Latin
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From career milestones to new music releases to major announcements and those little important moments, Billboard editors highlight uplifting moments in Latin music. Here’s what happened in the Latin music world this week.
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Daddy Yankee Releases Faith-Based Music
Daddy Yankee has not entirely retired from music — in fact, he’s now committed to using his talent and platform to send positive and uplifting messages. On Good Friday (March 29), the King of Reggaeton released “Donante de Sangre” (“Blood Donor”), a song dedicated to his faith and how Jesus transformed his life. “I was healed by his blood/ I walk free by his blood/ I am different from what I was before,” sings the Puerto Rican artist born Raymond Ayala.
Yankee talked about the new chapter of his life during his farewell concert in Puerto Rico in December, part of four back-to-back shows called La Meta (The Goal). “All the tools that I have in my power, like music, social media, platforms, a microphone, everything that God has given me is now for his kingdom,” he expressed to fans. “I hope you walk with me in this new beginning and I hope you remember something very important: Don’t follow any person. I am human. To all the people who follow me, follow Jesus Christ — he’s the way, the truth and the life.”
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Latin AMAs Unveil 2024 Special Honors Awards
This week, the Latin American Music Awards unveiled which three artists will receive a special recognition during the ceremony next month. Recognized for their notable musical careers, both Banda MS and Ricardo Montaner will be honored with the Latin AMA Legacy Award. Yandel, meanwhile, will be celebrated for his contributions to the Latin urban music scene with the Latin AMA Pioneer Award.
Feid and Peso Pluma lead this year’s nominations with 12 nods each. They are followed by top nominees Bad Bunny (11), Grupo Frontera (11), Karol G (9), Shakira (9), Eslabon Armado (8) and Fuerza Regida (8). Co-hosted by Thalía, Alejandra Espinoza and Carlos Ponce, this year’s awards ceremony will celebrate the theme We Speak Música, and will air live at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 25, from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas via Univision, UNIMÁS, Galavision and ViX.
Karol G Brings Out Servando y Florentino
During her two-day stop in Venezuela as part of her Mañana Será Bonito tour, Karol G surprised fans with an epic Servando y Florentino reunion — more so, with a major Salserín throwback. The Colombian singer, alongside the talented Venezuelan brothers, performed the 1996 salsa hit “De Sol a Sol” to a roaring and excited crowd of more than 50,000 people.
“The first woman to make history at the Monumental Simón Bolívar stadium. You don’t only standout for your great show but also for the wonderful person you are,” the duo expressed on Instagram.
“Thank you for singing with me and doing the choreography. I can’t believe it,” the Bichota also wrote on her own account.
Greeicy Releases Song for Kai
Greeicy shared a snippet of a new song that she premiered during her recent concert at the Movistar Arena in Bogota. Named after her son, Kai, the song is a reflection of her new motherhood era. “Hopefully those eyes see me forever/ What’s left of this life and also the next one/ I don’t usually talk too much, I prefer to show you/ I wish I could wrap the world and give it to you/ And not even that will be enough,” goes part of the heartfelt lyric that’s penned by Keityn.
During her performance, Greeicy also shared never-before-seen footage of her son.
Xavi chose Mexico to kick off his first tour, Poco a Poco, on Thursday night (March 28). It was the right decision. The hot new regional Mexican music star had a blast at his debut at BlackBerry Auditorium in Mexico City, where he took the opportunity to praise his Mexican roots and charm fans with […]
New Music Latin is a compilation of the best new Latin songs and albums recommended by Billboard Latin and Billboard Español editors. Check out this week’s picks below.
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Alex Zurdo, “En Hora Buena” (AZ Music)
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Puerto Rican singer-songwriter Alex Zurdo delivers a timely message of hope this Holy Week with his latest single, “En Hora Buena.” The track opens with his trademark strumming of acoustic guitar chords, gradually transitioning into a catchy mid-tempo rhythm that blends urban music with cumbia influences. Through his lyrical prowess, the rapper lets his melodic voice flow this time to express gratitude for God’s opportune intervention and his help in times of difficulty. “Nothing fills me like you fill me/ You have arrived at a good time/ You are the peace that gives full life/ Following you was worth it,” Zurdo sings in the melodic chorus. — LUISA CALLE
Beéle & Kany García, “Me Arriesgo Contigo” (Hear This Music LLC/5020 Records)
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Beéle and Kany García join forces for a sweet pop track that narrates an unlikely relationship that actually turns into a risk worth taking. “Me Arriesgo Contigo” starts off with a sparse guitar note that serves as a canvas for Beéle’s delicate yet commanding vocals. Then, it’s García’s turn to take charge — and she does so accompanied by a hip-swiveling bachata beat. But once both join their vocals, the song’s sound evolves into an explosive head-bobbing pop tune that powers the rest of the song. “I want to shout that I love you and I take the risk with you, undressing all fears with kisses we dress up,” they sing in the catchy chorus. — GRISELDA FLORES
Ramona & Daniel & Me Estás Matando, “Amargura”
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Tijuana rockers Ramona and Mexico city indie-pop balladeers Daniel, Me Estás Matando team up to resurrect the vintage folklore of a Mexican dark cabaret in this haunting, modern bolero. Delivering a kind of vocal despair that captures the essence of ‘70s-era Latin crooners, their bittersweet lament finds them relief from the agony of longing for someone who doesn’t value the connection. “I’ve been wanting to forget you for a long time and take all this bitterness out of my chest/ Even though I know I still love you and it hurts me to my soul,” they sing. Armed with dissonant violins, moody horns and silky percussion — with stellar production courtesy of Daniel Zepeda, Ivan de la Rioja, Jesús Guerrero, and Omar Córdoba — “Amargura,” in sum, is a captivating glimpse of unrequited love. — ISABELA RAYGOZA
Nelly Furtado & Juanes, “GALA y DALÍ” (Nelstar Entertainment/Universal Music Latino)
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After unleashing their first collaborative effort in 2002, Nelly Furtado and Juanes join forces once again in “GALA y DALÍ.” A contrast to “Fotografía,” their heartfelt pop track from 22 years ago, their new single is a feel-good bop that fuses Calypso with other tropical rhythms. Just in time for the summer, the flirtatious song finds the Canadian songstress and Colombian artist singing about their sweet chemistry, comparing it to the bond that Salvador Dalí and his wife Gala had. The song also samples part of their 2002 hit, which reached No. 1 on the Hot Latin Songs chart, and its lyrics cleverly reference how “since 2002, Nelly has been in love” and preserving their photograph. The music video further shows Furtado and Juanes’ professional connection in the recording studio, as they sing, dance, and even share an anecdote from the first time they performed together at an awards show more than two decades ago. — JESSICA ROIZ
Carin León & Leon Bridges, “It Was Always You (Siempre Fuiste Tú)” (Socios Music)
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A month after dueting with Kane Brown on the historic crossover between country and Mexican music “The One (Pero No Como Yo),” Carin León continues to experiment with new collaborators and styles. This time, the música mexicana star joins American R&B singer Leon Bridges for “It Was Always You (Siempre Fueiste Tú),” a bilingual track produced by Edgar Barrera and Casta about an ex who didn’t appreciate their love. “I gave you my heart and you didn’t give a damn/ I sent everyone to hell for your love/ And you’re never happy, no,” León sings softly in Spanish before the catchy mid-tempo chorus: “Maybe it’s you (Maybe it’s you)/ The reason, the reason for all my pain.”
“This song with my friend Leon [Bridges] is very important to me,” León said in a press release. “It is another great moment for American roots music and Mexican music, uniting two languages that, despite having so much in common, need music to express their solidarity.” The song arrives with a picturesque music video filmed in his hometown of Sonora, Mexico under the direction of Willy Rodríguez. — SIGAL RATNER-ARIAS
Los Avengers, The Academy: Segunda Misión (Warner Music Latina/Rich Music)
Five years after The Academy was released in 2019, The Avengers — a reggaatón collective composed of Dalex, Dímelo Flow, Justin Quiles, Lenny Tavarez and Sech — has finally released its follow up album, Segunda Misión (Second Mission). The new set boasts nine brand-new tracks, featuring collaborations with renowned artists including Myke Towers, Yandel, Maria Becerra, Arcángel, Eladio Carrión and Natti Natasha. Co-produced by Dímelo Flow and Sech in partnership with other reggaetón hitmakers, this “combi completa” between Panama, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Dominican Republic and Colombia carries with every beat the pure essence of reggaetón, in songs like “Flowhot,” “El Royce,” “Amiga” and “Si si si si.” — INGRID FAJARDO
Listen to more editors’ Latin recommendations in the playlist below:
Enrique Iglesias has released his new studio album Final, Vol. 2 (Sony Music Latin)—almost three years after dropping Final, Vol. 1, and which he assures will be the last musical set of his career. Home to 10 tracks, the album finds Iglesias navigating from his signature electronic dance and Latin pop fusions to other genres […]
After “Está Dañada” earned Ivan Cornejo his first top 10 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs in 2021, the Mexican-American singer-songwriter is back in the upper region as “Baby Please” debuts at No. 8 on the list dated March 30. “Baby Please” splashes into the top 10 on the multimetric Hot Latin Songs chart mainly on […]
Los Tigres del Norte made history in Texas earlier in March after breaking its own stadium attendance record at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. As part of their Siempre Contigo tour, the renowned norteño band made a pit stop at the rodeo’s Go Tejano Day, where they drew an audience of 75,595 at the […]
After a decade-long absence, Jumbo, a cornerstone of Latin alternative rock, are making their return to the U.S. stage, joining forces with genre peers División Minúscula. Their much-anticipated comeback follows years of setbacks due to a “critical error” that led to visa complications, preventing them from touring stateside despite the release of three albums brimming with tour-worthy material.
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Now, armed with renewed vigor and passion, the Mexican rock band — consisting of frontman Clemente Castillo, guitarist Jorge “Flip” Tamez, bassist Carlos Castro, drummer Alberto Ramos, and producer Iñigo Rizo — are ready to captivate audiences once again as they crisscross the United States, hitting major cities from coast to coast. Promoted by Live Nation, the tour kicks off in Chicago on April 17, followed by a show in New York City the next day. The tour route includes stops in Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, and culminates in Houston, Texas on August 14.
Celebrating 25 years since the release of their debut album, Restaurant, in 1999, Jumbo’s significance extends beyond mere longevity. This album not only marked a milestone in the band’s career but also played a pivotal role in shaping the Mexican music scene of its time, particularly the musical boom known as La Avanzada Regia scene of that era in Monterrey.
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“The grand merit of that generation was to be able to break [barriers] and show that in a city where there was no music scene suddenly thundered and became so big,” Flip (real name Jorge Tamez Chapa) tells Billboard Español. “Plastilina Mosh was nothing like Zurdok, which was nothing like La Flor de Lingo, or Niña, or Kinky. Unconsciously we valued being original, and I think that created a very rich movement. Thirty years later it is beginning to be romanticized a lot. I feel very proud to be from that generation”.
Jumbo. Photo Credit: Juan Rodrigo Llaguno
Juan Rodrigo Llaguno
“División Minúscula and Jumbo are two bands with different backgrounds but equally important in the alternative rock genre. They belong to an era that defined many fans on both sides of the border,” adds Manuel Moran, vp of Latin touring at Live Nation. “We are proud to be part of this great celebration and we are very grateful for the trust they have placed in us to surprise their fans in the United States with a comeback tour and an unexpected collaboration like this one.”
Jumbo’s latest release, Manual De Viaje A Un Lugar Lejano (En Directo), earned them a Latin Grammy nomination for best pop/rock album in 2019, further solidifying their status as stalwarts of the Latin alternative rock scene.
In this interview, Flip delves into the band’s journey, from the highs of success to the challenges they’ve faced along the way, shedding light on their experiences and aspirations for the future. And yes, he explains why they could not enter the U.S. for over a decade.
What does it mean for you to take the stage again in the United States, and how did the opportunity to collaborate with División Minúscula for this tour come up?
We are very happy to tour the United States and celebrate 25 years of our career. We had an issue, a very serious mistake we made that kept us away from the United States for more than ten years. During the first albums Restaurant (1999), D.D. y Ponle Play (2001), and Teleparque (2003), we had great tours over there. We were building a market early in our career. Saúl Hernández from Jaguares invited us to be openers along with Julieta Venegas and La Gusana Ciega. I remember they were incredible tours, and suddenly there’s this break.
Many years went by — and fortunately we managed to overcome this — and now we have the opportunity to share the stage with División Minúscula. Although they are from Matamoros, most of them have been living here in Monterrey for many years. They are very good friends. It’s the first time we do a tour as such and we are very happy; I think it’s going to be very fun.
Jumbo. Photo Credit: Juan Rodrigo Llaguno
Juan Rodrigo Llaguno
As you celebrate these 25 years, what do you consider has been the key to staying together as a band?
It’s very difficult. The other day I read a report by Sting that said, “I don’t think any grown man can be in a band.” He said it had to do with this youth gang dynamic that gets a little lost as you get older. And you notice that the relationship does change — you change as a person, you are no longer that youth [from before] — but I think we are still united by the desire to make music.
Jumbo is a band that from day one, we set out to make songs that would go beyond the barrier of time. We were never very attached to any fashion — although when we came out, we sounded like what was going on in the early 2000s. In our journey, we have seen many things come and go. We’ve had to change formats, first digital, then streaming. Many things have happened to us that I think the love of making music has brought us back into alignment. Fortunately, we have never fought or disrespected each other, but we have an admiration for each of the members.
And although at times we do have different artistic goals and visions, it always ends up falling in the same place. Many of us in the band are producers of other projects, we have other activities, but all related to music. As long as there are people who lend us their ears, there is no reason to stop. The 25 years was a number that hit us like a motherf–ker. It’s a great reason to celebrate.
Being one of the pioneers of La Avanzada Regia movement in Monterrey, how do you see the impact of this movement on today’s music, and what do you think has been your most significant contribution to this legacy?
I always say that I’m very proud to be from that generation. I grew up playing in many bands, and it didn’t cross my mind to dedicate myself professionally to this, or to be signed by a record label or go on tour. And suddenly the scene was big enough, the Monterrey scene. There were like 10 to 15 bands playing in four or five places, and the rest was the audience. This is before the internet — I mean, we took our flyers to the show and handed them out to perform the following week.
La Avanzada, we were very united as bands; there was the same hunger to go out and dream, to take this to the next level. Monterrey, being the industrial capital of the country, had a very rigid scheme of opportunities. You had to study, work in one of the big companies, and make your life. It was very difficult to dream of a profession outside those schemes. The great merit of that generation was to be able to break [barriers] and demonstrate that in a city where there was no professional music scene it could become so big, and in a few years permeate the Latin market so strongly.
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When Control Machete came out, it a huge boom that the rest of Latin America turned to see what was happening in Monterrey. They were looking for a hip-hop movement, but they found something very different. Plastilina Mosh was nothing like Zurdok, which was nothing like La Flor de Lingo, or Niña, or Kinky. Unconsciously we valued very much being original, not looking like anybody else and I think that created a very rich movement. Thirty years later this scene is beginning to be romanticized a lot.
What’s next after the tour? Any final thoughts?
One goal that we had for many years was to get back to the United States in some way. I think the next thing after this tour is to get into the studio. There are no concrete plans yet.
I’ll tell you the anecdote so that there is no mystery; I think it’s something that new [foreign] bands learn from. We made the very serious mistake of going to a show with a tourist visa. The work visa has a shorter amount of time. It happens to [foreign] bands that the work visa has a short period of time. Suddenly there is an isolated show, and even though we had an arrangement with the promoter that could be for promotion, we got too close to the line and fell into a problem. So, it doesn’t matter if you’re going to play a free show, it doesn’t matter if you’re going to tour very casually. Playing in the U.S. is work, and that cost us to stay away for many years. If it’s any moral for bands, don’t make that mistake. We learned the hard way and fortunately we are back.
We are really excited. We had a hard time having three albums and not being able to tour there. So we bring all that accumulated energy and we are sure you will notice it in the shows.
Check out Jumbo and División Minúscula’s full tour dates below, second slide:
On Thursday night (March 28), Xavi is poised to launch his inaugural headlining tour Poco A Poco, with Mexico City’s Auditorio BlackBerry as his first destination, and Billboard Español can exclusively reveal the complete setlist.
With multiple dates sold-out, including his two Mexico stops and more in California, his tour has emerged as one of the most eagerly awaited events for an artist who was relatively unknown just a year ago.
Performing more than a dozen songs — including his Billboard chart-smashing hits “La Víctima,” “Poco a Poco” and “La Diabla,” the latter song which he’s set to play twice — the 2024 breakout star is expected to captivate audiences with his infectious energy. The setlist also includes his latest release “Corazón de Piedra.”
The 19-year-old will also perform songs from his first EP, endearingly titled My Mom’s Playlist, consisting of classic rock en Español covers, which he released on Mother’s Day 2023. Those include “Rayando El Sol,” originally by Maná, and “Ahora Te Puedes Marchar” by Luis Miguel.
Last month, the Phoenix-born artist performed in his ancestral homeland for the first time as a surprise guest at Karol G’s sold-out Estadio Azteca show. “He told me that he has never sung in his country, in Mexico,” La Bichota said when introducing the new hitmaker in February. “I told him that I was sure that the moment he started singing here, the stadium was going to turn up, and he was going to be proud of who he is.”
Recently, the singer-songwriter was part of a música Mexicana documentary by SoundCloud, alongside an all-star cast: Ivan Cornejo, DannyLux, and Conexión Divina; he was also Billboard‘s January Latin Artist on the Rise.
So without further ado, here is Xavi’s complete setlist for his first tour stop in Mexico City. You can find the rest of his tour dates here.
“Poco a Poco”
Anitta, Danai Gurira, Hugh Jackman, Dakota Johnson and Michelle Yeoh are the co-chairs set for this year’s Global Citizen NOW, a two-day leadership summit planned for May 1-2 at Spring Studios in New York City. The Brazilian star, who will speak at the summit, is set to join political, corporate and philanthropic leaders for the program that is focused on […]
Blxst and Feid linked up for the vibrant cross-cultural collaboration “Rewind,” which dropped Thursday (March 28) via Evgle and Red Bull Records. “Rewind” is the kind of song you want to dance with your significant other to at the club on a warm summer night you wish to relive over and over again. It marks […]