Hit records from such Ricky Martin and Jennifer Lopez have helped spawn a crossover boom for Latino music in America -- as Lopez currently has a number one single with "If You Had My Love," while Martin has sold almost 2.5 million copies of his self-titled album in six weeks.

Now former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell plans to get into the fray with a her own song, "Mi Chico Latino," the follow-up to her first solo single, "Look at Me.

Some might think that the release of Geri's new single is just an attempt to jump on board the Latin music bandwagon, but Halliwell says that her decision to push "Mi Chico Latino" actually came long before Lopez and Martin's records began their chart domination.

[article id="1445317"]"My second single, and I've decided on it, is 'Mi Chico Latino,'"[/article] Halliwell said. [article id="1445317"]"And that's tapping into my Latin roots, 'cause my mother -- she's Spanish, and 'cause I always just write songs that I feel.

I know everyone says that there's this big Latin wave going on, but I wrote this single way before [any of that]. As soon as I wrote this song, I thought, you know, this is my summer single, regardless of what's in fashion and what's not." [RealAudio][/article]

Geri Halliwell's "Schizophonic" debuts at number 42 on next week's Billboard Pop Album Charts.