“El embrujo”: who inspired the song, how much it was sold for and more secrets of Estanis Mogollón’s hit

They loved each other so much that they seemed to be united by a “spell”. Estanis Mogollon and Fernanda Infante met every day, at 4 in the afternoon, on the boardwalk of Máncora, in Piura, to secretly love each other in front of the sea. Her parents were opposed to the romance, but that was not an impediment for the couple to consolidate their promises of unconditional love.

“When the mother of my children and I were in love, we would see each other on the boardwalk because our parents did not want us to be together. Her parents didn’t accept me because she had also been with her eldest daughter and because she was a musician and at that time we artists were not well regarded. My mom didn’t agree either, she didn’t want me to commit. she was 19 years old”, narrates the composer Mogollón Benites, responsible for great musical successes.

“Faced with so much opposition, my girlfriend asked me one day if I really saw a future for our relationship. I told her yes because she loved her, and the phrase came out: ‘If that’s the case, leave it there.’ That day, as soon as I got home, I started writing, I was inspired by that relationship, by what we were experiencing, by our encounters in front of the sea… That’s how the song was born, which at first was called ‘El charm’, then ‘El spell’‘”, clarifies the ‘Father of Romantic Cumbia’.

“They say that since I love you so much / I who had so many loves / surely you have bewitched me / What does it matter / If so, leave it there / bewitched enchanted by you”

Estanis Mogollón in “The spell”

“When Estanis Mogollón’s boom began, when everyone asked me for songs: Kaliente de Iquitos orchestra, Caribeños, Grupo 5…, I tell Ronald that I have a saved agenda with some compositions, among them ‘El embrujo’, and I give it to him with the chords so that he can musicalize it with the keyboard. We were in that process when Rubén Sara, owner of Kaliente, came in and told me: ‘That song is for me’. He had already given her like twelve songs. I explained that it was for another group, but he found out. She asked me: ‘How much do you want for your theme?’ I sold it for a thousand soles”, reveals the composer.

Estanis Mogollón acknowledges that at the beginning, “El embrujo” was not part of his favorite songs, much less one of his musical bets.

“Honestly, I didn’t like it. He seemed monotonous to me, a little tired, I didn’t have much faith in him. When hot performs it for the first time does not achieve the success he expected, just three years later, in 1996, it begins to sound strongly thanks to the fact that Caribbeans of Guadeloupe Esaud Suárez, lead singer of Kaliente, is pulled in and they launch the song on the coast. He hit so hard that people started claiming the original version. Thus, when Kaliente arrived in Lima, it was a great goal. TO I was elected composer of the year and ‘El embrujo’ was the most listened to song of 2007. Only then did the mother of my children find out that I had composed the song for her, and as you will understand, it became her favorite″, recalls Mogollon.

In 2003, almost two decades after creating the song, the composer from Piura set it to music in a studio in Lima, with the help of Ronald Chávez.

The success achieved by “El embrujo” crossed Peruvian borders. It came to be in the most important radio rankings not only in Peru but also in neighboring countries. It was the debut single of the Chilean tropical music singer Américo, who in 2010 sang the song at the Viña del Mar Festival.

“Américo contacted me through the Peruvian Association of Authors and Composers of Peru (APDAYC), he wanted to meet me and record other songs of mine. He invited me to Santiago de Chile and asked me to accompany him to a presentation, He let me know how much admiration he had for me, and when he was in the middle of the show he invited me on stage to sing ‘El embrujo’ together. I remember I got nervous, my legs were shakingIt was still exciting, an unforgettable experience”, highlights the Peruvian artist, current president of APDAYC.

In 2017, “El embrujo” was one of the first songs that the Argentine soccer player Leo Messi and Antonella Roccuzzo They danced at their wedding.

Other versions

“El embrujo” has also been covered by other foreign artists and groups such as Charly Sosa, Mario Pereyra y su Banda, Net Content, Los Palmeras, Malena Gracia (2010), Los Maravillosos and Eclipse Musical.