“Amor Prohibido” serves as the title track to Selena’s fourth studio album, which was released on March 13, 1994. Selena was a Tejano singer born in the United States. Selena became one of the most influential Mexican-Americans due to her widespread popularity and innovation in the genre of Tejano music. The album largely consisted of Mexican cumbia tracks, which presented a minor shift from her previous works, which focused more on Tejano stylings. “Amor Prohibido” tells the story of a forbidden love between Selena and another. Selena explains that her lover’s parents will not approve of their love, and that news of their forbidden love is being “murmuran por las calles” (“murmured in the streets”). Even though she knows that society does not approve of her love, Selena is hoping to make her relationship work.
“Amor Prohibido” became the most successful Latin single in 1994, signaling Selena’s commercial success in the United States. Further, the single helped to propel the success of the full album. As opposed to much of Latin music that became popular in the 1990s, Selena’s music drew from traditionally Mexican roots and conveyed an emotionally story through a ballad, rather than an up-tempo dance track.
Selena. Amor Prohibido. Amor Prohibido. EMI Music Publishing, 1994.