"El Padrino" by Dominican merengue artist Fulanito keeps popping up here and there. My friends in Korea were listening to it, and it's playing here in Amsterdam too. I don't know how a 14-year-old song suddenly became popular, but I think I should hereby complain that the song is not as impressive as you'd expect. Fulanito is essentially the Dominican word for "dude;" if you forget someone's name, you can call them "Fulano."
While the Italians got Don Corleone and some awesome dark music, the Dominicans got a nameless street hustler from Washington Heights, who listens to the accordion and dies within a year of rising to the "top." So impressive are the accomplishments of this Dominican Godfather, that Fulanito feels the need to give us a play-by-play of his high school years: at 15 Fulanito (the black artist shares the same non-name with the chubby light-skin "Godfather") was causing damage in his neighborhood, mugging people for their sneakers, hats, jackets, and jewelry, and otherwise threatening emergency room visits for non-compliance; at 16 Fulanito joined a gang, and he was already "famous" for breaking the law; at 17 he was taken to a lieutenant -- the right-hand man for New York's heaviest hitter -- and Fulanito used him to get to the heavy hitter, whom he shot 7 times, thus becoming: the Godfather. Cue accordion*
Given that the song starts in 1985, when Don Fulanito was moving crack in tremendous quantity and brutally eliminating his competition, we can deduce that he got his rise in the early 80s, with 1985 being his top year. Don Fulanito had booze, women, and three brand-new cars -- an accomplishment, if you ask me. However, on the 4th of July, 1986 Don Fulanito encountered some bad luck: a thug came out of nowhere and mortally wounded him. As Don Fulanito lay there, he begged God for forgiveness, and he died with "respect, power, and money." After his death, Don Fulanito matured to Fulano, and the women celebrated his story, his "legend," while toasting champagne with all of his millions.
The Puerto Ricans have Carlito, the Italians Don Corleone, the Cubans Scarface, and the Dominicans have a nameless guy who hung out with an accordionist and sold crack using a payphone in Washington Heights.