Latino artists are gaining increasing visibility in the mainstream, winning more and more awards and fans across the world
Artists like Júlio and Enrique Iglesias, Shakira, Ricky Martin, Santana, Chayanne, Jennifer Lopez and Luis Miguel have long been established chart toppers. But are you familiar with the Latino performers dominating the charts today? Here they are:
Daddy Yakee – The rapper, who has won 6 Latin Grammy Awards, comes from Puerto Rico. He sings in both English and Spanish and likes to mix genres, blending sounds from reggaeton to mambo and Latin pop to hip hop.
Bad Bunny – The 27-year-old Puerto Rican’s reggaeton sound has already bagged him a Latin Grammy. He was also one of the winners of the 2020 Billboard Latin Awards.
Ozuna – Also Puerto Rican, the reggaeton-style rapper and singer, in addition to being the big winner of the 2020 Billboard Latin Awards, is a Guinness world record holder—the artists with the most videos to reached 1 billion views on YouTube.
J Balvin – A fan of bands like Nirvana and Metallica, the Colombian took the music scene by storm with his unique style of rap, a sound that has won him a legion of fans worldwide.
Maluma – He has been a huge success in his native country, Colombia, since 2011 with hits like Farandurela and Obsesión, and his track Carnaval has received critical acclaim across Latin America since its release in 2014. Since then, he has scooped 37 international awards and been nominated 92 times.
And finally, we cannot fail to mention one of the most recent of Latino music sensations!
Luis Fonsi – Unless you have been living on a desert island for the last five years, you have sung along to the hit song “Despacito”. Written in partnership with his countryman Daddy Yankee and Erika Ender (Panamanian of Brazilian and American descent), the song won the 2017 American Music Awards, in the Best Rock / Pop Song category. It is one of only 7 foreign-language songs to reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100 (the first since “Macarena” in 1996). The video currently has 7.3 billion views on YouTube (on a planet of just over 7.8 billion people!). This Puerto Rican, in addition to being a singer, plays the piano and guitar.
