Latin
Page: 192
Amidst tequila chugs, slinging bras (“whoever it was, thank you, baby girl”), and even a bloody brawl among a couple of seemingly-intoxicated audience members, Fuerza Regida invigorated Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., for over two hours on Friday night (Sep. 22).
The band of five are midway through their U.S. leg at the 16,700-capacity venue as part of their Otra Peda tour, which launched July 7 at the Dos Equis Pavilion in Dallas, followed by a dozen sold-out shows, according to the band’s Instagram, including iconic BMO Stadium. The group’s upcoming dates include Chicago (Sep. 23), Nashville (Sep. 28), Las Vegas (Oct. 21) and Anaheim, Calif. (Nov. 25).
Along the way, Fuerza has had a slew of Billboard-charting singles, police run-ins, and a Shakira collab, all while these bad boys of música mexicana keep bringing in the heat with thrilling unpredictability.
Born and raised in San Bernardino, Calif., the members of Fuerza Regida — comprising frontman and lead songwriter Jesús Ortiz Paz (known as JOP), lead guitarist Samuel Jaimez, second guitarist Khrystian Ramos, tuba player José García and tololoche player Moisés López — represented West Coast vibes for a lit East Coast audience.
They have become one of the main drivers of a homegrown music that celebrates Northern Mexican roots with a trap bravado, and this was fully evinced during their high energy show on Friday night. The set included a 16-member brass ensemble, plenty of tequila shots, and even a porta-potty onstage (because, naturally).
Here are five highlights from Fuerza Regida’s Otra Peda Tour in Newark, N.J.
Homage to Hip-Hop High Fashion
From career milestones and 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.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Yandel’s New Career Move
On Thursday (Sept. 21), Yandel kicked off Hispanic Heritage Month by hosting a lighting ceremony and offering an intimate concert at the Empire State Building in New York, becoming the first Latin act to perform at the venue. The historic moment came on the heels of the Puerto Rican artist’s signing with Warner Music Latina earlier that day.
“Yandel’s iconic career has resonated with audiences worldwide, and his influence in the music industry is undeniable,” Warner Music Latina president Alejandro Duque said in a statement. “This collaboration signifies a new chapter of innovation and creativity. We are excited to work hand in hand with Yandel to bring his music to fans across the globe.”
Roberto Andrade, managing director at Warner Music Latina added, “Yandel is an artist who embodies both iconic status and forward-thinking vision. At Warner Music Latina, we take immense pride in joining him on this new chapter of his career, contributing to its evolution alongside his dedicated and collaborative team.”
In the same week, Yandel received two Latin Grammy nominations for “Yandel 150,” his collaboration with Feid: best fusion/urban performance and best urban song.
Alejandro Duque, Yandel and Roberto Andrade at Yandel’s signing to Warner Music Latina at the Empire State Building in New York on September 21, 2023.
Oscar Mena
Shakira Gives Back
This week, Shakira, Billboard’s latest cover story, revealed that she and her foundation Pies Descalzos inaugurated a new school in her native Barranquilla. According to her Instagram posts, “El Colegio Nuevo Bosque” will educate more than one thousand children. “Thank you to our allies Fundacion FC Barcelona, La Caixa LaSalle College Foundation, Mayor Pumarejo, mayor of Barranquilla and the secretary of education for joining efforts and betting on the future of Colombian children,” she expressed.
The Colombian artist is set for a star Q&A at the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Week, returning the Miami the week of Oct. 2-6. For ticketing and more information, visit www.billboardlatinmusicweek.com.
Latin Music Week “Calienta Motores”
In other Latin Music Week news, Billboard unveiled the full schedule of the 2023 conference and “en vivo” concert series during a press conference held Wednesday (Sept. 20) at Miami Beach. “We’re so very happy to be here again,” Billboard’s Leila Cobo said at the event. “A lot of people are discovering Latin music for the first time in the past year, but at Billboard, we’ve been part of its growth for over 30 years. We can’t imagine anywhere in the world but [Miami Beach] to bring this fabulous event.”
The final talent additions and full event schedule were presented at the Faena Forum in Miami Beach, where Cobo was joined by Miami Beach mayor Dan Gelber, Valentina Bueno (director of Karol G’s Con Cora Foundation), as well as artists Fonseca, Mike Bahía and Venesti.
Maria Becerra Unveils Major Collaboration
Maria Becerra created a buzz on social media on Friday (Sept. 22) when she announced that her next collaboration will be alongside Enrique Iglesias. “Did someone say bachataaaaaa? What a joy to be able to tell you about this great song that is coming, it couldn’t be with anyone other than Enrique Iglesias. It’s so beautiful to be able to work together, I admire you a lot,” she captioned the Instagram video, where she and the Spanish artist give each other a tight hug. Titled “Asi Es La Vida,” the song will drop Thursday (Sept. 28).
Both Becerra and Iglesias have tested the bachata waters before. The former on the Prince Royce-assisted “Te Espero” and “Antes de Ti” with Rusherking, and the latter on “El Perdedor” featuring Marco Antonio Solis, “Loco” with Romeo Santos, and “Cuando Me Enamoro” with Juan Luis Guerra.
This week, our New Music Latin roundup — a compilation of the best new Latin songs, albums and videos recommended by Billboard Latin and Billboard Español editors — is powered by new music from Manuel Medrano, Juan Luis Guerra, Ricky Martin and Yandel, to name a few. Singer-songwriter Manuel Medrano is reminiscing on a summer in New York in his new, […]
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.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Ricky Martin & Christian Nodal, “Fuego De Noche, Nieve De Día” (Sony Music Latin)
[embedded content]
Ricky Martin delivers a reimagined version of his already iconic and gorgeous ballad “Fuego De Noche, Nieve De Día.” This time, he adds elements of mariachi and recruits Mexican star Christian Nodal to sing the 1995 anthem. The new song starts off with Martin singing softly over a piano, much like he did in the original version. Then, at the minute-mark, melancholic mariachi trumpet notes come in to complement Nodal’s vocals as he joins Martin to sing about a person that’s come to turn their world upside down. Marking the first collaborative effort between Ricky Martin and Nodal, the essence of the song — which will be discovered by a new generation of fans nearly 30 years later — remains untouched. “It’s a dream come true,” Nodal says about the duet in a statement. “This song is so special and so profound that it really tugs at your emotions.” — GRISELDA FLORES
Manuel Medrano, “Verano En NY” (Warner Music México)
[embedded content]
Colombian singer Manuel Medrano pays tribute to a summer in New York with this soulful alt-pop song powered by sincere lyrics inspired by a memorable summer spent with a great love. The song was co-produced by Juan Ariza, Jona Camacho and Manuel Medrano, and features Medrano’s deep vocals chanting lyrics such as, “Remember that summer in New York/ When we walked hand in hand together/ Don’t forget that I’m still alive.” The accompanying music video, directed by Salomon Simhon and filmed in New York, tells a captivating story about a boy who works at a flower shop and falls in love with one of his customers, daydreaming about various romantic scenarios and always bringing her flowers. “Verano En NY” is the first single from his upcoming third studio album and showcases Medrano’s artistic and musical evolution, immersing us in magical realism. — INGRID FAJARDO
Roberto Fonseca, La Gran Diversión (3ème Bureau / Wagram Music)
Virtuoso Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca is back with La Gran Diversión (The Great Fun), a 10-track album that intertwines contemporary genres like R&B, rock and funk with the timeless sound of Cuba’s rhythms. From the opener “Yanim,” to the previously released singles “Mani Mambo” featuring Dutch EMD singer Clarence Bekker and “Sal al Malecón,” the Grammy-nominated artist takes us on a scenic voyage — one with end-of-summer vibes that will carry us through the winter. “[This is] the most personal record of my life,” Fonseca says in a press release. “It is a tribute to my roots and above all to traditional Cuban music due to the great connection and acceptance of the public from the ’30s to the present.”
Co-produced by Fonseca and Daniel Florestano, La Gran Diversión was recorded in Havana, Paris and New York with guests including, besides Bekker, guitarist Jorge Chicoy, violinist Regina Carter, and Buena Vista Social Club vocalist Carlos Calunga. Don’t miss the focus track “Baila Mulata” — it will make your body move. — SIGAL RATNER-ARIAS
Juan Luis Guerra, “Mambo 23” (Rimas Entertainment)
[embedded content]
“Mambo 23” is the first single from Juan Luis Guerra’s upcoming EP RADIO GUIRA, set to release in November. “’Mambo 23′ is the first time we ventured into a mambo merengue — we had never done it and the rhythm caught our attention and we began to work with arrangements of saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and classical instruments,” says the Dominican artist in a statement. “We liked the result very much and we believe that we have the piece to launch our new EP Radio Guira.”
The video, directed by his son Jean Gabriel Guerra, shows a lonely night cleaning worker of Radio Guira. Feeling alone and curious, he presses a button unleashing an explosion of music and videos. Driven by the irresistible music of Juan Luis Guerra and his 4.40 band, he indulges in an energetic dance routine. In the end, as often happens in life, he discovers that he was not alone. The artist surprises him, gives him a wink and then leaves: a magical moment that captures the essence of his music. Guerra doesn’t shy away from his message of gospel; “Mambo 23” will make more than one person dance no matter where it plays, as only JLG knows how to do. — LUISA CALLE
Luzmila Carpio, Inti Watana – El Retorno del Sol (ZZK Records)
On Inti Watana – El Retorno del Sol, Luzmila Carpio’s music, sung in her native Quechua, resonates with age-old enchantment. Amid pan flutes and twinkling strings, the Bolivian singer effortlessly traverses a range of themes — from celebrating sacred traditions, in the charango-driven hymn of “Kacharpayita,” to contemplating themes of loss and remorse in “Requiem para un Ego.” She engages in captivating conversations with avian companions in “Ofrenda de los Pájaros” and pays homage to the revered goddess of the Andes in “Pachamama desde el Cosmos,” as with Inti, the Inca sun god. Amidst all this, Carpio’s unwavering voice shines through in nine songs that brim with a mystical essence cultivated over centuries of ceremonial rites and a profound connection with the natural world. — ISABELA RAYGOZA
Yandel & Myke Towers, “Borracho y Loco” (Warner Music Latina/La Leyenda LLC)
[embedded content]
Yandel and Myke Towers find each other in a new collaboration titled “Borracho y Loco,” following their previous 2020 collab “Mayor.” A hard-hitting reggaeton fused with sensual dancehall melodies, at the helm of Puerto Rican hitmaker Nesty La Mente Maestra, “Borracho y Loco” narrates the story of a man who’s drunk and crazy as he’s trying to heal a broken heart. “I think about you when I’m drunk and crazy/ You left me a broken heart/ I only know about you on social media/ I’m not satisfied only with giving your photo a like,” goes the catchy chorus. Directed by Fernando Lugo, the video shows the two men at a wild party, but distracted by the thoughts of their former partner. — JESSICA ROIZ
Purchase tickets to the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Week here.
Listen to the New Music Latin playlists below:
As a fresh generation of artists elevates música urbana to new heights, two influential genre legends — Latin hip-hop’s “Rap Godfather” Vico C, and reggaetón hitmaker Chencho Corleone — are reasserting their dominance.
After more than a decade away, the Latin hip-hop legend returned with new music — but the same strong ethos.
To a casual fan, it may have looked like Latin hip-hop legend Vico C completely fell off the map for the past 14 years. But he never stopped writing songs during that time, even if he couldn’t release new music due to business-related legal issues.
“Having faith that those issues would soon resolve, I just kept writing so that I would be prepared for when I could finally release something again,” says the 52-year-old artist, known as the Rap Philosopher. “I couldn’t visualize what that ‘comeback’ would be like, but I just knew that I couldn’t die without releasing new music ever again.”
The socially conscious lyricist, born Luis Armando Lozada Cruz in Brooklyn, gained fame in the 1990s thanks to his vivid, thought-provoking storytelling that addressed topics such as faith and societal values. His sound, a melodic take on rap that fused reggaetón and hip-hop, was similarly bold.
Vico C returned in May with Pánico, a 13-track set released by his new label, Nain Music (a subdivision of Rimas Entertainment), and his first album since 2009’s Babilla. But he’s still reluctant to describe this stage in his career as a comeback. “It’s hard for people to follow a weird career like mine that isn’t super consistent. There have been controversies,” he explains, nodding to a turbulent past — which includes a near-fatal motorcycle accident in 1990 that led to drug addiction and six months in jail for drug possession — that precipitated a spiritual journey to recovery. “But I never stopped creating music or performing. It was just not being able to release a new album, and for many, no new albums means no career, period.”
His resurgence comes as música urbana has taken over the global charts thanks to a new generation of acts — many of whom have credited the wordsmith as a foundational influence. In the crowded field of urbano artists, Vico C has stuck to his values, sharply criticizing oversexualized, violent and materialistic lyrics.
That industry outlier status drew Nain Music to sign him earlier this year. “He’s fresh air to the genre,” says Nain CEO Fidel Hernández, calling Vico C the label’s “flagship” artist. “From an audience perspective, he represents that option to hear deep lyrics that transcend simple entertainment, with impeccable interpretation paired with contagious and creatively unlimited urban rhythms.”
And as Vico C sees it, his unique perspective explains his staying power. “My lyrics aren’t the type that typically sell in my genre. And I don’t want people to think that because I don’t have that sexual element in my music means that it will be out of place. That’s why I’m working hard to polish my lyrics, make them shine thanks to all I’ve learned as a producer. I feel calm and prepared. I’m not reinventing myself here. It’s a matter of just commercializing what I want to give to people.”
On the heels of mega collabs, the Puerto Rican hit-maker arrives as ‘a new artist.’
After nearly 20 years as half of the reggaetón duo Plan B, Chencho Corleone will release his first solo album through his new label, Sony Music Latin, by the end of 2023. The highly anticipated set — Chencho’s first since going solo in 2018 — follows several big collaborations for the Puerto Rican hit-maker, including the blockbuster “Me Porto Bonito” with Bad Bunny, which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“Once I started collaborating with all these artists, I saw that people wanted more from me,” says Chencho, 44. “There came a moment, after teaming up with Bad Bunny, Rauw Alejandro and they were all becoming hits, when I said, ‘OK, it’s time to give fans a more complete project.’ God’s timing is always perfect, and I’m ready to give it my all.”
[embedded content]
Chencho laid the foundation for his solo career with Plan B. Alongside partner Maldy, the iconic two-piece rose to fame in the 2000s with reggaetón anthems such as “Mi Vecinita,” “Frikitona” and “Fanática Sensual,” ultimately placing 11 songs on Billboard’s Latin Airplay chart and 10 on Hot Latin Songs. Plan B’s highest-peaking album was also its last: 2014’s Love and Sex, which landed at No. 3 on Top Latin Albums.
But Chencho prefers to enter this new era with a clean slate. “When I started this journey alone, I didn’t want to live in the past. I never want to enter a space and say, ‘I’m Chencho, and this is everything I was able to do with Plan B,’ ” he explains. “I have no ego when I go into a studio with someone else. I consider myself a new artist, and I’m here to prove that just how I was there before, I am here today.”
Since going solo, he has scored two No. 1s on Latin Airplay: “Desesperados,” with Rauw, and “Me Porto Bonito,” which ruled Hot Latin Songs for 20 weeks. But Chencho’s collaborations hint at what fans can expect from his new album, which he promises will stay true to his reggaetón roots. “It’s what my fans know me for,” he says. “My style is singing songs that people can identify with but still dance along to and be transported to a specific time in their lives. The album is everything Chencho Corleone is known for, but amplified.”
Vico C and Chencho Corleone will speak at Billboard Latin Music Week, taking place Oct. 2 – Oct. 6. To register, click here.
This story will appear in the Sept. 23, 2023, issue of Billboard.
At Houston’s NRG Stadium on Aug. 29, Karol G invited a special guest to join her onstage: her international tour’s opening act, the Puerto Rican rapper Young Miko. Clad in a vibrant pink crop top and matching baggy pants, Young Miko took Karol by the hand as the two sang their collaborative hit, “Dispo,” moving […]
At Houston’s NRG Stadium on Aug. 29, Karol G invited a special guest to join her onstage: her international tour’s opening act, the Puerto Rican rapper Young Miko. Clad in a vibrant pink crop top and matching baggy pants, Young Miko took Karol by the hand as the two sang their collaborative hit, “Dispo,” moving in perfect harmony in an undulating perreo-style dance.
Amid the ecstatic cheers of fans, it was Karol, not the newcomer, who betrayed a rare glimpse of nerves as she admitted, “Ahora soy yo la que me puse nerviosa!” (“Now it’s me who has gotten nervous!”)
Miko’s meteoric rise from nascent local sensation to captivating performer capable of holding her own beside a global superstar is a testament to her undeniable talent. In just over one year, Billboard‘s 2023 Latin Rookie of the Year has broken out of her native Puerto Rico’s música urbana scene, performing with heavyweights like Karol and Bad Bunny as well as headlining her own Trap Kitty world tour of nearly 50 cities across the Americas and Spain.
“I feel incredible — a world tour! At least this early in my career,” Miko says, still sounding awestruck.
She has also been ascending the Billboard charts. “Dispo” peaked at No. 22 on Hot Latin Songs, and she made her Billboard Hot 100 debut in July with “Classy 101,” a smooth reggaetón number with Colombian star Feid. “It was definitely a shocker,” Miko told Billboard in June. “Usually one sees Beyoncé, Taylor Swift or The Weeknd on the Hot 100. To see my name is very surreal, a reminder that this is really happening and that people are consuming [my music].”
Lia Clay Miller
Lia Clay Miller
While her name now shares the charts with music’s biggest stars, not long ago, the 24-year-old artist born María Victoria Ramírez de Arellano Cardona was leveraging another form of artistic expression — tattooing — to finance her music. “The goal was always to start tattooing so I could afford my music dreams and eventually let go of the machine,” she says. “Thanks to tattoos, I was able to start paying for studio time.”
Since arriving on the global Latin pop scene, Miko has both played into and inverted male-centric Latin tropes with bold and raunchy lyrics that draw on her experience as a queer woman while boosting the LGBTQ+ community. “When I started writing music, I was like, ‘F–k it. People already know I’m gay, and why would I sing to men?’ Respectfully,” she adds with a chuckle, “if I don’t like men, I’m not going to dedicate a song to one.”
Her commitment to authenticity allowed her to carve out a place as a singular, hyper-femme queer rapper in música urbana with an unmatched, unhurried flow that has captivated a growing fan base that she calls Mikosexuals.
“For a lot of people, I came out of nowhere and caught a drastic boom — but in reality, we’ve been doing this for a really long time,” she explains. “SoundCloud played a big role in letting me test these waters that I had never explored before. We didn’t have any other resources. We had the talent, the idea, the vision, the work ethic.”
Lia Clay Miller
That drive paid off when Angelo Torres, co-founder and head of Puerto Rican indie label Wave Music Group, came across Miko while scrolling through Twitter on a flight in 2020. “This SoundCloud link popped up of this girl with pink hair and tattoos,” Torres remembers. “I was instantly captivated when I heard her tracks. There was something undeniably intriguing about her sound. [I thought,] ‘I really need to meet this person.’ ”
Torres and producer Caleb Calloway established Wave in 2021 and signed Miko several months after. Calloway, who would become pivotal to her rise, first collaborated with her on “Puerto Rican Mami” when she only had a couple of songs released on SoundCloud. That track arrived in December 2021. By July 2022, Miko was onstage at Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot in San Juan with Bad Bunny, performing her viral trap song “Riri.”
To Calloway, Miko’s sincerity remains the key to her success. “She has always maintained her originality, never letting fame alter her essence,” he says. “Miko was that artist that was able to finally fit in exactly to where my sound was and then take it to another level with her Y2K flow, with her singing and then rapping, and me doing the beat. It just sounds like we’ve been together our whole lives, and we’ve only been working for three years.”
Lia Clay Miller
Young Miko photographed on September 11, 2023 in New York.
Lia Clay Miller
Alongside Calloway and her longtime producer Mauro, Miko has crafted hits like “Riri” and this year’s “Wiggy” and “Lisa.” Her debut album, Trap Kitty, and the singles that have followed showcase her laid-back approach to trap, rap and reggaetón — a refreshing blend of boldness and nonchalance.
“We sensed tremendous excitement around Young Miko,” says Jeremy Vuernick, president of A&R at Capitol Music Group, which locked in a long-term distribution deal with Wave in April. “One of the most exciting things about Young Miko, aside from her incredible ability as a songwriter and storyteller, is the way that she’s able to connect with her audience.” And her unwavering authenticity and fiery passion have struck a chord with fans across the globe.
“It has been a year filled with a lot of learning, both professionally and as a person. It all happened so fast, but I’m surrounded by people who just want the best for me — people who have been with me since day one,” Miko says. “There are many new things that seem unreal, but I’m grateful. I’m growing, I’m learning, I’m evolving. I just know that the best is yet to come.”
Young Miko will speak at Billboard Latin Music Week, taking place Oct. 2 – Oct. 6. To register, click here.
This story will appear in the Sept. 23, 2023, issue of Billboard.
When Edgar Barrera first thought of bringing Bad Bunny and Grupo Frontera together for a collaboration, he thought to himself, “Wait, what am I even saying? That could never happen.” But like so many of the Mexican American songwriter-producer’s genre-bending ideas, this one didn’t just work out — it became a smash. The cumbia-norteña track “un x100to” peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May.
“To have the biggest artist, whom I had been wanting to work with, collaborate with a group from my hometown and record a cumbia, which is the music I grew up listening to with my dad, it was crazy and a full-circle moment in my career,” Barrera says today. “Sometimes I sound delusional, but the crazy thing is that the impossible happened.”
Ten years into Barrera’s career, his ability to effortlessly move across genres has made him one of the most sought-after songwriters in Latin music, with collaborators including Maluma (“Hawái”), Christian Nodal (“No Te Contaron Mal”), Grupo Firme (“Ya Supérame”), Camilo (“Vida de Rico”), Becky G (“Chanel”) and Marc Anthony (“De Vuelta Pa’ la Vuelta”), in addition to non-Latin stars such as Ariana Grande (“Boyfriend,” with Social House) and Shawn Mendes (his “KESI” remix with Camilo). In January 2021, he topped four genre charts — pop, rhythm, tropical and regional Mexican airplay — with four different songs, something no other Latin songwriter had done before. “That moment was really special,” says Barrera, 33, who also won the 2021 Latin Grammy for producer of the year. “I remember when I heard about it, I kept calling people in the industry asking, ‘Is this normal?’ ”
Extraordinary moments have defined the career of Billboard’s 2023 Latin Groundbreaker, who grew up near the border between Roma, Texas, and Ciudad Miguel Alemán in Tamaulipas, Mexico. At 6 years old, he created a rock band with his brother, cousins and a friend, who were all around his age. “I swear there are photos of me playing a guitar that was bigger than me,” he says with a laugh. “And I would write songs too. The first ones were really bad — they were about teddy bears — but come on, I was a little kid.”
It was around that time that he also started joining his father, a cumbia artist, at the studio or watching him rehearse with his band. Later, as a teen, Barrera handed out business cards and CDs with songs he had written to artists leaving local radio stations after their interviews. He still has one of those old business cards, which he proudly shows off. “I would go home and just keep hitting refresh on my Hotmail in case someone wrote, but no one ever did,” he says with a shrug.
[embedded content]
Still, his hustle landed him an internship across the country in Miami with songwriter-producer Andrés Castro. “It was the best decision I could’ve ever made,” he says. “I started off as an engineer, [but] I remember when artists would come to the studio, I’d make sure to tell them, ‘Hey, I’m not really an engineer. I’m a songwriter and producer.’ And I’d show them my music. I got into a lot of problems because you’re not really supposed to talk to them directly. But I preferred to ask for forgiveness later than to ask for permission. And it worked: I got what I wanted.” Later, Castro would take Barrera to Sony Music Publishing Latin America, where he was signed by president/CEO Jorge Mejía.
Now, Barrera is laser focused on BorderKid Records, an imprint he launched in February 2022, with emerging acts Alex Luna and Neeus along with marquee client Grupo Frontera on his roster. When Barrera signed the six-piece last October, it was already a popular local band in McAllen, Texas, and had just landed its first big hit, “No Se Va,” which peaked at No. 3 on the Hot Latin Songs chart.
“We’re from the same place, so we all know each other, and one day, my compadre, who had hired them to perform at his tire shop opening, kept sending me videos telling me that they wanted to meet me,” Barrera explains. Their partnership began with a meet-up at a local Starbucks. “He believed in us from the start,” says vocalist-accordionist Juan Javier Cantú. “When we first met, he asked us where we saw the group going and we told him, but he told us that we were thinking too small and that we could go so much further. He pushed us to dream big.”
Edgar Barrera photographed on September 6, 2023 in Miami.
Natalia Aguilera
And now, Grupo Frontera is the latest Barrera success story. In August, its debut album, El Comienzo, bowed and peaked at No. 3 on the Top Latin Albums chart, and in the past year alone, the group — a 15-time finalist at the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards — has placed eight songs on the Hot 100.
“I promised myself that, from now on, I would work only on projects that I feel really passionate about and make me feel something,” Barrera says. “With BorderKid, it’s that. I want to be that bridge between new artists, songwriters and producers and their goals.”
Edgar Barrera will speak at Billboard Latin Music Week, taking place Oct. 2 – Oct. 6. To register, click here.
This story will appear in the Sept. 23, 2023, issue of Billboard.
Peso Pluma, Jasiel Nuñez and Junior H combine forces with “Bipolar,” as the song debuts at No. 7 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart dated Sept. 23. While Pluma has previously teamed up with both Mexican artists, “Bipolar” is the first three-way effort by the corridos singers.
“Bipolar” launches at No. 7 on Hot Latin Songs fueled by streaming and radio activity. According to Luminate, the song registered 7.9 million official U.S. streams during the Sept. 8-14 tracking week, to yield a No. 4 start on Latin Streaming Songs; it’s a first top 10 for Nuñez there. The song also surges 45-31 on the overall Latin Airplay with a 25% gain in audience impressions, to 3.6 million. Sales, meanwhile, account for a negligible amount but enough to open at No. 5 on Latin Digital Song Sales. Hot Latin Songs blends airplay, streaming data, and digital sales.
Nuñez, a newly signed artist to Peso Pluma’s Double P Records label, scores his first top 10 on the multi-metric Hot Latin Songs. He’s Pluma’s frequent collaborator, landing two other entries on his Billboard chart career which began in 2023. The co-billed “Rosa Pastel” reached a No. 20 high in July, while “Lagunas” peaked at No. 13 on the Aug. 19-dated ranking.
Junior H, meanwhile, picks up his fifth top 10, four of which are Pluma partnerships. His own “El Azul” earned the 23-year-old his first entry to the upper region in May.
As for Pluma, he logs his 15th top 10 hit, including two champs. He last reached the top 10 through Karol G’s four-week ruler “Qlona” (Sept. 2-dated list).
Pluma, Nuñez and Junior H’s collaboration becomes the fourth top 10 debut by three or more artists overall in 2023. Notably, all but one belongs to Pluma, and all are regional Mexican songs. Here’s the list of top 10 tripartite entries this year:
Peak Position, Title, Artists, Peak DateNo. 10, “VVS,” Peso Pluma, Edgardo Nunez & Los Dareyes de La Sierra, July 8,No. 8, “Que Onda,” Calle 24 x Chino Pacas x Fuerza Regida, Sept. 16No. 3, “Lady Gaga,” Peso Pluma, Gabito Ballesteros & Junior H, Sept. 23No. 7, “Bipolar,” Peso Pluma, Jasiel Nuñez and Junior H, Sept. 23
Beyond its top 10 debut on Hot Latin Songs, “Bipolar” rises to a new No. 13 peak on Regional Mexican Airplay. Plus, it debuts at No. 60 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, at No. 86 on Billboard Global 200 and at No. 175 on Global Excl. U.S. charts.
[embedded content]
Breakups are always hard — especially when media and children are involved. Shakira opened up about how her split from professional footballer Gerard Piqué has affected the former couple’s two sons, nine-year-old Milan and seven-year-old Sasha. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “They’re doing very well,” she told […]