ketchup Song" was a huge international hit. It was #1 in several countries, but took a while to break in America, where it was first played on New York City dance station WKTU. Within 24 hours, it became the most-requested song on the station. The lyrics are based on snippets of the 1979 Sugar Hill Gang song "Rapper's Delight." The lyrics are in Spanish, but it is Spanish gibberish based on "Rapper's Delight." The version released in the US has some English gibberish mixed in. The song is about a gypsy named Diego who is very concerned about how he is dressed and loves "Rapper's Delight." Since Diego doesn't understand the English lyrics, he makes up his own raps, which translates into the gibberish in the song. The Spanish version is known as "Asereje," as in "I Said A Hip," which is a lyric in "Rapper's Delight." Has it's own dance, involving a kind of hand-jive and lots of gyrations. This has been compared to the "Macarena," which was also a huge international hit by an unknown group with it's own dance that became a staple of dance clubs, cruise ships, and weddings when it eventually hit the US. In the US, this got a lot of airplay on Spanish stations as well as the TV show Sabado Gigante before getting much mainstream airplay. It was especially popular in South Florida, which has a large Hispanic population. Ketchup, or catsup, originated in China in 1690 as a pickled fish sauce called "ke-tsiap." British sailors took Asian catsup or ketchup from Singapore to England but the British were unable to duplicate the recipe so they started substituting other ingredients, including ground mushrooms, walnuts, and cucumbers. Later the first recipe for "tomato catsup" appeared. (From the book Food for Thought: Extraordinary Little Chronicles of the World by Ed Pearce) Despite the lyrics being Spanish gibberish, this was the best-selling single in France during the 2000s.

friday night it's party time
feeling ready looking fine,
viene diego rumbeando,
with the magic in his eyes
checking every girl in sight,
grooving like he does the mambo
he's the man alli en la disco,
playing sexy feeling hotter,
he's the king bailando el ritmo ragatanga,
and the dj that he knows well,
on the spot always around twelve,
plays the mix that diego mezcla con la salsa,
y la baila and he dances y la canta

Aserejé, ja de je de jebe tu de jebere sebiunouva
majavi an a bugui an a buididipí (x3)

many think its brujeria,
how he comes and disappears,
every move will hypnotize you,
some will call it chuleria,
others say that its the real,
rastafari afrogitano

he's the man alli en la disco,
playing sexy felling hotter,
he's the king bailando el ritmo ragatanga,
and the dj that he knows well,
on the spot always around twelve,
plays the mix that diego mezcla con la salsa,
y la baila and he dances y la canta

Aserejé, ja de je de jebe tu de jebere sebiunouva
majavi an a bugui an a buididipí (x3)

A nanana...wayayéo

Aserejé, ja de je de jebe tu de jebere sebiunouva
majavi an a bugui an a buididipí (x9)