"Mahow, mahow"

Check out this site about Nelson de la Rosa.

Mispellings just kill me and I couldn't resist sending the following email to the site owner. I just love Benny Sadel and can't stand to see majao spelled like that!


Hey there!

First off, I think it's great that you are a fan of Nelson and have created a website in his honor.

As a Dominican-American I just wanted to clarify that the correct spelling of "mahow" is majao, or probably more properly, majao'. The song that Nelson is dancing to in that video is a merengue by Benny Sadel. He had several other hits and in all of them he uses the "majao, majao" slogan in reference to the dance. Merengue artists use these "slogans" as a way of identifying themselves on their songs.

Dominicans have a tendency to not completely enunciate their words, particularly word endings. Majao' is the Dominican way of saying majado which means "mashed". We use a wooden mortar (pilon) to mash plantains for a variety of dishes. See this site for more details: here.

The majao, majao dance is a play on the action of mashing plantains using a pilon. The pestle is a phallic symbol which is why the reference to it, combined with the thrusty motion hip motion, results in a dance that is a sexual innuendo.

Long live Nelson! And best wishes to you.