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The negative response to the song “+57” by Karol G, J Balvin, Maluma, Feid, Blessd, Ryan Castro and DFZM reached a new peak on Tuesday (April 9), when a high court in Colombia ruled that it violated the rights of children because its lyrics “sexualized” minors, reports the Associated Press.
The Council of State, the supreme court for administrative litigation in Colombia, ordered the reggaetón stars to refrain from publishing music that violates the rights of children and teenagers. “Sexualizing minors reduces them to becoming objects of desire, and exposes them to risks that can affect their development,” the court said in a 14-page ruling, according to AP.
The track received a barrage of criticism since its release on Nov. 7 of last year. Rolling Stone En Español published an article titled “The Disaster of +’57′,” which Colombian President Gustavo Petro shared on his X account expressing that “it’s OK to have a cultural debate.” And the ICBF issued a statement saying that the song “reinforces the sexualization of childhood in our country” and that it “does not contribute to our fight against the commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents.”
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On Nov. 11, Karol gave a lengthy response to the criticism and apologized, saying, “I still have a lot to learn.” A couple days later, the lyrics were changed on the music video, saying “a hot mama since she was 18” instead of “14.”
“+57,” whose title is the international phone code for Colombia, was produced by hitmaker Ovy on the Drums and written by all of the aforementioned artists along with Keityn and newcomer DFZM. The name of the song, and the union of these superstars, had caused anticipation among fans eager for a new reggaeton anthem for Colombia.
The song was recorded in Karol G’s hometown of Medellin, a city that has become famous for nurturing several famous reggaeton singers. A main tourist destination, the city has also struggled to protect minors from sexual predators who visit the city in search of young women, reports the AP.
Billboard Women in Music 2025
The she-wolf has a name: It’s Isabel. And no, it’s not just a stage prop or an imposing figure decorating the set as one of the most powerful elements of the tour to convey a message that has crossed borders: “Las mujeres ya no lloran, las mujeres facturan” (“Women don’t cry anymore, women cash in”). It carries an entire connotation.
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The she-wolf is Shakira’s alter ego, almost an extension of her own being — not only as an artist but also as a person — a symbolic manifestation of her rebirth and the woman who has built a new empire through her art, her music, and her resilience. For this reason, it’s no coincidence that this stage companion, which has become a symbol of strength and empowerment for her pack, was named after the Colombian artist’s middle name (Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll).
Isabel embodies the very essence of the artist and the woman who now reveals a new facet after having been a wounded she-wolf. A transformation of tears into diamonds that has been reflected not only in her music but also in the most ambitious tour of her more than 30-year career — her first stadium trek: the Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour.
It’s a tour of colossal proportions, featuring a monumental stage weighing over 62 tons and a giant 50 x 12-meter screen that brings to life an AI-created avatar showcasing the show’s visuals, alongside musicians and dancers. But above all, it’s the existence of an all-terrain team of more than 150 people who serve as the backbone of everything, making the tour possible while becoming a pack that helps the she-wolf shine.
The Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour is almost like a mini-Tower of Babel, where languages and people of different nationalities come together to accompany the Barranquilla-born artist and bring to life the spectacle seen on stage each night. The team includes individuals from the United States, England, Ireland, Belgium, South Africa, Scotland, Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, Australia, and the Dominican Republic.
“A tour of this size is only possible thanks to all the people who travel with it. For example, the technology, the lights… It’s not just about the technical team; if you don’t take into account the people who do all the work, you really have nothing,” explains Marty Hom, the director of the LMYNL World Tour, who has been working with Shakira for 16 years. He has also been the longtime tour director/tour manager for Fleetwood Mac, Barbra Streisand and Stevie Nicks; more recently, he worked with the Rolling Stones, Beyonce and Olivia Rodrigo.
Upon entering the backstage area, the first thing you notice is the meticulous precision with which a team of this magnitude operates. Inside El Campín in Bogotá, or any other venue on the tour, many individuals have their own workspaces with computers and offices, and each zone has a designated person in charge to ensure that not even the smallest detail is overlooked. From these offices, everything is managed — from the arrival of refreshments to preparations for upcoming tour dates. And such logistics are necessary: when Shakira travels across the continent, she moves a total of 249,000 kilograms of equipment alone.
The artist’s security is also coordinated from this location, covering both the infrastructure and setup of the show as well as the personnel essential to ensuring Shakira enters and exits the venue safely. Hours later, as showtime approaches, the she-wolf’s pack witnesses the security operation unfold. At El Campín, between 50 and 70 officers are strategically positioned, giving the appearance of being bolted to one side of the stadium to ensure order for an unforgettable night.
Shakira’s health is also a priority, which is why the artist travels with two therapists, several masseuses and her own chef. Her diet, with the occasional indulgence, has to be quite strict, as does her training routine. The two-and-a-half-hour performance on stage demands constant discipline to maintain the physique, vitality, and stamina of a world-class pop star who, at 48 years old, continues to prove that her hips don’t lie.
For nearly a year and a half, her team worked tirelessly, with shifts lasting up to 16 hours a day, to bring to life the idea of a tour of this magnitude — an idea that initially came about during a casual conversation while creating a song in the studio. However, it has been Shakira herself who has led the charge, serving as the creative mind behind the tour, the hardest worker, and the driving force pushing the limits of what’s possible to ensure every detail bears the mark of the she-wolf.
The Challenge of Bringing Shakira’s Dream to Life
The staging is not just a technical matter but also an economic one. Marty Hom reveals that one of his greatest challenges as the head of the show has been balancing Shakira’s artistic vision with the financial realities of executing a tour of this magnitude. “The hard part for me is seeing the financial and economic impact of doing a tour of this scale,” he says. “The challenge is to let her have her artistic vision, maintain the integrity of the show, but also stay within budget. It’s about having a financial framework that ensures she can still turn a profit.”
That balance has been achieved with precision, resulting in a show that not meets the artist’s expectations and those of her fans — a multigenerational audience that has grown alongside the different phases Shakira has offered over the years. From the rockstar and the golden-hipped dancer to her romantic pop era and her latest empowered single-woman persona, embracing more contemporary and urban rhythms like reggaeton and other electronic sounds.
“The thing with Shakira is that she’s a perfectionist, and she wants everything to be perfect for her fans because they are the most important thing to her. She’s constantly thinking about how they will react and whether they’ll like what’s being done. That’s always her top priority,” concludes Hom.
Additionally, the staging includes a groundbreaking approach with the use of nine visual interludes that build the show’s narrative through artificial intelligence. A realistic avatar of her image and evolution over the years was developed over the course of more than five months at the Los Angeles-based creative studio Actual Objects — a rigorous creative process involving over 40 specialists in digital animation and 3D sculpting.
“Until now, no artist of Shakira’s caliber had used artificial intelligence in this way in the service of pop culture,” says Maite Marcos, her choreographer and right-hand collaborator for more than 20 years, who has been with her since day one of creating the tour. “An immense team was involved, with Shakira making constant changes to achieve the perfection of what she wanted to project. Creating this avatar of herself wasn’t easy, but we managed to use the technology to its fullest potential. Even the 13 costume changes she makes on stage were made possible thanks to the magic of the show.”
Now that the show is a reality, her team, who worked tirelessly for months to make it happen, is beginning to grasp the impact of what they’ve built and the message they want to convey. “Now is when I’m really starting to realize how big this is, seeing the audience’s reaction — not just live, but also on social media. And seeing what the message of ‘Women don’t cry anymore, women cash in’ means to them, and how it has connected with so many people, is indescribable,” says Alex Castillo, better known as AC, Shakira’s music producer and the mind behind hits like “Soltera.”
The show is a display of innovation and technology, but also a doctrine of female empowerment, carrying a clear message that has been conveyed through Isabel, the she-wolf, in whom many people have found inspiration for strength and freedom.
Isabel, the She-Wolf Shakira Brings to Live Each Night as a Symbol of Greatness
The symbolism of the she-wolf is no coincidence. Since her 2009 Spanish-language hit *”Loba”* (or “She Wolf” in English), the character of this animal has accompanied Shakira in her artistic evolution, with its meaning evolving alongside her — from representing a simple woman with carnal desire to becoming a symbol of empowerment that reflects her strength and resilience in the face of the challenging personal experiences she has endured in recent years.
“The she-wolf is our mascot. It’s a symbol of strength for her, one she has embraced as an emblem of female empowerment. The she-wolf is not only a symbol of empowerment for Shakira but is also meant to be a symbol of empowerment for women around the world,” says Hom.
And Shakira is not just a she-wolf. She is an untamed, passionate, and unrestrained she-wolf.
“She has that she-wolf spirit. She’s sexy, she’s free, she’s wild, as if she has no limits,” says Danira Littleton, the captain of the dance team for the LMYNL World Tour, who has closely experienced the entire creative process of the tour. “Many women can be shy, holding back out of fear of taking risks. But Shakira breaks through that. She dances on the ground, her hair and everything about her is like an untamed creature. She brings all that energy that makes women feel like we can be ourselves.”
“There are people who have such a powerful energy that everyone wants to be near them, and that’s precisely Shakira. Even if you don’t like her music, you can’t ignore her; everyone knows who she is because what she does and the energy she exudes are special,” adds Albert Menendez, her keyboardist since the recording of her MTV Unplugged, who has witnessed the she-wolf through all her stages.
During the tour, the figure of the she-wolf expands to a total communion with her pack, in a sort of pact portrayed in the “ten commandments of the she-wolf” projected during the show, because what would a she-wolf be without her pack?
It’s something that can be seen from the very first moment of the show, starting with the support she receives during her grand entrance, accompanied by fans dressed in silver as she makes her way to the stage.
A Vibrant Show With a Message that Resonates Powerfully
From the backstage of the Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran tour, there is one thing Shakira’s entire team agrees on: “The show is alive.”
Although the creative work behind the monumental final result took many months — with training sessions between Miami and Mexico to adapt to the altitude and workdays lasting up to 16 hours — every day and every performance is unique. There’s always a new surprise, continuous improvement, or a new resource or element that makes it special and different from all the others. All of this is done with the most important element in mind: the fans.
“The audience’s reaction is the final ingredient, the touch that ties everything together. It’s like the last instrument that completes the harmony of the show,” says AC. “Without that energy, it was hard to truly know how the show felt. But from the very first concert in Rio, it was clear: everything was in its place, the show was complete.”
And so, the howl of Isabel, the she-wolf, is finally heard louder than ever, transformed into a symbol of strength, freedom, and rebirth. It’s a journey of learning that Shakira herself expresses on stage during every concert — a story of a she-wolf wounded by life’s blows, who emerged stronger and filled with answers. A she-wolf who transformed her pain and found meaning in every fall. Because, as Shakira herself explains, it’s not just about recovering but about understanding the message that pain brings and using it as a driving force for growth, realizing that the only love that truly saves and shows the light at the end of the tunnel is self-love, though having the support of the pack during the process is also essential.
The Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour is more than just a tour. It is a testament to resilience, reinvention, female empowerment, and self-love. Now, after conquering Latin America with impressive numbers in the region — including 11 sold-out shows in Mexico and new dates scheduled for the summer — it will continue its journey through the United States starting May 13, marking Shakira’s return to North American stages, where her last stadium performance was at the iconic 2020 Super Bowl.
Shakira will return for a second leg in Latin America before taking her show to Europe, with plans to continue her journey in the near future through Asia and the Middle East. Over the next two years, her music, her story, and her legacy will resonate in every corner of the globe through her she-wolf Isabel, delivering a message that began as an artistic expression and has now evolved into an entire movement, driven by a massive pack that loudly proclaims, “Women don’t cry anymore, women cash in.” And why not men, too?
This article was originally published by Billboard Colombia.
The Heat Latin Music Awards, commonly known as Premios Heat, will have a new venue this year in Medellin, Colombia. “IT’S OFFICIAL! Medellín, the city where everything blooms, becomes the home of the HEAT Latin Music Awards 2025. See you in this magical city where music lives and inspires us,” the organization announced early Thursday […]
Barranquilla experienced a historic night, with the return of Shakira to her homeland after almost 20 years of absence on local stages. The global star delivered an unforgettable performance at the Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, where her fans gathered to enjoy a show filled with emotion, culture and a very special tribute to the Barranquilla Carnival.
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From early in the day, thousands of people lined up under the sweltering heat of Barranquilla to secure their entry to this unforgettable event, part of Shakira’s Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran tour. The production of the show was up to her international status, featuring striking visual effects, giant screens and a dance troupe that accompanied each performance.
The artist began her performance with a triumphant entrance, dressed in a dazzling silver outfit, while the attendees enthusiastically chanted her name. Visibly moved, Shakira expressed her joy at returning home: “I am very happy to be here, at home. There is nothing like singing among my own people.”
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Promoted by Live Nation, Shakira’s stadium tour began on Feb. 11 in Río de Janeiro and continued in São Paulo, Brazil (Feb. 13) and Lima, Peru. After a second concert in her native Barranquilla, Colombia on Friday (Feb. 21), she will make stops in Santiago, Chile (March 2-3); Buenos Aires, Argentina (March 7-8), and several cities in Mexico.
Below are the most memorable moments from Thursday’s concert.
Concert setlist and fan club
The show’s setlist included the biggest hits from each stage of her more than three-decade-long career, such as “Estoy Aquí,” which reached No. 2, and “Suerte” and “Te Felicito,” both which topped Billboard‘s Latin Airplay chart. Additionally, the song that earned her the only No. 1 so far on the coveted all-genre Hot 100, “Hips Don’t Lie,” was also included.
Shakira took a journey through the years to reminisce about her beginnings in the ’90s, when her career was just starting to take off, and she concluded her memories with an emotional performance of “Pies Descalzos” which moved everyone in attendance.
One of the most special moments of the night came with the ballad “Antología.” Shakira dedicated the song to her mother, Nydia Ripoll, who was present at the concert along with the artist’s children, Milan and Sasha. At that moment, the stadium stands lit up with the colors of the Colombian flag, an initiative led by Shakira’s fan club in the city as a deep show of affection.
Tribute to the Barranquilla Carnival
Shakira dedicated a portion of the concert to the Carnival of her hometown. The artist surprised the audience by revealing her special guest: Chelito De Castro.
A musician renowned for his work as a pianist for the late Joe Arroyo, the Caribbean icon joined Shakira years ago to perform “Te Olvidé,” which is considered by many as the anthem of the Carnival.
While singing the song, Shakira also played the tambora and wore a vueltiao hat as a sign of pride for her coastal roots. At that moment, she also welcomed onto the stage the current Carnival queen, Tatiana Angulo Fernández, with whom she danced to the rhythm of the traditional garabato dance.
Grand finale
The concert closure was marked by the energy of “Waka Waka,” where thousands of attendees joined in a massive chorus. The song was immediately followed by the hit made with Argentine producer Bizarrap: “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” a song with which many women connected — not only because of the story of heartbreak the artist wanted to tell, but also because of a phrase that could now be considered a national heritage: “Las mujeres ya no lloran, las mujeres facturan” (“Women no longer cry, women invoice”).
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For our entire lives we’ve been warned about the dangers of cocaine and how it could lead to a life of addiction and ultimately overdosing. But apparently, the president of Colombia feels otherwise as he likened the dangerous narcotic to that of alcohol aka spirits.
According to Raw Story, Colombian President Gustavo Petro recently declared that cocaine was “no worse than whiskey” during an live broadcast of a government meeting. As shocking as that statement may be to most, we imagine that President Petro probably partakes in nose candy, which prompted him to make such a comparison. Known as the cocaine capital of the world, Colombia is infamous for producing some of the most notorious drug kingpins the world as ever seen, including Pablo “El Padrino” Escobar and Griselda “La Madrina” Blanco.
Still, Petro apparently feels that cocaine is demonized not because of the damage it’s capable of inflicting on it’s users lives (it really can turn people into coke fiends), but because it’s a Latino product. In other words, racism.
Per Raw Story:
During a six-hour ministerial meeting — broadcast live for the first time ever — the leftist president said “cocaine is illegal because it is made in Latin America, not because it is worse than whisky.”
“Scientists have analyzed this. Cocaine is no worse than whisky,” he added, suggesting that the global cocaine industry could be “easily dismantled” if the drug were legalized worldwide.
“If you want peace, you have to dismantle the business (of drug trafficking),” he said. “It could easily be dismantled if they legalize cocaine in the world. It would be sold like wine.”
If they legalized cocaine around the world, Colombia would probably have the best economy known to man. So yeah, we get why he might be advocating for the schedule II level drug.
Still, he did make a valid point when he said that fentanyl was the drug that was “killing Americans and it is not made in Colombia.”
“Fentanyl was created as a pharmacy drug by North American multinationals” and those who consumed it “became addicted,” he added.
While we’re sure many cocaine users will agree with Petro’s sentiment, we’ll go out on a limb here and say you probably still shouldn’t use booger sugar as a recreational drug. Just sayin’.
What do y’all think about President Petro’s feelings about cocaine being as “harmless” as whiskey? Let us know in the comments section below.
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President Donald Trump and Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro clashed over the handling of deportees from America to the South American nation via military planes, with Petro initially denying entry. After President Donald Trump threatened to impose stiff tariffs on Colombia, President Gustavo Petro agreed to the terms that allow immigrants to return who entered the United States illegally.
CNN was one of several outlets covering the brief yet intense exchange between the two leaders that began on Sunday (Jan. 27) when military planes from the United States carrying illegal immigrants attempted to land in Colombia. The outlet said it examined documents that showed the country approved the flights yet President Petro says that wasn’t the case with officials stateside saying that Colombia retracted the authorization. There have been reports on social media that the migrants were placed in shackles.
Petro initially denied access to the planes from landing stating that American officials handling the migrants as criminals and demanding a more humanitarian approach. In response, Trump threatened tariffs on imports against Colombia, which has been a longtime trade partner with America. Trump also said he would levy a travel ban on citizens of the country, revoking visas, and halting visa processing for both immigrant and non-immigrant visas.
The visa restrictions were particularly alarming as they typically only arise for countries or individuals that have committed human rights abuses. Petro fired back with tariff threats of his own and had choice words for Secretary of State Marco Rubio via social media.
By Sunday evening both sides stated that they reached an agreement, with some framing the actions of Colombia’s agreement with the United States and backing down from Trump. However, it appears that Petro was able to negotiate terms that were more in line with other deportation exchanges done under the Biden administration which ever escalated into a trade dispute.
“We will continue to receive Colombians and Colombian women who return as deportees, guaranteeing them decent conditions as citizens subject to rights,” Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo said in a statement. Murillo then shared that deportation flights are clear to go and that they will send the Colombian presidential plane to help with the efforts of bringing citizens back.
The White House issued a statement in connection to the brief standoff.
“Today’s events make clear to the world that America is respected again. President Trump will continue to fiercely protect our nation’s sovereignty, and he expects all other nations of the world to fully cooperate in accepting the deportation of their citizens illegally present in the United States,” read the statement.
On X, formerly Twitter, some are discussing the exchange between President Gustavo Petro and President Donald Trump while expressing disappointment that the country didn’t stand up further for itself. We’ve got those reactions below.
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Photo: Getty
A historic moment occurred in Colombia in late 2024 when Heredero (real name Féizar Orjuela), the carranga music artist, achieved a major hit with his song “Coqueta”. The song not only became a huge viral hit, but also reached the No.1 position for the first time in history, a milestone that also represents a breakthrough for the traditional carranga music genre, which has recently found a new place in the music industry.
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“Coqueta” achieved the feat by becoming the first carranguera song to reach No. 1 in the official Spotify 50 Colombia ranking, displacing reggaetón smashes by hitmakers like Karol G and Feid, who have dominated the Colombian charts for many years.
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It is the first time a carranga song has generated so much attention and popularity through digital platforms and social networks. The musical genre, originating from the Andean region of Colombia, specifically from the departments of Santander and Boyacá, is, in essence, Colombian peasant music. It is composed of string instruments, such as the guitar, the requinto and the requintilla (a little smaller), guacharaca and/or charasca — which are also sounds that come from the roots of the lands of Colombia and are scraping idiophones or instruments that generate sound by themselves, when hit, shaken, or rubbed.
Heredero, currently one of its most outstanding representatives, describes it as “the country of the United States,” nourished by peasant songs and poems and has transitioned its structure by entering other cities over time.
“It is totally the sum of efforts, dedication, love for rural musical culture, years, generations,” Heredero tells Billboard Español.
Now that peasant music is reaching Colombia, the world is entering thanks to “Coqueta.”
With more than 1.9 Million videos created on TikTok, including videos by J Balvin and Valentina Ferrer, Jay Wheeler, and Zhamira Zambrano, and more than 55,00 reels on Instagram, her song “Coqueta” has connected with different types of audiences — which Heredero attributes to fans’ need to consume music that is based on what is simple and honest.
“Maybe at the time it was thought, and it worked, [that] you have to have baby skin, you have to project, I don’t know what… and [labels and artists] did not spend so much time on the important product, which is the songs,” Heredero tells Billboard Español. “Now we are consuming real things. Both young people, the children, the adults, and older people are eager for it. I believe that caranga music, or at least what I try to do, is for it to be that. Show me as a person as [they are].
“When someone asks me for a photo, I tell them: ‘Please don’t retouch it, don’t put a filter on it, let me look as natural as possible,’” he adds. “That is where people are connecting to; with being, with nature. A fake smile is fake — no matter how nice you pretend it is, it won’t connect. But a look, a real smile, is something else.”
Originally from Macaravita, Santander, Heredero — son of a poet mother and Carranguero musician father — carries in his veins the culture of his music and the lyrics that accompany it. “I try to honor myself the promise that I made to myself — and that I continue to nourish all the time — that the carranga grows and is known. What is happening right now is showing that it is possible, but there is still a lot of work to do,” he says.
From his childhood, Heredero had the best teacher at home: “There was no electric light on my sidewalk at that time, and my mother, a teacher by profession, went to a room with a wax or paraffin candle to write and write, and well, I was going to accompany her,” he remembers. “She used to write many things, such as poems and stories, and she made dramatizations for her students. And I accompanied her, but without intending to, learning because she was doing it. When I started doing my little things, I talked about the seven years I was doing some verses, and he corrected me: ‘Don’t repeat that word because you already said it… but say it this way.’ On the other hand, my father was making music in the town in the urban center of our municipality. While [he was doing that] I was sitting next to the musicians, watching them how they did and learning.”
Although Heredero was well known in the carranga scene, “Coqueta” was the song that brought him to fame. The single, from his third album (distributed by ONErpm), shows the slightly more romantic part of the project and the carranga.
The remix with Jessi Uribe occurred when their teams approached each other. Uribe became interested in the song; as Heredero tells us, he also wanted the remix to have the same feel as the original arrangement.
“When we started, he said: ‘I want it to continue tasting like Carranga; I don’t want us to make a ranchera.’ He comes from popular music and ended up singing carranga; I always say: ‘Well, what a tremendous ‘shampoo’ [A popular ‘saying’ when you have gotten the best or the top] I used on myself was to sing carranguera music with the top artist in música popular.’
Heredero says he’s grateful for Uribe’s new spin, “because it was really successful for carranguera music. Immediately the next day, we were trending in Chile, Central America, the United States, and Spain. We are a bridge, and that would possibly have taken me much longer to achieve [without the remix],” he adds.
What dreams does he have from here? “A Grammy for the carranga!” These things can happen, but if you work at them fully… I will be extremely happy as a farmer and as a carranguero to grab that gramophone and raise it in honor of my land and my roots.”
In his first-ever stadium headlining show in his hometown, the Colombian superstar delivers a show filled with star-studded cameos, deep cuts and relentless energy.
This summer, singer-songwriter Yeison Jimenez achieved his lifelong dream of selling out the coveted Movistar Arena in Bogotá, Colombia — not once, but three times, with more than 40,000 collective fans attending the shows. The feat was not only historic for Jimenez, but for any música popular (regional Colombian) artist. “No one in the genre has been able to [sell out] a solo arena throughout Colombia,” he says.
Música popular — which fuses ranchera and the string music known as carrilera in Colombia — was born more than five decades ago in the country’s coffee region, which has four departments: Caldas (where Jimenez was born), Quindío, Risaralda and Tolima. Initially known as música de carrilera or música de cantina, its inspiration derived from regional Mexican music and first gained traction in small towns and local bars with the help of genre pioneers including Darío Gómez, Luis Alberto Posada and El Charrito Negro.
As Jimenez tells it, música popular traces back to Gómez in particular. The former notes that when the latter arrived at radio stations with the newborn fusion in the ’70s, they told him he was crazy.
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“This is not like vallenato, which is something authentically ours — we did not invent this,” música popular singer Pipe Bueno says. “We are a subgenre that comes from Mexico but with our essence and our flavor. The fact that we are Colombian gives it a different color.”
Lyrically, a regional Colombian song will often focus on despecho (heartbreak) or rejoicing in good times. Sonically, the arrangements can mirror the instrumentation of mariachi and ranchera music, such as trumpets, violins and the guitarrón (six-string acoustic bass), blended with the accordion, commonly used in vallenato.
As part of the new wave, Bueno and Jimenez — alongside artists including Paola Jara, Luis Alfonso, Jessi Uribe and Arelys Henao — have not only given the genre a modern twist but also propelled it to an international scale. Jimenez first reached Billboard’s Latin Airplay and Regional Mexican Airplay charts with “Tu Amante” in 2021, and he’s now touring nightclubs and theaters across the United States. Bueno, who entered the Latin Digital Song Sales and Latin Rhythm Airplay charts with his 2014 song “La Invitación” (featuring Maluma), has since collaborated with Grupo Firme and inked a deal with Warner Music Latina earlier this year.
“We are an aspirational genre,” Bueno says. “We have been at the top of the streaming charts alongside Peso Pluma. We are filling arenas. It wasn’t like this [when I started my career].”
“When we came into the game, we wanted to make music that would reach other countries and, above all, other generations,” Jimenez adds. “On one hand, there’s a lot of admiration. On the other hand, we are criticized a bit… I don’t pigeonhole myself because we are in another era.”
This story appears in the Sept. 28, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Fito Páez has been forced to cancel his September shows in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Bogotá. The acclaimed Argentine musician announced Wednesday (Sep. 4) on his social media that he broke five ribs over the weekend at his home. “On Sunday morning, I had a domestic accident that resulted in the fracture of five ribs,” […]