Nuyorican Jessica Medina offers you a new bilingual version of the song “Si tú te vas,” by Juan Luis Guerra. The merengue song is turned here into a ballad showcasing Medina’s jazzy voice, as well as Venezuelan Jorge Glem on the cuatro and arrangements, Johnny “Chocolate” de la Cruz on the Dominican “Tambora” drum, and Allan Leschhorn on the mix.

Medina has been chosen by major music media such as NPR and Kpfk as a new talent not to be missed. She chose this song to pay tribute to the merengue of the 80s – the music that she enjoyed growing up. It’s hard to do a good version of an already perfect song, yet Medina made it different enough to earn our attention. Listen to it below and see what you think.

“Si tú te vas” is now on most digital platforms. It has also been added to the VidaSalsera.com playlist on Spotify, which you can access from the right margin, or at the bottom, of this page.