Choca is the third-person singular form of the verb 'chocar', which means "to crash" or "to collide". It's a dynamic word that creates a vivid image of impact or conflict.
In this fun, upbeat song, Alvaro Soler humorously sings about his inability to dance. He uses the line "Creo que mi cintura choca con mi cultura" (I think my waist crashes with my culture) to joke that his awkward dance moves are in direct conflict with his cultural expectations, making this a very memorable and funny word to learn.
Spanish singer Alvaro Soler knows he cannot dance, and he is totally fine making fun of himself for it. In "La Cintura", he spots someone who turns heads simply by walking: "Su vestido de seda calienta mi corazón, como en una novela en la televisión" [Her silk dress warms my heart, like in a soap opera on TV]. Instead of playing it cool, he confesses his hips just do not cooperate on the dance floor. He admits, "mi cintura necesita tu ayuda, no lo tengo en las venas" [my waist needs your help, I don't have it in my veins]. In Spanish, saying something is en las venas (in the veins) means it comes naturally or runs in your blood, and Alvaro jokes that his lack of rhythm actually clashes with his heritage: "Creo que mi cintura choca con mi cultura" [I think my waist clashes with my culture].
His solution to fixing his stiff hips? An early morning private dance lesson by the water. He suggests heading down to the coast early before the crowds arrive: "Por qué no bajamos a la playa para así practicar pronto por la mañana y así no hay nadie más" [Why don't we go down to the beach to practice early in the morning so there is no one else]. He might stumble over the sand ("tropiezo con la arena"), but he keeps moving anyway, losing himself in the rhythm until sunrise. It is a lighthearted track all about letting go of your embarrassment, laughing at your own two left feet, and dancing anyway.
Álvaro Soler was ten when his family moved to Tokyo, and seventeen when he came back to Catalonia with piano lessons and most of a second childhood behind him. He was born in Sant Cugat del Vallès in 1991, formed the band Urban Lights in 2010 with his brother and a few friends, reached the final eight of the talent show ¡Tú sí que vales! with them in 2013, and left in 2014 to work on his own.
The song that broke him was "El mismo sol" in 2015, a number one in Italy and Switzerland that was re-recorded as a bilingual version with Jennifer Lopez. "Sofia" did it again a year later, topping the charts in Italy, Poland, Belgium and Switzerland and going platinum several times over in Italy. His albums are Eterno agosto (2015), Mar de colores (2018), which carried "La cintura", Magia (2021) and El Camino (2025). He records in Spanish, English, Italian and German, wrote "Yo contigo, tú conmigo" with Morat for Despicable Me 3, and has coached on the German edition of The Voice Kids.