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Amor Prohibido (Forbidden Love) is the fourth studio album by American singer Selena, released on March 13, 1994, by EMI Latin. Having reached a core fan base, the label aimed to broaden her appeal with the next studio release. Finding it challenging to write a follow-up hit after "Como la Flor" (1992), Selena's brother A. B. Quintanilla enlisted the assistance from band members Ricky Vela and Pete Astudillo with writing the album's songs. The resulting album has a more mature sound featuring experimental production that blends diverse musical styles from ranchera to hip-hop music. Amor Prohibido is a Tejano cumbia album modernized with a synthesizer-rich delivery using a minimalist style that was quintessential in early 1990s Tejano music.

The album's songs deal with dysfunctional and volatile relationships; its lyrics explore unrequited love, infidelity, and social division. With relatively few love songs, Amor Prohibido narrates a woman's struggles and triumphs following unsuccessful relationships with men who struggle with commitment. The album continued the singer's streak of number-one singles on the United States Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart with the title track "Amor Prohibido"— which became the most successful US Latin single of 1994, a feat she repeated the following year with "No Me Queda Más". Along with the latter, "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" and "Fotos y Recuerdos" also topped the US Latin chart, and together with "Si Una Vez" are regarded as Selena's signature recordings.

When the album tour broke attendance records at the Houston Astrodome and attracted a record-breaking crowd at Miami's Calle Ocho Festival, Selena became recognized as one of the biggest US Latin touring acts at that time. Amor Prohibido became the first Tejano record to peak at number one on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart, remaining in the top five for 98 consecutive weeks. The album holds the record for most weeks at number one on Billboard's Regional Mexican Albums chart at 97 nonconsecutive weeks, as well as crowning the chart in four different calendar years. Amor Prohibido received critical acclaim, it is considered to be Selena's best work and her band's "crowning achievement". The album's sound received the highest acclaim, it was noted by critics to have retained its innovative spirit well into the 21st century. Amor Prohibido is credited with catapulting Tejano music into mainstream success resulting in sales to listeners previously unfamiliar with the genre. Amor Prohibido was nominated for Best Mexican-American Album at the 37th Grammy Awards. The record took Album of the Year honors at the 1995 TMA's and the Lo Nuestro Award for Best Regional Mexican Album.

On March 31, 1995, Selena was shot and killed and Amor Prohibido re-entered the Billboard 200 chart, peaking at number 29. The recording was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Within three weeks, it was certified platinum and was re-certified by the RIAA as 36× platinum (Latin), denoting 2.14 million album-equivalent units sold. Amor Prohibido is the second-highest certified Latin album in the United States trailing only her posthumous album Dreaming of You (1995), the fourth best-selling Latin album in the US, the best-selling Tejano recording of the 1990s, and remains the best-selling Tejano recording of all time. Amor Prohibido has been ranked among the most essential Latin recordings of the past 50 years by Billboard magazine, while Rolling Stone magazine named it one of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. NPR ranked the album number 19 on their list of the 150 greatest albums made by women; it was the highest-ranking album by a female Latin artist and ninth highest-ranking recording by a woman of color.

Background
Following the release of Selena's third studio album Entre a Mi Mundo and the launch of a clothing boutique in 1993, the singer and her band began working on Amor Prohibido. Having achieved the success and fan base that EMI Latin's president Jose Behar was seeking, Behar aimed to capitalize on Selena's broad appeal with the next studio release. The label was keen to use a Grammy Award-winning producer instead of the singer's brother, A.B. Quintanilla. Although A.B. was acquainted with Selena's musical preferences and vocal range, he discovered that he needed to surpass his previous accomplishments to remain her principal record producer. After the commercial success of Entre a Mi Mundo and its career-launching single "Como la Flor", A.B. found it challenging to fulfill expectations. When A.B. met with record executives in New York City and Nashville, they pressured him to come up with another successful song. A.B. deemed it imperative that the music he produced for Selena retained its novelty. He emphasized that attempting to outdo a hit was unworkable, as he articulated to Billboard, "you don't try to outdo a hit, you just write another hit". A.B. faced the challenge of composing an album that would uphold Selena's authenticity while simultaneously introducing her to new audiences across the United States with the forthcoming release. As with previous albums, A.B. solicited the assistance of Selena y Los Dinos band members, Pete Astudillo and Ricky Vela, to aid in the writing process. The outcome comprised a more sophisticated sound for Selena with experimental recording and production in comparison to her prior works. It was the final album featuring production and songwriting by Astudillo, who subsequently parted with Los Dinos to pursue a solo career. Astudillo remarked that songwriters were cautious about what they penned for Selena, saying that they always aimed to create positive songs for her to record.

Recording
The recording of Amor Prohibido transpired at Manny Guerra's studio in San Antonio, Texas, and was engineered by Brian "Red" Moore. The production of Amor Prohibido spanned six months and began on September 17, 1993. The recording process was squeezed between touring commitments and the inauguration of Selena's boutiques, as recalled by Selena's husband and guitarist, Chris Pérez, who stated: "I don't even know how we managed to find time to make the next album." Progress faltered, and the band had to hasten the production process due to an impending deadline. The initial day of recording, which extended until four in the morning, commenced with the sequencing of the keyboards. Subsequent days culminated with the band recording their respective parts before Selena added her vocals. Post-production lasted two weeks. According to Vela, it was commonplace for the band to rehearse all of the music beforehand as the band's production sequence remained unchanged for Amor Prohibido. Selena and the band recorded their parts in the studio only after perfecting them during pre-production. A.B. would then arrange and mix them, utilizing an AKAI MPC60 II for timing and tempo control before studio mixing instruments were used. The recording of the album's ten tracks took two weeks to complete.

Pérez wrote how Selena never complained during recording sessions and remained receptive to changes. Often, Selena would arrive at the studio during the album's production, hum her part, and then depart for the mall, reassuring the band that she would "know what to do when [the band is] ready to record." The singer demonstrated self-discipline in tracking her vocals and made requests for additional takes in order to "add little harmonies she'd create" during recording. A.B. described how he would hum a melody into a tape recorder before creating a title and concept for a song. He deemed a tune "catchy" if he caught himself humming it the next day, and otherwise, he "wouldn't use it." A.B. also solicited material from Rena Dearman, the former keyboardist of the group, who provided several songs. A.B. was particularly fond of "I'll Be Alright" and wanted Selena to record the song for Amor Prohibido. However, it was rejected by EMI Latin as it did not align with the album's overarching theme. A.B. proposed that it could be included in Selena's next Tejano recording. One song–"Bidi Bidi Bom Bom"–was improvised during a rehearsal starting off as a song with few, if any, lyrics. The band's drummer, Selena's sister Suzette Quintanilla, said "we were goofing off" and insisted that after A.B. began playing a groove on his guitar, Selena started singing, coming up with lyrics "as ideas came to her." It started off with lyrics about a cheerful fish swimming freely in the ocean, which Astudillo likened to a nursery rhyme, accompanied by a wah-wah guitar riff using a crybaby that was improvised by Pérez. The track was dubbed "Itty Bitty Bubbles", and evolved into an extended jam during the band's concerts to prevent promoters from reducing their pay for playing for a shorter duration than promised. Selena performed the song at the La Feria concert in Nuevo Leon in September 1993, a day before the singer and Astudillo commenced "[putting] the lyrics and melody together". A.B. saw potential in the tune and "nipped and tucked what Selena [had already done]". He joined as co-writer, composing the guitar solos for Pérez and the song's arrangements. A.B. recognized that the project was somewhat daunting, given that a recording such as "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" was unprecedented. The day before the band was scheduled to record the album, A.B. approached Pérez and asked if he would be interested in working with Vela on "Ya No", a song that A.B. had written. Pérez worked with Vela throughout the night improvising the drum sounds, programming the music, adding electric guitar riffs, and infusing it with his own musical style. Pérez was surprised that despite A.B.'s assistance, he was given creative control over the track.

The idea for the album's title track was Selena's own, although, at one time, Astudillo had aspired to write a song with a telenovela-esque song entitled "Amor Prohibido". Together with A.B. and Astudillo, Selena began writing and recording a track based on a story about her great-grandparents. The singer found inspiration through love letters penned by her great-grandmother, who recounted her experiences as a maid to the Spanish Calderon family. Her great-grandmother had developed an infatuation with the family's son, but their relationship was forbidden due to her social class, leading her to describe it as "forbidden love". Astudillo feared that Selena's father would reject the song because of the lyrical content of disobeying one's parents to pursue true love, as Selena herself had done when eloping with Pérez in 1992. However, Abraham heard "Amor Prohibido" after Selena recorded the track and enjoyed it, finding the lyrics relatable as something "many families have gone through". While recording the song, Selena spontaneously added the phrase "oh whoa, baby". A.B. believed that the recording would not have been as effective had she not added that element. The song sampled the cencerro, which was deliberately chosen by A.B. to attract audiences of various ethnicities to Selena's music. The media attention following Selena's death led the Calderon family to Selena and the song "Amor Prohibido", they visited the family for the first time and traveled to Corpus Christi. After falling in love with Suzette, and finding out about her marriage in September 1993, Vela wrote down how he felt; which he had kept private from her. The resulting song, "No Me Queda Más", was presented to Selena for recording, and according to Abraham, she provided an emotional delivery while recording the track and was seen weeping in the studio because "she knew how [Vela] felt" about Suzette.

During the recording sessions for "Techno Cumbia", A.B. encouraged Selena to rap with a New York accent similar to Rosie Perez. Pérez employed a combination of electric and acoustic guitars to achieve a nuanced emulation of the bajo-sexto. While in New York, A.B. heard the Pretenders' 1983 single "Back on the Chain Gang" on the radio. Concerned about the band's lack of material for the album and fascinated by the idea of transforming "Back on the Chain Gang" into a Spanish-language cumbia song, A.B. requested that Vela write a translation of the lyrics. However, after discovering that Selena had sampled her song, Chrissie Hynde, the vocalist of the Pretenders, prevented the band from releasing Amor Prohibido and demanded a translation from Vela before she approved a rights agreement. At the time of Hynde's refusal, the band had $475,000 (1994 USD) of pre-sale copies in a warehouse that included "Fotos y Recuerdos". Musicologist James Perone, observed that "Fotos y Recuerdos" had "stripped some of the edge [sic] off of Hynde's text but retained the basic premise of ["Back on the Chain Gang"]". Perone complemented A.B.'s arrangement as "an example of [his] universal Latin approach."

Music and lyrics
The standard edition of Amor Prohibido includes ten tracks; the limited re-issue includes four additional tracks—spoken liner notes, a bonus song, and two music videos. The spoken liner notes contain commentary from Selena's family, friends, and band, retelling the creative process and inspiration behind the album, while music videos for "Amor Prohibido" and "No Me Queda Más" follows Selena's collaboration with the Barrio Boyzz on "Donde Quiera Que Estés" (1993). Amor Prohibido features a more diverse collection of musical styles than Selena's previous works, ranging from ranchera to hip-hop music; the album incorporated musical styles of rock, dance, house music, new wave, salsa, funk, R&B, bubblegum pop, teen pop, pop ballads, techno, a fusion of reggae and dancehall, polka, conjunto, flamenco, mariachi, corridos, and Tejano cumbia. While Amor Prohibido embodied a cross-cultural musical fusion, it remains an authentic Tejano recording, that uses a minimalist style that was quintessential in early 1990s Tejano music.

Although varied, critics argue that Amor Prohibido is accessible for both traditional and contemporary Latin music listeners, attracting interest from both sides of the Mexico–United States border. The album exceeded the limits of Tejano and cumbia music by blending various genres that diverged from Selena's traditional Tex-Mex soundscape in her previous works. Selena's exposure to American pop music and her desire to differentiate her cumbia resonance from that of her contemporaries led to the diverse content of Amor Prohibido. The singer began exploring various facets of pop music that delivered a more modernized synth sound, introducing a new palette to the Tejano genre. EMI Latin sales director, Jeff Young, further expanded Selena's reach by labeling Amor Prohibido as "Pop International", a move that Mark Schone of Newsday suggested was a strategic attempt to broaden her appeal. The song's themes primarily revolve around affection and heartbreak.

Tracks 1-3
Lyrically, the upbeat ballad "Amor Prohibido", encapsulates the social divide between a poverty-stricken woman and the man of unreachable rank with whom she has fallen in love. The track portrays a couple who emerges stronger from the adversity they face; despite the challenges, the protagonist fights for their love, believing that it will endure if it is genuine. The lyrics have been analyzed by scholars, musicologists, and critics, who found them relevant to issues facing the LGBT community. They are ambiguous and have been interpreted to portray prohibited romance between same-sex couples, modern society's views of romantic relationships, a connection with Christian teachings on agaepeic love, and as an allusion to Romeo & Juliet. Critics have noted that the song's narrative is indicative of the forbidden relationship between Selena and Pérez, who hid their relationship from the singer's father, which culminated in their elopement. While the track features a descending keyboard hook, UWIRE's Sophia Carr, found the chorus as the most recognizable part of the song. According to Billboard, "Amor Prohibido" evokes an ethereal and fanciful atmosphere that resonates universally with listeners.

"No Me Queda Más", a musical fusion of mariachi trumpets and melodic violin notes, uses the identical style of ranchera songs: a female singer agonizing over the end of a relationship. The lyrics explore an unrequited love in which a woman wishes the best for her former lover despite her own agony. Jose Feliciano highlighted the sorrowful undertones of the lyrics, and observed a parallel with Selena's life and with compositions typically recorded by Pedro Infante. Selena's vocal performance on the track was lauded for its emotional depth and power, which displayed her versatility as an artist. Herrera compared Selena's vocal pathos line "importa" to the evocative expressions of Chavela Vargas, describing it as an embodiment of desperation. During moments of solace in the recording, Selena exhibited resilience with a husky and melismatic voice, displaying breath control, conveying deep emotions and, according to critics, delivering vocals that are typically reserved by the most technically adept vocalists.

In "Cobarde", the protagonist conveys feelings of betrayal, hurt, and anger towards a former lover who failed to fulfill their promises. The protagonist repeatedly admonishes their ex-partner, branding them as a coward ("cobarde") for failing to move on from their previous relationship, which the protagonist perceives as a mere balm to soothe their ex-partner's emotional pain. Regarded as Selena's most scathing composition, the lyrical content of heartbreak and anger contrasts with the syncopated rhythm in the arrangement and the carefree ambiance of the song. Perone notes that the song's use of artificial-sounding synthesizers has not aged well, a common issue he found with synthesizer-based recordings from the 1970s and 1980s.

Tracks 4-6
"Fotos y Recuerdos" combines the melody of the Pretenders' new wave sound with auditory elements from Jamaica, Cuba, and Trinidad and Tobago. It surpasses the limitations of Tejano music by featuring a blend of rock en español grooves and house rhythms, accompanied by synth-driven organs and ostinato percussions with steel drums under a cumbia beat. Pérez's guitar emulates James Honeyman-Scott, while the song contains "so much personality" that it surpasses the original according to Perone. The Monitor's John LaFollette, described Selena's appeal to multiculturalism and commerce in the song "as American as apple pie." "Fotos y Recuerdos" explores forbidden romance, as it follows a woman consumed with passionate emotions who kisses her lover's photograph each night before retiring to bed.

"El Chico del Apartmento 512" presents a recurring motif of a protagonist's attraction to a young man. The "sunny pop anthem", tells the tale of a romantic pursuit of "the guy in apartment 512". The protagonist, after being approached by several men whom she does not reciprocate interest in, summons courage and knocks on the door of the guy in apartment 512, only to be met by a woman inquiring if she is searching for her brother. The song's buoyancy provides respite from the heartbreak and melancholy present elsewhere on the album, as a comical love reversal that is a "catchy feel-good" track. "El Chico del Apartamento 512" embodies a universal Latin sound and features more scoring, subdued synthesizers, and a melodic chorus apprehensible to those with limited proficiency in Spanish.

"Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" draws on music from the Caribbean, features lusher arrangements and less driven, trebly synthesizers than the first four songs on Amor Prohibido. "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" is a fusion of cumbia and pop, with Spanish rock, reggae, and Eurodance undertones and electric guitar riffs, that went beyond the stylistic and cultural confines of Tex-Mex. The guitar solos added to the song's notoriety, while critics praised the song's catchiness and noted a sense of conviviality in the track. Its onomatopoeic title and its nonsensical lyrics suggest the sound of a woman's heart palpitating for her crush. Herrera found the lyrics of "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" to be universally relatable, evoking sensations of a swelling heart, sweaty palms, and the sudden onset of a stutter, encapsulating Selena's feelings of burgeoning love in the song. It generates a sense of effervescence, eliciting the rapid heartbeat of infatuation, encapsulated by the wobbly reggae guitar, the persistent cowbell, and the "throbbing" cumbia rhythm. Herrera opined that singer's raspy and melodic "yeah" conveys emotions of illicit love and heartbreak.

Tracks 7-10
The musical composition of "Techno Cumbia" features Selena rapping over an energetic cumbia beat supplemented with congas, hi-hats, techno samples, EBM, updated vocal extracts, New Orleans-inspired drums, and horn charts taken from soca. The track blends danceable and pulsating synthesizers and guacharaca scrapes, and features digitized vocals and scratching reminiscent of late 1980s techno, hip-hop, and house music. The track's techno elements are not as pronounced as other contemporaneous American dance music. As the most musically diverse track on the album, "Techno Cumbia" was praised as the first successful instance of a cumbia-rap hybrid, that incorporates rhythmic variations, shifting from off-beat to on-beat accents. The song's fusion of styles echoes Guillermo Gómez-Peña's concept of overlapping cultures, while the singer's exploration of various genres within a single production was peculiar for Latin artists of her time as her experimental approach allowed her to explore hybrid sounds that went beyond the compounds of Tejano music. The track includes a brief nod to the Latin-style drumbeat of Ray Charles' "What'd I Say" (1959) with the "Hey, Ho" call-and-response, as well as references to Naughty by Nature's hip-hop anthem, and is comparable to Michael Jackson's style. Morales suggests that "Techno Cumbia" may have indirectly influenced the development of nortec. Lyrically, Selena raps, growls, and beckons chastising all debbie downers and urging them to cast their chairs aside and dance to her techno cumbia.

"Tus Desprecios" follows a typical mariachi storyline, exploring dysfunctional and volatile relationships, through the traditional conjunto (small band) style and a trilling accordion motif. Despite its upbeat and rhythmic mariachi style, the lyrics convey a woman's unrequited love for a man who treats her poorly and constantly rejects her. Her love and devotion remain unbroken despite his disdain (tus desprecios), causing her deep emotional pain. While Johnny Saez's accordion solo was lauded by critics, Selena's cohesive incorporations of pop, Latin, and Tejano styles are displayed in the track. The singer exhibits a contemporary, powerful, and endearing synthesis within the framework of traditional conjunto arrangements. This and the following track have a more traditional sound than the rest of Amor Prohibido, albeit riddled with synthesizers and digital processing.

"Si Una Vez" is a moderately-paced Mexican dance number, delivered with an energetic sound and fury vocal style, akin to punk music. Selena's raw, gritty vocals are raspy and powerful and fueled with outrage with her constant vocal defense against betrayal. In "Si Una Vez", Selena expresses her resentment towards a former lover, questioning why she ever fell for him and vowing never to make the same mistake again. The singer yearns to remain submerged in resentment with fury and disenchantment and evokes the importance of self-worth and has since become a female empowerment anthem.

Similar to the preceding track, the album's closure, "Ya No" explores the heartaches of failed relationships. The new-wave rock song finds the protagonist expressing anger towards a cheating partner. It exhibits an uncommon fusion of rock undertones with a pop recording, showcasing Selena's versatility and vocal ability. With "Ya No", the singer demonstrates her fascination with Mexican music and cohesively integrates it with other styles without diluting its essence. The song features a bold, "raunchy rocker" persona, which Perone views as a precursor to Pérez's future musical endeavors.

Marketing
Amor Prohibido was released in the United States on March 14, 1994. The release followed a recording contract with EMI Latin's pop division SBK Records in November 1993, as the label sought to expand Selena's appeal to American audiences. Upon the album's release, Billboard referred to Amor Prohibido as a continuation of Selena's "torrid streak", and Hispanic magazine's Mark Holston remarked that it reinforced her standing as one of the leading Hispanic singers of the 1990s. In an effort to increase the album's commercial appeal, Behar requested that Argentine arranger Bebu Silvetti rework "No Me Queda Más" into a pop-style track, which was subsequently released as a single in October 1994. Amor Prohibido was re-released with a red sticker indicating the new version. Behar maintained that the song was "internalized" without compromising its originality. A limited edition of Amor Prohibido was released in 2002 to commemorate Selena's twenty-year music career.

Tracks released from the album continued the singer's streak of US number-one singles. The title track, "Amor Prohibido", was the album's lead single released on March 6, 1994. The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart – her first number one as a solo artist – and remained atop the chart for nine consecutive weeks. The title track topped six Latin music charts across Billboard and Radio & Records magazine, an unprecedented feat. "Amor Prohibido" became the most successful US Latin single of 1994, a feat she repeated the following year with "No Me Queda Más". While "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" followed the title track, reaching the top of the chart for four consecutive weeks, the third single, "No Me Queda Más" peaked at number one for seven nonconsecutive weeks. The album's final single "Fotos y Recuerdos" peaked at number one following the shooting death of Selena on March 31, 1995. At the time of her death, the song was at number four, and finished the year as the second most-successful song behind "No Me Queda Más".

Performances
Following her collaboration on "Donde Quiera Que Estés", Selena embarked on a mini-tour with the Barrio Boyzz, granting her the opportunity to visit locations such as New York City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Central America, where she was not well known. In September 1994, Selena's concert at the D.C. Armory in Washington, DC was sold out, attracting mostly Central American attendees. The event's organizer, Daniel Bueno, informed The Washington Post that Tejano music was despised by Central Americans, but Selena's incorporation of reggae and tropical music in her repertoire had heightened her appeal to this audience. Nelly Carrion of the Washington Hispanic, recounted the intense emotional response Selena's performance elicited from the audience, with people relentlessly seeking to touch her, ultimately leading to the suspension of her act.

Selena embarked on a series of television and live performances in support of Amor Prohibido. Her performance at the Houston Astrodome on February 26, 1995, has been cited as being among her best performances. The singer opened the concert singing to the mostly Mexican crowd, she chose to perform an English medley composed of 1970s disco music before singing songs from the Amor Prohibido album. The concert drew widespread acclaim for shattering attendance records established by country music musicians Vince Gill, Reba McEntire, and George Strait. Selena appeared at the Calle Ocho Festival in Miami, with an estimated 100,000 in attendance breaking previous audience records. Her performance on a November 1994 episode of Sabado Gigante was ranked among the most memorable moments in the show's 53-year history. Selena performed "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom", "No Me Queda Más", "El Chico del Apartamento 512", and "Si Una Vez" on the Johnny Canales Show, which was later released as part of the host's "favorite songs" on DVD. Selena's performance of "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" on July 31, 1994, at Six Flags AstroWorld was the subject of a video released by the Houston Chronicle for their segment "On This Forgotten Day". Ramiro Burr, of Billboard, called the singer's tour for her album a "tour de force". The concerts established Selena as one of Latin music's most successful contemporary acts.

Reviews
Amor Prohibido received critical acclaim. Critics generally agreed that Amor Prihibodo is either Selena's strongest album or her best work with a band at its creative peak. Selena's biographer, Joe Nick Patoski, hailed it as a significant turning point for Selena and her band, at the peak of their performance. The singer's sultry alto was described as at a peak of expression, with a sound that was "light years ahead" of her contemporaries. Isabelia Herrera of Pitchfork called Amor Prohibido as Selena's magnum opus and a commercial blockbuster that stands as an "avowal of Selena's mutability", that was not only a statement for wider industry recognition but also a fervent demand for a Latin artist to be acknowledged as diverse, modern, and capable of perpetual transformation. Other reviews called Amor Prohibido the singer's career-defining release, her "most interesting" and "sleekest" record, a "landmark success", and a "notch up" in her career, that is her band's "crowning achievement".

Many reviewers criticized the album's lack of songs true to regional Mexican music. Tarradell called Selena "Miss Mexican Lite" finding Amor Prohibido as a collection of upbeat cumbias with heavy pop influences, that does not enhance the singer's reputation within traditional Mexican music circles. Writing for Latin Style magazine, Walter Martinez opined that Amor Prohibido contained tracks that deviated from regional Mexican or Tejano music. In response to Martinez's observation, Selena explained that she and the band experimented with Amor Prohibido, but argued that the recording contains songs that encompassed elements of Tejano and norteño music. She concurred that the album is not strictly "hard-core Tex-Mex or Mexican", which she perceived as a key factor in her and her band's success, as their distinctive sound strayed from tradition. AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine characterized Amor Prohibido as "slightly uneven" and lauded Selena's success at recording the weaker material. Some reviews found that Selena successfully incorporated her interpretation of Tejano into her sound on Amor Prohibido. Writing for The New York Times, Peter Watrous notes that her music stayed true to her "working-class constituency", while Greg Kot referred to it as having a more "contemporary snap" to it. Erlewine sees the album as an effective introduction to her work that highlights her interpretation of Tejano music, while the Sunday Telegraph's Simon Broughton, recommends the album for those interested in exploring the music of Texas, particularly Selena's sultry take on Tejano. Her Tejano sounds were described as having a "subtle evolution" that indicated Selena's desire to become the genre's first pop musician.


 * variety/diversity


 * Billboard characterized the album's sound to be transparent for those unfamiliar with its musical diversity,
 * Carr opined that the four singles off of Amor Prohibido are a testament to Selena's versatility, saying that she effortlessly spans multiple genres without compromising her authenticity.


 * positive sounds


 * Houston Chronicle marveled Amor Prohibido's ability at retaining its innovative sound well into the 21st century;
 * A.B.'s production was highlighted by the Rolling Stone who labeled it the "Selena sound" that would have made the singer a dominant force on the music charts had it not been for her death.
 * the tracks were summarized and praised by The Monitor as "romantic, charming and ebullient."
 * The Dallas Morning News as "delightfully infectious, hummable [and] ultra radio-friendly",
 * before calling the album "delightfully infectious".


 * at its peak, the best of the best


 * According to Rafael Charres from Cash Box, Selena had risen to prominence with Amor Prohibido, which followed the footsteps of Little Joe and Freddie Fender, calling all ten tracks as solid proof of her musical prowess.
 * Other reviews called the work the singer's "blockbuster album",
 * a "victory" recording,
 * a "sultry, regional anthem."
 * and an "overnight sensation".
 * her signature album.

Accolades
Selena dominated the 1995 Tejano Music Awards, winning every category in which she was eligible. Amor Prohibido won the Tejano Music Award for Album of the Year – Orchestra, while the title track won Record of the Year and Single of the Year. "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" was Song of the Year, while "Techno Cumbia" received the award for Best Crossover Song. Amor Prohibido received a nomination for Best Mexican-American Album at the 37th Annual Grammy Awards. Music critic Chuck Philips, believed Selena was "the politically correct candidate" to win the Grammy, "with all the heavy media coverage she [had] received in the last two years [1992-94]". According to Neilsen SoundScan, Amor Prohibido outsold all its competitor's albums that were nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Mexican-American Album.

At the Premio Lo Nuestro 1995, the album won Best Regional Mexican Album and its titular single won Regional Mexican Song of the Year. At the second annual Billboard Latin Music Awards in 1995, it won Regional Mexican Album of the Year, Female and its namesake song won Regional Mexican Song of the Year while "No Me Queda Más" received the award for Music Video of the Year. Amor Prohibido was nominated for Album of the Year at the 1995 Desi Entertainment Awards, while the title track was nominated for Spanish-language Song of the Year. At the 1995 Pura Vida Hispanic Music Awards, music industry professionals voted for that year's Best Album for which they awarded Amor Prohibido along with "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" which took Music Video of the Year and Song of the Year honors. Amor Prohibido received the Latin Jukebox Album of the Year at the 1995 Jukebox Awards, as determined by members of AMOA, who own and service 125,000 jukeboxes in the United States.

Commercial performance
Amor Prohibido sold 200,000 units in pre-sale copies, establishing Selena as one of the most successful Latin artists of the decade. It debuted at number three on the US Billboard Top Latin Albums chart the week ending April 9, 1994. The following week it rose to number two and received the greatest jump in sales for that week. In an interview with Billboard, A.B. was frustrated that the album had yet reached number one. He explained that they were limited in their capabilities with Tejano music and spoke about his excitement when Amor Prohibido finally topped the chart, saying the event "was a big thing [for us]." Amor Prohibido sold 5,000 units and peaked at number one in its tenth week, becoming the second album to place first on the newly formed Top Latin Albums chart displacing Cuban singer Gloria Estefan's Mi Tierra from the top spot. Sales were so vigorous it nearly entered the US Billboard 200 and became the first Tejano record to peak at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart. The event marked Selena as the "hottest artist in the Latino market." The following week, the album entered the Billboard 200 at number 183, becoming the first record by a non-crossover act to do so since Mexican singer Luis Miguel's album Aries (1993). The album also became the first recording by a Tejano singer to chart on the Billboard 200. Mario Tarradell of The Dallas Morning News called the event "groundbreaking" and named Amor Prohibido as one of the most popular Latin recordings of 1994. Amor Prohibido and Mi Tierra switched back and forth between the first and second positions on the Top Latin Albums chart for five consecutive weeks.

On July 16, the album debuted at number 18 on the US Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart and ranked number one in the South Central United States region. By May 1994, Amor Prohibido had outsold other competing Tejano albums and led the list of best-selling Tejano records of 1994. Amor Prohibido became the singer's third consecutive album to outsell men in the Tejano market who historically were unchallenged by women. By June 1994, Amor Prohibido outsold ZZ Top and Willie Nelson's recent releases in the state of Texas. Within 19 weeks of its release, the album outsold her previous recordings. It was selling 2,000 units a week in Mexico, while Selena was growing a following in Canada following the release of Amor Prohibido. By November 1994 a report by Billboard showed the singer was one of the top-selling acts in Mexico. Amor Prohibido finished 1994 as the fourth best-selling US Latin album and the best-selling regional Mexican album. After 48 weeks at number one on the US Billboard Regional Mexican Albums chart, Amor Prohibido was displaced by Bronco's Rompiendo Barreras. The recording became the second Tejano album to reach year-end sales of 500,000 copies, a feat that previously had only been accomplished by La Mafia. Despite this, Nielsen Soundscan reported that the recording actually sold 184,000 units by April 1995. According to Behar, sales figures Nielsen Soundscan provides do not include sales in small shops specializing in Latin music.

By March 1995, Amor Prohibido had sold ten times more copies than her competitors, while receiving praise from men and admiration from women, an unprecedented feat. Selena had set a benchmark by which female musicians were evaluated. Cameron Randle, a record executive, stated his reluctance to exploit Selena's triumphs to promote new talent. He aimed to discover a female artist who could successfully articulate her own artistic vision in a way similar to Selena and asserted that he would not sign anyone simply for the sake of signing them until he found such an individual. Before Selena was murdered in March 1995, the album remained in the top five on the Top Latin Albums chart for 53 consecutive weeks. Album sales in the four weeks preceding her death were slightly above 2,000 units a week. In the week immediately before her death, Amor Prohibido sold 1,700 units. Outside of the US, Amor Prohibido sold 100,000 units in Mexico by July 1994, receiving a gold certification. By November 1994, Amor Prohibido was certified double gold in Mexico for reaching sales of 200,000 units. The album sold 400,000 units by April 1995 in Mexico, and received a triple gold certification. Amor Prohibido reached number six on Panama's Album Charts.

Posthumous performance
Media attention had helped increased sales of Amor Prohibido as well as her back catalogue. In the hours immediately after her death, it was the most requested album by people in music stores looking for her work. An Austin, Texas music retailer expressed how Amor Prohibido sold more units in the first month following her death "than it did the entire year it was out." This was echoed by a music wholesaler in Manhattan, who constantly sold out of Selena's albums the same day they received them, telling the local newspaper that "It used to be just the Mexicans [in Manhattan]. Now everybody likes her." In McAllen, Texas, music shops reported that people bought the singer's earlier works than Amor Prohibido, citing that "most fans already have her latest [album]". Music stores in Washington, DC, reportedly sold out of Amor Prohibido within days of her murder. The album reached a broader audience, including Colombians and Salvadorans, despite that Tejano music was not generally favored by this demographic. Stores across the country reported emptied shelves as far away as Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The album reached number one for the fifth time on April 15, 1995, with sales of 12,040 units - a 580% increase over the previous week. The record subsequently re-entered the Billboard 200 at number 92 and at number one on the Regional Mexican Albums chart, while it debuted on the US Cash Box Top 100 Albums at number 84. The album sold an additional 28,238 units (a 136% increase) and rose to number 36 on the Billboard 200, while it jumped to number 34 on Cash Box's Top 100 Albums chart. Amor Prohibido peaked at number 29 during its fifth week on the Billboard 200, and on its fifth week on Cash Box Top 100 Albums chart. The event was "a rare feat" for a non-English album in the United States. The album jumped from number 20 to number six on the list of the best-selling albums in Southern California in the week following her death, it eventually ranked number one on their list of the best-selling albums in the state. In a June 1995 report, Amor Prohibido was the second best-selling record in Puerto Rico. Amor Prohibido and her 1992 studio album Entre a Mi Mundo, rose 1,250% in sales in the eight weeks following her murder. Amor Prohibido remained at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart for 16 weeks following her death until the release of her crossover album Dreaming of You replaced it on August 5. The album remained behind Dreaming of You for seven weeks. By the end of 1995, Amor Prohibido ranked second to Dreaming of You for the best-selling Latin album for that year, and remained the best-selling regional Mexican recording for three consecutive years. Amor Prohibido entered at number 26 on the newly-formed US Cashbox Top Latin Albums chart on the week ending December 23, 1995.

After 98 weeks the album dropped from the top five on the Top Latin Albums chart, though it remained within the top ten for 12 additional weeks. Amor Prohibido holds the record for most weeks at number one on the Regional Mexican Albums chart at 97 weeks, and is the only album to reach number one in four different calendar years. Amor Prohibido became the ninth best-selling Latin album of 1996, and ranked as the second best-selling Latin catalog album of 1997, while in 1998 it placed third. Billboard's revised catalog criteria made it ineligible for the Top Latin Albums and Regional Mexican Albums chart on January 18, 1997. The album was removed from the list and began charting on the newly formed Latin Catalog Albums chart positioned at number two. Since 1997, the album has spent 13 nonconsecutive weeks at number one on the Top Latin Catalog Albums chart including three weeks in 2010. Following another revision to its Latin albums charts, Billboard removed its two-decade-long ban of catalog albums in its chart beginning with the February 11, 2017 list; Amor Prohibido re-entered the Top Latin Albums and Regional Mexican Albums chart after 20 years. Still popular today, Nielsen SoundScan reported that Amor Prohibido was the ninth best-selling Latin record of 2016. After its revision, Amor Prohibido reclaimed the number one position on the Regional Mexican Albums chart in May 2017. It was the first album by a woman to claim the top position since Jenni Rivera's Paloma Negra Desde Monterrey (2016). Amor Prohibido became the last album by a woman to claim the top spot until Rivera's daughter Chiquis Rivera debuted atop the chart in March 2018. As of 2018, the album has spent twenty weeks atop the Top Latin Albums chart, which is the ninth most weeks an album has spent at number one. Amor Prohibido has spent 111 weeks within the top ten of the Top Latin Albums chart, which is the second most weeks behind American singer Romeo Santos' Formula, Vol. 2 (2014). Amor Prohibido has spent 20 weeks at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart, the 11th longest-run on the chart.

In May 1995, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album gold, for shipments of 500,000 units. Within three weeks, it was certified platinum for increments of one million units. Amor Prohibido became the first Tejano record to receive a platinum certification. The Sydney Morning Herald called the event "an achievement" for a Spanish-language album that was not "the music industry's language of choice." By June 1995, it had sold 1.5 million units in the US, of which 100,000 were sold in Puerto Rico alone. Nielsen SoundScan reported that Amor Prohibido sold 954,000 units by March 2005. In March 2011, the RIAA updated its certification of Amor Prohibido double Diamond during an unveiling of the United States Postal Service's forever stamps honoring Selena and several other Hispanic and Latino Americans. , the album has been certified 36× platinum (Latin), denoting 2.14 million album-equivalent units sold. Amor Prohibido is the second-highest certified Latin album in the United States trailing her posthumous album Dreaming of You (1995). Amor Prohibido is the fourth best-selling Latin album of all-time in the US with over 1.246 million copies sold. The album has sold over 3 million copies worldwide. The recording has been ranked as the best-selling Tejano album of the 1990s, and the best-selling Tejano album of all-time.

Legacy and impact
Upon its release, Amor Prohibido was widely acclaimed in Hispanic communities, marking a generational divide within the Tejano market. Musicians praised the sophistication of contemporary Tejano and deemed it unnecessary to delve into their roots to produce successful recordings. The album was designed to overcome industry constraints and eventually emerged as "an ageless cultural symbol". Amor Prohibido redefined Tejano music in the 1990s, incorporating a diverse blend of hip-hop, ranchera, cumbia, and electronic beats. According to Herrera, the album encapsulates Selena's legacy while also showcasing the limitless artistic potential of Tejano music. Despite its innovation, non-Latino critics often dismissed Amor Prohibido's creativity, focusing instead on its commercial triumph and Selena's imminent crossover. Herrera observed that these critics doubted whether Selena could replicate the success of Gloria Estefan, who was seen as the sole benchmark for Spanish-language music at the time. Amor Prohibido is considered a pivotal moment for Spanish-language pop, owing to Selena and her band's innovative and adaptable approach to preserving Tejano music. Rather than echoing the genre's conventional, male-centric tales of female betrayal and infidelity, Herrera contended that Amor Prohibido provided a platform for voicing the injuries inflicted by patriarchal love. Amor Prohibido ranked 112 on Pitchfork's list of the 150 best albums of the 1990s due to its impact on American culture. Selena's introduction of cumbia rhythms to a broader audience propelled the genre to national prominence, as she transitioned from being a regional singer to an A-list American pop performer with Amor Prohibido. Amor Prohibido is widely regarded as one of the most essential albums ever released by a female artist.

A.B.'s innovative approach of integrating and blending urban musical compositions into Amor Prohibido propelled a revolution in Tejano music. With the release of Amor Prohibido, Selena achieved unprecedented levels of mainstream success, bringing Tejano music to new heights of popularity in the United States during the 1990s Latin explosion, a golden age of Latin music that was fueled by the singer's death in 1995. The album played a pivotal role in broadening Tejano music's audience, popularizing it among a younger and more diverse audience than ever before in the genre's history. The album was instrumental in advancing Tejano music's prominence, being widely recognized for "[putting] Tejano music on the map." Through Amor Prohibido, Selena's music provided a voice for the experiences of Latinos in the United States, effectively protraying their struggles and aspirations.

Following the album's release, Selena was considered "bigger than Tejano itself", and was credited for breaking down barriers in the Latin music market. Amor Prohibido propelled Selena to the forefront of American pop music, elevating her status among the leading females in the Latin music industry, with mainstream appeal among young singers. Mario Tarradell of The Dallas Morning News hailed Selena for "[conquering] the Latin pop landscape". Amor Prohibido was cited as one of several Latin recordings that demonstrated American Latinos' ability to sell albums in English-speaking markets across the United States, which had traditionally overlooked Latin music. According to Gisela Orozco of the Chicago Tribune, Selena became the most successful Tejano musician following the album's release. In July 1995, Amor Prohibido was played in its entirety at the 25th anniversary of the D.C. Latino Festival, which followed her death in March of that year.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer included Amor Prohibido on its list of the best-produced albums of 1994, while the Houston Press placed it on its list of the best Texas albums of the past 30 years. Amor Prohibido was ranked ninth on Tarradell's list of the best Latin music albums of the 1990s. Amor Prohibido ranked ninth in the Knight Ridder Tribune's list of the top-ten best Latin albums, calling it Selena's crowning achievement that solidified her status as the "Queen of Tejano music". Billboard named Amor Prohibido one of the most important Latin recordings of the past 50 years, and included it on its list of the top 100 albums of all time. In 2017, NPR ranked Amor Prohibido at number 19 on their list of the 150 greatest albums made by women, the highest-ranking album by a female Latin artist, and ninth highest-ranking recording by a woman of color. Amor Prohibido was called the first record many young Hispanic females bought "with lyrics in the language [their] blood is rooted in." Other media outlets, such as Entertainment Tonight and the Houston Chronicle, interviewed Jennifer Lopez, Ally Brooke, Cierra Ramirez, Natti Natasha, Anitta, Farina, Angela Aguilar, Becky G, and Kam Franklin on their take of Amor Prohibido and the singer's impact on their careers. In an interview with Billboard, Mexican singer Danna Paola spoke about how Amor Prohibido was the first album she ever bought. American soul singer Kam Franklin called the record "one of the greatest albums of all time". In the updated edition of Rolling Stone magazine's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, the album ranked at number 479. On April 17, 2023, Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz, nominated Amor Prohibido for the Library of Congress for historical preservation. She asserted that "Selena's music is essential to the soundtrack of our lives".

Lopez emulated Selena's performance in the Astrodome in her portrayal of the late singer in the Warner Bros. 1997 biopic. Historian Frances Negron-Muntaner observed an unsettling effect of seeing either Lopez or Selena superimposed on a glass surface, or simply Lopez alone. This surreal experience was not exclusive to Selena's parents and producers during the filming of the concert reenactment but was also shared by her fans. Lopez recalled that when she appeared at the stadium to film, the fans began screaming "Selena!" while also calling out "Jennifer". Despite initial backlash from fans and the media for selecting a relatively unknown Puerto Rican actress to play the role of a Mexican American singer, Lopez rose to fame following the film's release, and subsequently entered the music industry, inspired by her portrayal of Selena in the biopic. The songwriting, production, and touring that surrounded Amor Prohibido were dramatized in Netflix's two-part limited drama Selena: The Series (2020-21) with Christian Serratos depicting Selena opposite Gabriel Chavarria as A.B. The outfit Selena wore for the Amor Prohibido album cover was inducted into the Selena Museum in Corpus Christi, Texas, operated by the singer's family.

Track listing
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Amor Prohibido. All songs produced by A.B. Quintanilla unless specified.

Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Amor Prohibido.


 * Vocal credits
 * Selena – vocals, background vocals, composer
 * Stephanie Lynn, Rick Alvarez, "Rock 'n' Roll" James – background vocals


 * Visuals and imagery
 * Lisette Lorenzo – art direction
 * Maurice Rinaldi – photography


 * Instruments


 * Suzette Quintanilla – drums, producer
 * Chris Pérez – electric guitar, drum programming, arranger
 * A.B. Quintanilla – bass guitar, bajo sexto
 * Henry Gomez – guitar
 * Joe Ojeda – keyboards, arranger
 * Ricky Vela – keyboards, programming, arranger, composer


 * Johnny Saenz – accordion
 * Rafael Gasca – trumpet
 * Rene Gasca – trumpet
 * Gilbert Garza – trombone


 * Technical and production credits


 * A.B. – composer, producer, programming, mixing, arranger
 * Jorge A. Pino – executive producer
 * Brian "Red" Moore – engineer, mixing
 * Nir Seroussi – editing
 * Guillermo J. Page – reissue producer
 * Bebu Silvetti – arranger, producer

Certifications and sales
!scope="row"|Worldwide
 * 3,000,000
 * 3,000,000