Latin affair

Beyonce's April release of the reissued "B'Day" contains half a dozen songs in Spanish. A few years ago, the big Latin crossover involved Spanish-speaking performers making it big by singing in English -- including sensations like Ricky Martin, Shakira and Marc Anthony.

Nowadays, stars like Jean, Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez are kicking it the other way -- singing and rapping in Spanish for the hemisphere's Hispanic market. It's not hard to see why. Salsa, boleros, cumbia, alt-rock, reggaeton -- Latin music offers a little something for everyone.

Then there's the state of the declining music industry. As more fans illegally download music and selectively purchase singles instead of albums, record labels are desperate for new listeners. The estimated 32 million Spanish speakers in the United States, not to mention roughly 400 million more in Spain and Latin America, comprise markets screaming to be tapped.

''It's hard to ignore when 11 million people watch the Latin Grammys,'' said Jose Cancela, author of the The Power of Business en espanol and a 25-year veteran of Spanish-language radio and television. ''What more and more artists are seeing is that the growth of Spanish-language media, especially in the top 25 markets in the country, is having real impact on airplay and on viewership.'' Today Beyonce is reissuing her multiplatinum, Grammy-winning album ''B'Day'' with seven tracks in Spanish, including a duet with Shakira.

The idea for the Spanish side of the album was born with a duet her group, Destiny's Child, recorded with Spanish pop singer Alejandro Sanz four years ago. ''A lot of my Latin fans said 'Oh, you should do more songs in Spanish,' '' Beyonce said during a recent press conference. She took them to heart, recording Spanish versions of the hit ''Irreplaceable'' and ''Listen'' from ''Dreamgirls.

'' Jennifer Lopez, born in the Bronx to Puerto Rican parents, also just released her first complete Spanish album, ''Como Ama Una Mujer'' or ''How a Woman Loves.'' Lopez has said she did her first demo in Spanish, but back then the labels weren't interested. Now she'll likely sing one of her Spanish songs when she appears in an upcoming episode of TV's ''American Idol.

'' Pop musicians have recorded songs in other languages before, but in recent years the number of top U.S. artists rolling that Spanish ''r'' seems to keep growing.

The benefits go both ways. Jean's duet with Shakira, ''Hips Don't Lie,'' became a global smash and boosted sales of her English album ''Oral Fixation Vol. 2.

'' Meanwhile, Beyonce recently recorded a duet with Mexico's Alejandro Fernandez for a telenovela version of ''Zorro,'' sure to cross-pollinate fans. Miami-based music producer Rudy Perez started the crossover work with Christian music star Jaci Velasquez, who is Mexican-American, then went on to work with Christina Aguilera for her 2000 album, ''Mi Reflejo.'' Neither woman spoke much Spanish -- Aguilera's father is from Ecuador but she was brought up mostly by her German-American mother -- and both wanted to get in touch with their roots, he said.

Perez often writes out the Spanish lyrics phonetically for the artists. He spends hours playing with words to make each line end with a sound similar to the English version to keep the music familiar. So far, the bilingual forays seem well-received by listeners.

Vanessa Garcia, who hooked her Venezuelan-born mother on Aguilera by playing the singer's Spanish album, said she'd probably pick up Beyonce's album. ''Beyonce in Spanish is a little weird,'' said the 18-year-old fan. ''But her accent's good.

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