There was a time when having a popular song as a ringtone was common and even enjoyed a certain status, adding a bit of ironic humor. That ironic humor was used to portray the unique personality of the egocentric and over-the-top golfer played by Will Ferrell in the series The Hawk, who has a song as his ringtone. And the song is none other than Aserejé. Farrell himself has admitted that when given a choice among different options, he chose the Las Ketchup track because he found it “funny.” The actor was unaware of the song’s story until a journalist explained it to him. Something similar happened to Zara Larsson, who commented on TikTok that she had just discovered the song is a tribute to the chorus of what is considered the first rap in history, Rapper’s Delight, by Sugarhill Gang. “My mind is blown,” she said.
Read more Javier Olleros, chef: “When the Michelin inspector came we thought he was a medical representative”
The composer of Aserejé, Queco, decided to pay tribute to the song while playing with his son, although the story of the song is not exactly childish (despite even having a children’s version by the animated singing bird Chichicuilote). The protagonist of the story is Diego, who when he hears his favorite song, Rapper’s Delight, at the club, phonetically imitates its sounds because he does not master the language of Shakespeare, which is why the chorus of the song makes no sense. Another reason for such gibberish is that the man from Cádiz has “the moon in his pupils,” suggesting he is under the influence of some substance. “The chorus is practically a spell. Just hearing the first few seconds makes the body remember the choreography. It’s absurd, catchy, hypnotic, and zero pretentious,” explains ICON’s music press agent Laura Estudillo.
Another reason why the song—which was number one in more than 20 countries, including England, and earned a diamond record in France, over 34 platinum records, and one gold in Japan—remains in everyone’s mind is that Puerto Rican rapper Young Miko took its chorus for her track Wiggy. Of course, TikTok has played a big role in the song’s revival, where J-pop Rampage, the group Angel22, and singer Ludwig have danced to the song on their profiles. In 2026, Aserejé has once again been heard strongly worldwide, not only because of its presence in the aforementioned Netflix series. On Spotify, for example, the song outperforms the other great classic Spanish worldwide one hit wonder, Macarena, in plays.
During the hydration break in the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, the Las Ketchup song played, which at the end of February they sang alongside Elettra Lamborghini on the fourth day of the 2026 Sanremo Festival. The Andalusian group also performed this year at Barcelona Pride and the San Isidro festivities, once again demonstrating that Aserejé has become a cultural heritage. But how did it achieve this? Estudillo answers. “Aserejé has a lot of that summer pop that was huge in the early 2000s: mixed, a bit border-crossing, and above all, unpretentious. Rumba, Latin rhythms, electronic, and pop coexisted in the same song without anyone having to explain the mix too much. Listening to it now inevitably brings some nostalgia, but I think Aserejé still works for a much simpler reason: it’s still just as fun and weird,”
“The voices also have a lot to do with it. They are natural, unpolished, with a strong Andalusian accent and a way of singing that sometimes is almost closer to speaking. When they come in together, there’s something carefree and a bit mischievous that fits the song perfectly and a lyric that is pure play. With more perfect or neutral voices, it would surely lose much of its charm,” she clarifies.
Read more Cassandra Wilson dies, diva of contemporary jazz with her versatile blues voice
Lucía Muñoz, one of the sisters in the group, recently explained to El País the excitement she feels knowing people still listen to their music. “I’m still surprised that so many years later we go on stage and still have such a good time, that we can’t go on vacation because we have so much work, and that we know how to enjoy it now more than before, from maturity and managing everything ourselves.”
Every so often, a headline announces the return of Las Ketchup, but in reality, they never left. Already 23 years ago, at the NRJ awards, the daughters of El Tomate were chosen as the best international breakthrough group ahead of singers like Sophie Ellis Bextor and Pink. That’s why Aserejé, which was banned on Honduran radio for containing “satanic messages” and promoting “negative behaviors among youth,” not only has countless impossible stories associated with it but has also managed to become a light music epitome that everyone dances and sings to despite no one being quite sure what it says. Just like good old Diego, really. “Our music is still fun, danceable, uncomplicated. When we decided to make music, it was to take a bit of drama out of life, to give it a happy and fun perspective. That was the idea,” explained Lola to Rolling Stone. The song is so danceable that its simple steps, which would make even the most arrhythmic person dance, are another reason for its success. Rosalía herself, another expert in fusing flamenco and pop, seemed to show the dance to her then-partner, Emilio Sakraya, on the streets of Barcelona.
“Aserejé doesn’t try to be cool, and maybe that’s a big part of the magic. It’s so unaware of itself, so joyful, and so far from any pretension to transcend that, in the end, it manages to still be cool more than twenty years later,” concludes Laura Estudillo. And that’s why, in 2026, the world remains possessed by the ragatanga rhythm.
