El Problema
2002 song performed by Ricardo Arjona
"El Problema" ("The Problem") is a Latin pop song written, produced and performed by Guatemalan Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter Ricardo Arjona. It was released as the lead single from his ninth studio album, Santo Pecado (2002). It is also recognized as one of Ricardo Arjona's signature songs.
Critically and commercially successful, the song became a hit by the singer, staying at No.1 for eight consecutive weeks at the Billboard Hot Latin Songs and twelve weeks at No.1 on the Latin Pop Songs chart, both being the most by any of his singles to date.
Reception
On the success of the song, Arjona commented that "it is an accident that happens, and you doesn't now how it is about. I thought 'El Problema' wasn't a song that could sound on radio and it happened." Mario Tarradell from The Dallas Morning News commented that "filled with lengthy verses and a gospellike chorus, the cut hardly sounds like your usual drive-time fodder."
Music video
The music video for "El Problema" was filmed between November 16 and 18, 2002 in Barcelona, Spain. The video features the singer chasing a woman throughout the city to finally find her at the La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona's biggest church, in which he is arrested by the police and sent to prison.
Track listing
Chart performance
"El Problema" became a huge commercial success for Arjona. The song debuted at No.27 on the Billboard Latin Songs chart the week ending November 2, 2002. The following week it jumped to No.11, receiving the "Greatest Gainer" honor for that week.
The public source identifies “El Problema” as 2002 song performed by Ricardo Arjona. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Problema, song and performed.
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Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5351916. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2002.
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This entry incorporates text from “El Problema” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.