After years of turning my radio dial to 99.1 and hearing such bands as the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Green Day, turning to the station to hear a stream of Spanish pour into my car was a shock, to say the least. However, once the initial shock subsided, I came to tolerate, and dare I say enjoy, the upbeat and rhythmic music of the new 99.1 FM: El Zol.

The recently departed radio station HFS played alternative rock music for the Washington, D.C. listening area. It was a popular radio station for many teenagers and even their parents. However, over the past 17 years, especially after the radio station switched owners to Infinity Broadcasting Corporation (IBC), its listening audience has dwindled. What hasn’t dwindled, though, is the Hispanic population in D.C., which has grown 37 percent in the past seven years.

Therefore, IBC made the strong business maneuver to switch 99.1 FM over to a fast-paced, high-energy, Spanish-speaking, cumbia-playing radio station that caters to the growing Hispanic population.

And I can’t say that I’m entirely disappointed.

Sure, I like my share of screaming, whining, angry, distraught alternative rockers as much as the next girl; but when it comes to pumping me up, nothing does it better than some good ol’ Daddy Yankee.

The radio station brags to be “Siempre de Fiesta” (Always Partying), and truer words couldn’t be spoken. Reggaeton is an increasingly popular fusion of hip-hop and rap in South America, and is now making its way into the States; while cumbia is a more folkloric type of dance music that integrates a variety of strong beats into its songs. Not only does the station play cumbia and reggaeton, but it plays salsa, merengue and bachata as well. If you have never listened to these types of music, you are missing out- it’s extremely difficult to not want to dance.

“It is a dangerous station to listen to while driving- I start to shimmy,” said Senior Katya Kroupnik.

With the Hispanic population making up ten percent of the listening audience in this area, El Zol aims to acquire a solid base of listeners who will also risk their driving abilities to enjoy the music.

And ten percent is only the beginning; many non-Hispanic people appreciate the switch as well: “El Zol puts the light in my day,” said Kroupnik.

Alternative rock stations are at no shortage in the D.C. area. DC101 proves to be a favorite of many students, and while it does not replace HFS, it serves as a fine alternative (no pun intended). On the other hand, Hispanic music stations have never been in abundance on our FM frequency. Currently, 92.7 WBZS plays Latin American music, but the quality of the artists and the reception is debatable.

“[92.7] plays only one type of Spanish music, and it’s older stuff,” said Junior Pablo “Pablito” Gutierrez.

Not to mention, depending on which way the wind blows, the reception for 92.7 is either perfect or complete static. The station has a strong signal in Prince George’s, Charles, southern Anne Arundel, and Calvert Counties, but not in Montgomery County.

So what’s there to complain about? Sure, HFS was a “D.C. establishment,” something people grew up listening to, a haven for all those MoCo alternative rockers. But change isn’t always a bad thing. Over the years, due to mismanagement and a hint of pop influence in the once strictly alternative radio station, 99.1 HFS was beginning to go downhill. El Zol can bring many more listeners and perhaps even a bit more life, a bit more fiesta, into our everyday lives. Who knows, maybe we’ll begin to agree with Gutierrez: “There should be more Spanish radio stations around here.”