Thalia Made A Dominican Styled Dembow ‘Esa Calor Me Toca’ And We Kindly Say “No Gracias”

Mexican pop icon Thalía dropped her 2025 dembow single “Esa Calor Me Toca” many listeners — particularly fans of the Dominican dembow scene — couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. The song, built on a hyperactive dembow riddim, bears a striking resemblance to Yailin La Más Viral’s hit “Bing Bong,” both in its cadence and flow, to the point where some wondered if it bordered on imitation. This unexpected foray into dembow from Thalía, a veteran of Latin pop ballads and glossy commercial reggaeton collabs, feels less like a genuine genre exploration and more like a calculated attempt to ride a wave she’s historically had little to do with.

For years, Thalía has been a fixture of the polished, mainstream Latin pop industry — a sector that often keeps “El Movimiento” at arm’s length until it becomes commercially undeniable. And in this regard she’s not the first and will certainly not be the last.

Her career, marked by amazing telenovela soundtracks, ballads, and high-production pop albums, has largely gone without the gritty, “Urbano”-heavy underground scenes birthed in places like Puerto Rico, Panama, and the Dominican Republic. This backdrop makes “El Calor Me Took” all the more puzzling. It’s not just that Thalía isn’t Dominican — it’s that she comes from an industry class that often turns its nose up at dembow, labeling it as niche, vulgar, or unsophisticated, or failing to recognize it as music at all until proven otherwise by numbers.

This isn’t her first dabble with Dembow. It appears she’s a fan of the genre, notably singing the late dembowsero Monkey Black’s song ‘El Sol Y La Playa’ in a fan clip that has made its rounds on social media years ago. And while her admiration is appreciated, the industry doesn’t have a great precedent for supporting Dominican femme acts in the genre.

Take for instance the ‘Mujeres del Movimiento‘ concert in 2023, a concert headlined by Yailin La Mas Viral, La Insuperable, La Perversa and countless other acts. A sold-out concert that broke barriers and defied stereotypes regarding Dominican femme’s profitiability which initially was met with major friction from within the industry, with naysayers simple not understanding the ‘vision’ or ‘importance’ an arrogance that prevails amongst the conversation of femme Dominican influence in music.

The bigger conversation at hand lies heavily on the fact that Dominican women are held to a different standard, a racist one, when creating music from their own culture. Stereotypes come from different levels from ‘that music is bringing them down’ to a ‘lower level; underscoring a larger issue within the Latin music industry. The way mainstream artists co-opt styles from “El Movimiento” without acknowledging its cultural roots or the struggles of the artists who built it. Dominican dembow, often dismissed as “lower tier” music, has been the product of marginalized communities fighting for a voice in a saturated market. When an artist like Thalía jumps on a Dembow track, mimicking a hit like “Bing Bong,” it’s hard not to see it as opportunistic, especially when she’s never visibly championed the genre or its pioneers.

For non-Dominicans, if you want to engage in the Dominican genre, we can’t believe we’re saying this but take a note out of Rosalia’s playbook with her collaboration with Tokischa. The song was performed together on various stages, Tokischa got visibility in all promotions of the track, and most importantly stood to gain financially. In an industry where darker skinned people of color or Black Latinos are more likely to miss out on the financial fruit of cultural moments–we would consider this example a win.

Ultimately, “Esa Calor Me Toca” exposes a form of appropriation. The tension between mainstream Latin pop’s appetite for Black aesthetics and its lack of respect for the cultures behind them. Thalia is an amazing artist, and, rather than engaging in a genuine artistic crossover, this venture into dembow feels like a sanitized, market-driven move — one that copies the swagger of “Bing Bong” without any of its soul. And in a world where authenticity is currency, we say no gracias. We love you though!