No Me Dejes de Querer

In 1998, Gloria Estefan released Gloria!, an album of pop music with disco-influence. Although the album was met with favorable reviews by music critics,[2][3] it was commercially unsuccessful.[3][4] A year later, she would star in the 1999 American biographical musical drama film Music of the Heart and recorded "Music of My Heart" with NSYNC.[5] At the New Year's Eve concert in the same year, her husband Emilio Estefan hinted that her next studio album would be "great" during a rehearsal.[4] Further details about the project were not revealed until February 2000 when the name of album was announced, Alma Caribeña.[6]

Recording for the album took place at the Crescent Moon Studios in Miami, Florida with Emilio and Roberto Blades handling its production.[7] Alma Caribeña is Estefan's third Spanish-language album after Mi Tierra (1993) and Abriendo Puertras (1995). In the album, she draws from a variety of music from the Caribbean.[8] Emilio and Blades co-wrote most of the album's tracks including "No Me Dejes de Querer", with additional lyrics with Gloria.[7] Musically, "No Me Dejes de Querer" is a son cubano and Panamanian murga track with a salsa section.[7][9] Estefan described the song as a "happy record" and further elaborated: "It talks about a kind of love that is wonderful and happy and feels great, and you're saying to that person, 'Don't ever stop loving me'".[10] A remix by Pablo Flores was also included in the album and features Los Rabanes lead singer Emilio Regueira.[11][12]

"No Me Dejes de Querer" was released as the album's lead single on March 27, 2000, by Epic Records.[13] The accompanying music video was directed by Emilio, filmed at the Tropicana Club in Miami, Florida, recorded in 24 hours, and released on March 28, 2000.[14] In the video, Gloria is seen wearing a Dolce & Gabbana dress and dancing with other 200 extras who are dressed to the fashion of Cuba in the 1950s.[14] At the inaugural Latin Grammy Awards in 2000, "No Me Dejes de Querer" won Best Short Form Music Video.[15] At the 2001 Billboard Music Video Awards, the visual was nominated "Best Clip of the Year" under the Latin field but ultimately lost to "She Bangs" by Ricky Martin.[16][17]

A writer for Palabra described it as a song with a "catchy melody and flavor of Cuban son".[14] Dan Aquilante of the New York Post called it a "sexy love song".[18] The Sunday Herald editor Graeme Virtue found the track to be the album's highlight lauding it as a "irresistible limbo lurch". Virtue however regarded the remix to be pointless stating it "reflects badly on the entire enterprise".[19] The Sun-Sentinel critic Sean Piccoli listed "No Me Dejes de Querer" along with "Punto de Referencia" where Gloria "sounds much more at ease".[20] Writing for The Boston Globe, Cindy Rodriguez stated that the artist "really cuts loose on the "brassy" track and "singing with fiery brilliance".[21] An editor for the Windsor Star described it as "uplifting" as Gloria leads a "spirited romp ".[22]

In an otherwise negative review of Alma Caribeña, Deborah Davis of El Norte highlighted the song along with "Tres Gotas de Agua Bendita" where the artist "shines".[23] The Newsday reviewer Richard Torres noted that Gloria "gets into a fine call-and-response with the background vocalists" in the track.[3] The San Diego Union-Tribune contributor Ernesto Portillo Jr. complimented "No Me Dejes de Querer" as a "solid salsa dance number".[24] Elysa Gardner wrote for USA Today: "Those seeking zestier fare can check out the sexy, horns-fueled 'No Me Dejes de Querer'".[25] Mark Marymont of the Springfield News-Leader felt that "No Me Dejes de Querer" is "carried on a happy, propulsive beat" and further marked that the original and remix versions "recall Estefan's early days with the Miami Sound Machine.[26] The Sunday Mail's Kris Teo commented that the song "smacks with a happy party feel with a breathtaking salsa mid- section".[27] The Chicago Tribune reviewer Achy Obejas called the remix a "cardiac- provoking dance beat".[28]

AllMusic reviewer William Ruhlmann regarded the remix to be a "requisite dancefloor entry".[1] The Observer's Neil Spencer, who was not impressed with Alma Caribeña, opined that "things only catch fire on the finale, 'No Me Dejes de Querer', where Estefan does battle with some snorting brass".[29] In a similar review of the album, The Morning Call contributor Len Righi, cited "No Me Dejes de Querer" as "how little consequence she is" where Reguiera dominates on the remix which Len described as the "most exciting track on the disc".[12] Maddy Costa of the The Guardian was more critical of the song, stating that the remix was the artist's "smartest decision" when making the album. Costa lambasted the track as an "abysmal song, the kind of spangly, flashing-lights-and-thrusting-rhythm tackiness you hear blaring from the speakers of every crap tourist disco from Benidorm to Barbados; something that parents of teenagers dance to in their exclusive resort hotels. It's so awful, it sends you scuttling back to track one to get the bad taste out of your mouth".[30]

At the inaugural Latin Grammy Awards in 2000, "No Me Dejes de Querer" was nominated in the category of Best Tropical Song which was awarded to "El Niágara en Bicicleta" by Juan Luis Guerra.[31][32] It was recognized as an award-winning song at the 2001 BMI Latin Awards.[33] At the 8th Annual Billboard Latin Music Awards in the same year, it was nominated for Latin Dance Maxi-Single of the Year and Latin Dance Club Play Track of the Year but ultimately lost both awards to "Solo Me Importas Tú" by Enrique Iglesias.[34]

Commercially, it reached number one in Spain and topped the Billboard Hot Latin Songs, Latin Pop Airplay, and Tropical Airplay charts in the United States.[35][36][37] It became her Spanish-language song to rank on the Billboard Hot 100 where it peaked at number 77.[38] Furthermore, it reached 100 in the Netherlands,[39] 76 in Switzerland,[40] and numbers eight and 31 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs and Regional Mexican Airplay charts in the United States, respectively.[41][42] Due to it ranking on the latter chart however, Epic Records was suspected of performing payola by the magazine.[43]

Remixes[44]

1. No Me Dejes De Querer (Album Version) – 3:28
2. No Me Dejes De Querer (Pablo Flores Miami Mix) – 8:37
3. No Me Dejes De Querer ("Flores" Del Caribe Mix Radio Edit) – 4:27
4. No Me Dejes De Querer (Unplugged) – 3:27

• List of number-one singles of 2000 (Spain)
• List of number-one Billboard Hot Latin Tracks of 2000
• List of Billboard Latin Pop Airplay number ones of 2000
• List of Billboard Tropical Airplay number ones of 2000