As one of the first contemporary Latin pop divas, Gloria Estefan helped blaze the trail for acts like Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, and, subsequently, an entire genre. When Estefan began singing with Miami Sound Machine in the late 1970s the recordings were in Spanish, a choice that helped earn the band a sizable Hispanic fan base. The singer sustained that fan base after Miami Sound Machine's English-language crossover success by continuing to record hits in Spanish, a trend that held into her solo career. OYE MI CANTO serves as a counterpart to the English-language ESSENTIAL GLORIA ESTEFAN (also released in 2006), by featuring Spanish-language versions of many of the singer's most beloved songs, including "Mi Tierra," "Si Senor!" and "Ayer."