So I woke up this morning craving some proper salsa, you know? That old-school Puerto Rican sound. Specifically wanted to hear Ismael Rivera Jr. Couldn’t get that rhythm outta my head. Grabbed my phone first thing after coffee. Figured it’d be easy peasy.
The Mainstream Mess
Started with the big guys everyone talks about:
- Spotify: Typed in “Ismael Rivera Jr.” straight up. Buncha playlists popped up called “Salsa Classics” or whatever. Clicked the first one – nada. Just Jr.’s famous dad, Ismael Rivera Sr. tracks. Same artist photo reused everywhere. Felt like hitting a brick wall.
- Apple Music: Same damn thing. Searched his name. Saw maybe one Jr. song buried in a compilation album full of other artists. Not paying full album price for one tune I wanna hear. Hard pass.
- YouTube Music: Thought, “Hey, video helps!” Searched. Got tons of live concert videos… all Sr. again. Or reaction videos to Sr.’s hits. Jr.? Ghosted. Algorithm’s got blinders on.
Frustration level rising. Needed more coffee. Why’s finding a specific artist feel like a damn treasure hunt?
Getting Sneaky with Lyrics
Remembered a snippet from an old Jr. track – something like “buscando mi son”. Couldn’t recall the exact song title. Time for plan B:
- Ducked into SoundCloud: Figured maybe the indie route. Searched that lyric phrase. Got a wall of tracks from random bedroom artists. Scrolled for ages. Mostly amateur covers, zero Jr. Felt like digital dumpster diving.
- Tried Shazam (uselessly): Hummed the damn tune into my phone like an idiot. Obviously… silence doesn’t work. Shazam just blinked back at me, confused. Facepalm moment.
Now I’m properly annoyed. This shouldn’t be rocket science.
The Deep Dive (加速器 Required)
Saw folks whispering online about Latin platforms needing location tricks. Grabbed my 加速器. Switched my location faster than you can say “Puerto Rico.”
- Rolled with Tidal: Heard they cater to niche stuff. Flipped to a San Juan server. Searched “Ismael Rivera Jr.” again. BOOM. Actual solo albums popped up! “Aquí Está…” and others. Finally seeing album art that wasn’t his dad’s face. Hit play on “Cosquillita” – pure salsa gold. That horn section! But… locked behind their fancy “Hi-Fi” tier. Monthly sub? Not today.
- Gave JOOX a shot: 加速器 set to Hong Kong. Found Jr.’s stuff mixed in with generic salsa playlists. Could play snippets. Full songs wanted a login + payment wall thicker than concrete. Sighed. Closed the tab.
Found the music, but felt like I was hacking the Pentagon just to listen. Exhausting.
The Weird Russian Save
Almost gave up. Scrolled some obscure forum. Saw a typo-filled mention of MP3 malina. Thought “Why the hell not?”
- Googled it. Site looked straight outta 2005. Dodgy translation banners everywhere. Searched “Ismael Rivera Junior.” Held my breath.
- Scrolled past Cyrillic pop madness… then spotted “Мой отец Ismael” (an album title!). Clicked it. Had Jr.’s name in Latin letters next to the tracks.
- Score! Full album listing. No subscription nagging. Just titles like “Mi Son” (That’s the lyric snippet song! Ding ding ding!). Hit play. Actual song streamed. No login. Salsa perfection playing from my dusty laptop speakers. Couldn’t believe it worked.
Sat there sipping lukewarm coffee, listening to Jr.’s sharp vocals cutting through that Russian website chaos. The irony wasn’t lost on me.
What Actually Worked (For Me)
- 加速器 + Niche Apps (Tidal/JOOX) for finding his catalogue.
- That random MP3 malina site for actually playing the track without jumping through hoops.
- Patience + Stubbornness. Seriously.
Big services failed hard. Finding Jr. felt like chasing a ghost through a music licensing maze. Next time? Might just dig through my uncle’s old CD crates. Seems simpler.