"El Problema" ("The Problem") is a

Latin pop Latin pop (in Spanish and in Portuguese: Pop latino) is a pop music subgenre that is a fusion of US–style music production with Latin music genres from anywhere in Latin America and Spain. Originating in Spanish-speaking musicians, Latin ...

song written, produced and performed by Guatemalan

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

winner singer-songwriter

Ricardo Arjona Edgar Ricardo Arjona Algadeoro (born 19 January 1964), known as Ricardo Arjona (), is a Guatemalan singer-songwriter. Arjona is one of the most successful and best-selling Latin American artists of all time, with more than 80 million records so ...

. It was released as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release ...

from his ninth studio album, ''

Santo Pecado ''Santo Pecado'' (English: ''Holy Sin'') is the ninth studio album recorded by Guatemalan singer-songwriter Ricardo Arjona. It was released by Sony BMG Latin on November 19, 2002 (see 2002 in music) and was produced by Arjona, Carlos Cabral J ...

'' (2002). It is also recognized as one of Ricardo Arjona's

signature song A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...

s. Critically and commercially successful, the song became a hit by the singer, staying at No.1 for eight consecutive weeks at the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Latin Songs The ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs (formerly Hot Latin Tracks and Hot Latin 50) is a record chart in the United States for Latin songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Since October 2012, chart rankings are based on digital sales, r ...

and twelve weeks at No.1 on the

Latin Pop Songs Latin Pop Airplay (also referred to as Latin Pop Songs) is a record chart published on ''Billboard'' magazine and a subchart of the Latin Airplay chart. The chart focuses on Latin pop music, namely Spanish-language pop music. It was established ...

chart, both being the most by any of his singles to date.

Reception

On the success of the song, Arjona commented that "it is an accident that happens, and you doesn't now how it is about. I thought 'El Problema' wasn't a song that could sound on radio and it happened." Mario Tarradell from ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''The Galves ...

'' commented that "filled with lengthy verses and a gospellike chorus, the cut hardly sounds like your usual drive-time fodder."

Music video

The music video for "El Problema" was filmed between November 16 and 18, 2002 on

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

, Spain. The video features the singer chasing a woman throughout the city to finally find her at the

La Sagrada Familia LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

, Barcelona's biggest church, in which he is arrested by the police and sent to prison.

Track listing

Chart performance

"El Problema" became a huge commercial success for Arjona. The song debuted at No.27 on the ''

Latin Songs The ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs (formerly Hot Latin Tracks and Hot Latin 50) is a record chart in the United States for Latin songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Since October 2012, chart rankings are based on digital sales, ra ...

chart the week ending November 2, 2002. The following week it jumped to No.11, receiving the "Greatest Gainer" honor for that week. On the week ending November 16, "El Problema" jumped to No.9, thus becoming Arjona's third song to reach the top 10, after "Desnuda" and "Cuando", both of which reached No.1 in 2000. The week ending December 7, 2002, "El Problema" reached No.1 on the chart, and stayed there for eight consecutive weeks. On the

chart, it debuted at No.17 on the week ending November 2, 2002, and reached No.1 on the week ending November 30."Latin Pop Songs of the week"
Billboard. Nielsen Soundscan. Retrieved on April 30, 2012. The song stayed at No.1 for nine consecutive weeks. It is, to date, the longest-running number-one single by the Guatemalan singer on both charts.

Weekly charts

Yearly charts

Decade-End charts

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Problema, El 2002 songs Ricardo Arjona songs Songs written by Ricardo Arjona