Latin
Page: 242
Bowen Yang just wants to fit in during the promo for this weekend’s Saturday Night Live. Standing next to host Cuban/Spanish actress Ana de Armas (Blonde), Colombian musical guest Karol G and Cuban-Dominican SNL castmate Marcello Hernandez, Yang is the odd man out in the first all-Spanish language preview for the show.
The host does the usual intro, saying her name and welcoming Karol as the musical guest in Spanish, while Hernandez tells the singer that it’s going to be a “tremendous night” as he gushes about how much he loves her musical. After Karol says she’s delighted to be there, Yang, desperate to prove his funky bilingual bona fides, casually drops all the Spanish he learned in high school, adding, “yo soy la playa.”
“You are the beach?” Hernandez wonders. “Yes, I am the beach,” Yang concurs confidently, as de Armas confirms, “Bowen is the beach.”
One of the other bits setting up this weekend’s show finds Yang telling de Armas that he loved her as Marilyn Monroe in Blonde, as Karol G says she also loved the actress in Bond, — as in 2021’s No Time To Die — while Hernandez keeps the rhyme time going by saying he is “fond” of her work in the movie Ghosted. This time, however, Marcello is the one on the outside looking in, as he apologizes for his clumsy attempt to keep the rhyme going.
The Spanish-heavy promo was fitting as Karol G’s Mañana Será Bonito made her the first artist to land an all-Spanish language album by a female artist to debut atop the Billboard 200 album chart last month; it was also Karol’s first No. 1 album on the chart.
Saturday Night Live airs at 11:30 p.m. ET on Saturday (April 15) and then streams on Peacock after.
Check out this week’s SNL promos below.
Premios Heat, or Heat Latin Music Awards, are unveiling their 2023 nominees exclusively on Billboard below.
This year, Karol G and Feid lead the pack with six nominations each. They are followed by five-time nominee Bad Bunny and, with four nominations each: Romeo Santos, El Alfa, Christian Nodal and Bizarrap. Other top nominees include Maluma, Manuel Turizo, Chris Lebron, Arcángel, Marc Anthony and Grupo Firme, to name a few.
Three new categories have been added to the coveted awards show this year including best content, music platform, DJ of the year and song of the year. Additionally, the LosHeat.TV trending artist award returns for a second consecutive year, recognizing the talent with the most engagement on the Premios Heat platforms.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The eighth edition of the awards show is set to take place June 8 in The Dominican Republic. Fans can vote for their favorite artists here.
To see the complete list of nominees, see below:
Anitta
Premios Heat/Carlos Zambrano*
Best Male ArtistBad BunnyChristian NodalRomeo SantosAlejandro FernándezPrince RoyceWisinOzunaFeidMaluma
Best Female ArtistShakiraKarol GTiniRosalíaFarinaGreeicyNatti NatashaEmilia MernesKim LoaizaGloria Trevi
Best Group or BandGrupo FirmeWisin & YandelPiso 21Zion & LennoxMoratReikServando y FlorentinoGrupo Niche
Best Rock ArtistMoratJuanesManáNo Te Va GustarFito PáezLeivaLos CaligarisLeon Larregui
Best Pop ArtistLassoSebastián YatraKany GarciaCamiloAxelCarlos RiveraDanny OceanAndrés CepedaLali
Best Urban ArtistBad BunnyKarol GFeidArcángelEladio CarriónRyan CastroRauw AlejandroJustin QuilesEl AlfaFarruko
Best Tropical ArtistCarlos VivesRomeo SantosSilvestre DangondMarc AnthonyVíctor ManuelleFelipe PeláezAméricoEddy HerreraJandy Ventura
Best Artist South RegionDukiLIT KillahTruenoNicki NicoleEmilia MernesTiago PZKCris MjBizarrapWos
Best Artist Andean RegionFanny LuDanny OceanGoyoMike BahiaDekkoManuel TurizoRyan CastroBlessdFarinaAndreína Bravo
Ryan Castro
@carlosoarturo y @danielarcilafoto
Best Artist North RegionFarrukoSechDalexKim LoaizaChris AndrewJay WheelerEl AlfaMoraJustin QuilesChris Lebron
Best New ArtistPolimá WestcoastLola ÍndigoQuevedoEdén MuñozBrrayChris LebronLIT KillahKim Loaiza
Musical PromiseTEOElena RoseYoung MikoPaopaoDayanaraMario BautistaÁngel DiorADSOVillano AntillanoMar Rendón
Influencer of the YearDomelipaKunnoYeri MuaMont PantojaLa SeguraBriandaMarkoLele PonsKevlex
Best Popular Regional ArtistChristian NodalAlejandro FernándezCarin LeónPaola JaraJessi UribeGrupo FirmeGrupo FronteraYeison JiménezEden Muñoz
Best Dominican Urban ArtistEl AlfaAngel DiorRochy RDChimbalaLa MaterialistaBulovaLa InsuperableFlow 28Rosaly Rubio
Best Video“Mientras me Curo del Cora” – Karol G“For Sale” – Gilberto Santa Rosa, Carlos vives“La Reina” – Maluma“Le Pido a Dios” – Feid“Mi Pecadito”- Mike Bahía, Greeicy“Ambulancia” – Camilo, Camila Cabello“Cairo” – Karol G, Ovy on The Drums“Suegra” – Romeo Santos“Tití Me Preguntó”- Bad Bunny
Best CollaborationKarol G, Shakira – “TQG”Rauw Alejandro, Baby Rasta – “Punto 40”Arcangel, Bad Bunny – “La Jumpa”Romeo Santos, Chris Lebron – “SIRI”Ozuna, Feid – “Hey Mor”El Alfa, Zepekeño, El Pepo Show – “Arrebatao Remix”Lasso, Sebastián Yatra – “Ojos Marrones”Kany Garcia, Christian Nodal – “La Siguiente”Mora, Feid – “La Inocente”
Best Content, Music PlatformMolusco TVDimelokingAlofoke MediaEl ChomboRapetón
DJ of the YearDj AdoniGordoTiëstoDiploMarshmelloBizarrapDj TornallVíctor Cardena
Song of the Year “La Bachata” – Manuel Turizo “BZRP Music Sessions #53” – Bizarrap, Shakira “Despechá” – Rosalía “Feliz Cumpleaños Ferxxo” – Feid “Los Cachos” – Piso 21, Manuel Turizo “Tití Me Preguntó” – Bad Bunny “Provenza” – Karol G “La Fórmula” – Maluma, Marc Anthony “BZRP Music Sessions #52” – Bizarrap, Quevedo “Bendecido” – El Alfa, Farina “Me Porto Bonito” – Bad Bunny, Chencho Corleone
Get tickets to the first-ever #BBMujeresLatinas on May 6 in Miami: billboardmujeresenlamusica.com
Bratty will make her Coachella debut this weekend, also marking her first visit to the United States. In addition, she will be the only Mexican-born act to participate in the famed California festival this year (next to Mexican-American artists Becky G, DannyLux, and Conexión Divina), all of which will make the experience three times as special for her.
“I will fulfill the American dream!” she tells Billboard Español, smiling, in a video conference interview. “I feel very lucky that the festival organization noticed me.”
The 22-year-old artist is headed to the Empire Polo Field in Indio, Calif., with her latest musical work, Es Mi Fiesta Y Si Quiero Hago Un EP (Universal Music), with which she seeks to woo new audiences. The five-track set includes the single “Continental,” a melodious indie-pop ballad with Nsqk and Mené (two emerging talents from the northern city of Monterrey) in which she speaks of falling in love and the first weeks of courtship.
Before Coachella — which will take place on the weekends of April 14-16 and April 21-23 — the first big festival in which she participated was Vive Latino 2020 in Mexico City, shortly before COVID-19 spread and the entire world went into lockdown. Now, the challenge for the artist born Jenny Juárez will be greater when performing before a mostly Anglo audience, even if Latin superstar Bad Bunny is the headliner.
“The achievement of getting to Coachella is 50% the product of my team’s work, of the GTS (Global Talent Services) agency, where there are also other alternative artists like Ed Maverick, and also the trajectory of my project, pretty unconventional, and with a view to a more global audience,” says Bratty.
The Culiacán, Sinaloa, native says she has been working on the show that she will present at Coachella for several weeks, where the main challenge will be to capture the attention of the audience and make them stay to listen to her music in the midst of multiple stages and a rich sound offer.
“I always wanted to go, to know the influences of what my music is. I think California, Los Angeles and obviously Coachella are great references for musicians who have come out, who have been part of history, both the most famous and the smaller ones, where there are super interesting projects that have influenced me, and [with which] I am now very happy to be together,” she adds.
Active in the music scene since 2018, Bratty made her debut that year with the EP Todo Está Cambiando, and the following year she released the song “Ropa de Bazar” with fellow emerging Mexican talent Ed Maverick. In 2019, she released her first album, Delusion, followed by tdbn in 2021.
This year, she was featured on Billboard’s On the Radar for her “seductive, whimsical quality” and “knack for kitschy songwriting.” She now hopes to be able to release a third studio album and expand her global reach after her stint at Coachella. “Three is my lucky number,” she says, “so hopefully it will be dropping this year.”
Thalia fans, rejoice! The Mexican pop star and actress is celebrating the music that influenced her throughout her life in an upcoming music docuseries, Thalia’s Mixtape: El Soundtrack De Mi Vida.
Partnering with Paramount+, the three-part music docuseries will premiere exclusively on the platform Tuesday, May 2, in the U.S. and Canada. On May 3, it’s slated to launch throughout Latin America, Australia, the U.K., Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The release will also complement the star’s upcoming album, Thalia’s Mixtape, due April 28 via Sony Music.
Thalia, who is also executive producer and creator of the upcoming docuseries, takes viewers to her musical foundations, uncovering the classics that inspired her and a generation of fans. She is seen rocking out alongside Charly Alberti, the fiery drummer of the timeless Argentine band Soda Stereo, and Roco Pachukote, frontman of ska-rock group Maldita Vecindad. The series then evolves where she entrenches herself into the current, booming Latin music landscape, meeting up with new Mexican pop stars Kenia Os and Bruses.
“This has been my most personal project,” Thalia said in a statement to Billboard Español. “Four years ago, the idea and concept of the mixtape of my life was born in my mind and heart. This docuseries goes through the songs that influenced my path, forging my destiny. I talk to my lifelong idols, the artists behind these legendary songs that marked entire generations with their music. In this series we delve into the stories and origins of these compositions, and as an absolute fan of these great artists, I have the honor of performing these musical gems with them. It’s an incomparable gift.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KObfELic21k
Through interviews, raw footage and modern renditions of classics with veterans and contemporary artists, the show promises to “revisit the history of Latin music and uncover its future in an intimate way not yet seen before.” Thalia has been a longtime supporter of emerging talent, and she continues to shed a spotlight on the most riveting sounds today. She is also an honoree at Billboard’s premiere Latin Women in Music event, taking place May 6, and broadcasted via Telemundo the next day.
“This has been a labor of love for Thalia — to relive and bring to life the music and the most popular songs of her teenage years, and to document and perform in the film with the original artists is a lifelong dream,” said executive producer and entertainment mogul Tommy Mottola, also Thalia’s husband.
Ntertain Studios executive producers Lex Borrero and Santiago Zapata added: “Collaborating with people you admire will always be a dream in whatever your line of work. Thalia’s Mixtape is the perfect blend of documentary and musical, yet another example of the timeless impact Thalia has had and continues to have on music and culture.”
Thalia’s Mixtape: El Soundtrack De Mi Vida is produced by MTV Entertainment Studios and Sony Music U.S. Latin.
Yandel once again rules a Latin airplay chart as “Yandel 150,” his collaboration with Feid, ascends to No. 1 on Billboard’s Latin Airplay and Latin Rhythm Airplay charts (dated April 15), lifting 2-1 on both rankings.
“Yandel 150” leads with a 28% increase in audience impressions, to 12.5 million, earned in the U.S. March 31 to April 6, according to Luminate.
The new champ gives Yandel his 15th No. 1 among 34 chart appearances on the all-genre Latin Airplay chart. He returns to the summit following the one-week lead of “Déjà Vu,” with Tainy, in 2021. His longest-leading champ was “Encantadora,” which held atop the chart for three weeks.
Feid, meanwhile, claims his third No. 1 just a month after his featured turn in Ozuna’s “Hey Mor” ruled the March 4-dated list.
The collaboration ousts another pairing, Myke Towers and Daddy Yankee, after one week in charge for “Ulala.”
“Yandel 150” is the fourth single from Yandel’s Resistencia, his seventh studio album as a soloist, released Jan. 13 via Sony Music Latin. The 17-track set, jam-packed with reggaetón vets and newcomers alike, including his longtime collaborator Wisin, earned the Puerto Rican an eighth straight top 10 on Latin Rhythm Albums (March 23-dated list).
Further, “Yandel 150” leads in its ninth week on Latin Airplay, tying with “Hey Mor” as the third song to rise to the summit in nine weeks or fewer among Yandel’s 15 champs. Only two other tracks climbed faster: “Como Antes,” featuring Wisin, led in its second week, while “Se Acabó El Amor,” with Abraham Mateo and Jennifer Lopez, conquered in its sixth week.
Elsewhere, Yandel also takes his 15th No. 1 on Latin Rhythm Airplay, while Feid picks up his fourth champ.
SBS Entertainment, the live event arm of Spanish Broadcasting Systems, and global venue development company Oak View Group (OVG) have inked a multi-year strategic agreement, the companies tell Billboard.
The deal, which has been in the works for two years, is described as an effort to “reimagine the live industry landscape” and an opportunity to reach new markets with Latin-focused music events.
Founded in 2015, OVG has grown to work with more than 400 venues worldwide. The deal with SBS marks the first time they’ve teamed up with a Latin company that focuses on producing and promoting large-scale live events. For 16 years now, SBS has produced L.A.’s Calibash, the best-known urban Latin festival in the U.S. that has boasted J Balvin, Daddy Yankee and Karol G as headliners over the past few years. It also produces the New York-based Mega Bash concert (presented by SBS radio station La Mega 97.9), which in December will take place for the first time at UBS Arena — marking the first event announced under the partnership.
Conversations about a possible partnership began when New York’s OVG-developed UBS Arena, which opened in November 2021, was still under construction. It was then that Mark Shulman, the facility’s senior vp of programming, invited the SBS Entertainment team to tour the grounds.
“When you look where [UBS] is located and [the] diversity nearby, Latin music should be a core of what this building is built on,” says Shulman. “I reached out to SBS, being such a leader in live events, and brought out their entire team so they could experience it from its early days. That began the explorations of what the possibilities might be. What started as a New York discussion quickly turned into a national discussion.”
But it wasn’t until last year that the national deal was sealed, and it happened when Francesca Bodie, president of business development at OVG, and Alessandra Alarcón, president of SBS Entertainment, met at Billboard‘s Women In Music 2022 event (both women were honored that year).
“I knew Mark had a relationship with SBS, but Alessandra and I just sat together at the event and said, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to work together?’ The fact that our venue in Palm Springs will do over 20 Latin shows this year, we thought, ‘This is not just a New York thing, this is going to be a nationwide opportunity,’” says Bodie. “We could’ve easily done a one-year commitment but doing a multi-year deal instead was a no-brainer. They have the team that can execute these marquee events and we have state-of-the-art arenas in the U.S and in the world. It was just a natural fit.”
“In our continuous dialogue with OVG about where to take the shows next, we suspect we’re going to be bringing our marquee shows to other markets,” says Christopher Martinez, director of business affairs at SBS. “We are focusing a lot on growing our heritage brands. There’s also a focus on regional Mexican and we’re planning on bringing one-off shows to Austin and also to Palm Springs. We’re definitely looking at expanding and not just focusing on reggaeton.”
The deal between SBS Entertainment and OVG comes at a time when Latin music continues to see global growth across multiple metrics, particularly in touring. The top 25 Latin tours of 2022 grossed $990.8 million and sold 8 million tickets (based on Billboard‘s Boxscore reporting period of Nov. 1, 2021-Oct. 31, 2022). Moreover, in 2022, Latin music outpaced growth in the overall industry with a 24% increase, totaling $1.1 billion in revenue, according to the newly-released RIAA U.S. Latin revenue report, which also highlights an all-time high in terms of market share for the genre at 6.9%.
“Companies like OVG are prioritizing the Latin space and now see the value of partnering with media companies like us because we are the general market now,” says Martinez. “We’re seeing people responding to what the new normal is [with] respect to Latin music.”
Adds Bodie, “As we look at the way we want to continue to anchor and prioritize [Latin], it is critically important that we have alignment with SBS.”
With OVG venues under development in the United Kingdom and Brazil, Bodie hopes to keep expanding their deal with SBS by developing Latin-focused content and activations in those markets. “We’ll definitely talk about what those opportunities will look like in the future.”
Latin music revenues in the United States hit an all-time high last year, exceeding the $1 billion mark on the wings of 24% growth that outpaced the overall market.
According to the RIAA’s year-end Latin music report for 2022, total revenue jumped from $881 million in 2021 to $1.1 billion in 2022, with Latin music’s overall share of the total music market lifting from 5.9% in 2021 to 6.9%.
“Latin music revenues in 2022 exceeded $1 billion for the first time and grew significantly faster than the broader industry. That sustained expansion speaks to an openness to new artists, music and ways of listening,” says RIAA senior VP, state public policy & industry relations Rafael Fernandez Jr.
Months earlier, the RIAA’s mid year report had already suggested that Latin music revenues would reach a new peak, driven by the success not only of Bad Bunny — who ended the year as the most streamed artist in the U.S. and around the world — but also a cadre of other artists who have had major streaming success, including Rosalía, Karol G and Rauw Alejandro.
Streaming makes up a stunning 97% of Latin music revenue, accounting for more than $1 billion. Within that, paid subscriptions were the biggest growth driver, contributing 71% of streaming revenues and posting revenue growth of 29% to $758 million.
Another major contributor to growth was ad-supported on-demand streams (from services like YouTube, Vevo and the free version of Spotify), underscoring how important video is to the Latin fan. Revenue from this space grew 24% to $230 million, a 21% share of total Latin music revenues, over-indexing compared to the 11% average of the overall market.
Conversely, revenue from digital services like Pandora and SiriusXM decreased 5% to $73 million, making up 7% of streaming revenues. Permanent downloads also fell 15% to $11.7 million. They now make up only 1% of revenue.
And while physical sales remain a tiny percentage of revenue – less than 1% – they are growing. CD revenues were up 60% to $3.1 million and vinyl grew 67% to $9.1 million, signaling a fresh area of growth potential for Latin music.
Warner Music México has announced the launch of Gorgona, a label which will be “completely” run and managed by women, and will also be focused on promoting women talent.
According to a statement issued by the company Wednesday (April 12), the “historically low” presence of women in key senior industry roles initially led to the formation of Warner Music México’s Gender Equality Committee, comprised exclusively of women across the organization. Then came the idea of creating a label in which all roles — from songwriting to digital music services — would be executed by women.
The creation of Gorgona — a creature who is a protective deity of women according to Greek mythology is — led to their first songwriter’s camp attended by Ali Stone, Erika Vidrio, Escarlata, Ingratax, Marian Ruzzi, and other artists, producers and songwriters.
“The atmosphere in our first camp was very friendly because everyone felt that their opinions and voices were validated in the studio,” says Andrea Fernández, A&R manager at Warner Music Mexico and the label’s creative leader. “They had practically never attended a camp where the participation of women was greater than that of men. We came out with a network of creative women who were able to get to know themselves and their work and produced spectacular songs.”
“Cypher 1: Ella”, which dropped on International Women’s Day, was the first release under Gorgona. A collaboration between singers and emcees Mabiland, Emjay, Mare Advertencia and Delfina Dib, the alternative, urban-leaning song was produced by Maria Vertiz, mixed by Marcella Araica and mastered by Natalia Schlesinger.
The underrepresentation of women in the industry in Mexico reflects the reality of music in general. A report on inclusion issued by The University of California Annenberg Inclusion Initiative earlier this year found that women have been woefully underrepresented across the recorded music industry.
The number of women with producer credits continues to be low. In 2022, only 3.4% of producers were women across all songs included on the year-end Hot 100 chart, according to the report, which examines the gender of artists, songwriters and producers across all 1,100 songs included on Billboard’s Hot 100 year-end charts spanning from 2012 to 2022. Moreover, women represented only 30% of the 160 artists on the Hot 100 year-end chart, while men made up 69.4% and artists who identified as non-binary made up less than 1%.
Mariah Angeliq caught up with Billboard News to discuss the criticisms that inspired her latest single “Ricota,” running away from home to pursue music and how she thrives as a woman in reggaeton.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
“I [grew up] listening to music because of my mom. She has a love for music and named me Mariah because Mariah Carey was her favorite artist,” she explains. “When I was like 9, I realized yeah, I wanna be on the screen. That could be me.”
The Miami native has seen much success in a short time, including her breakout single “Perreito,” which she performed at Billboard’s 2022 Latin Music Week and later with the chart-topping “EL MAKINON” alongside Colombian star Karol G.
Mariah recalled meeting producer Nely “El Arma Secreta” at age 16 and was motivated by the Luny Tunes hitmaker to begin singing in Spanish. “For all my teenage years, I was singing in English and thinking to myself that I was going to be like the next fire R&B American artist,“ she tells Billboard.
Around that time, Mariah ran away from home to fully immerse herself in the pursuit of music, something she says her family didn’t take seriously early on. Despite the lack of enthusiasm from her loved ones, she pressed forward. “We always know as artists that we’re going to make it,” she says. “I always believed in myself, and in my music.”
Her most recent single, “Ricota,” came in response to Internet “haters” hurling insults at the 23-year-old singer regarding her weight. “They started saying I was fat and I’m not here looking for validation. I think what that’s what the message of the song is,” Mariah explains. “Society has such a distorted perspective of beauty. But while I was getting all those negative comments, I received a DM saying that I was ‘bien ricota,’ so I got inspired.”
When it comes to navigating reggaeton, which for most of its history has been male-dominated, she draws on inspirations like Ivy Queen and her own “boss” energy. “I feel like I’ve navigated or learned to navigate through it really well because of my attitude and my strong character. You just gotta learn to speak up for yourself and have a voice.”
Mariah will embark on a European tour this summer, and possibly a U.S. tour to follow.
The music industry is mourning the sudden death of actor and singer Julián Figueroa, son of the late Mexican star Joan Sebastian and Costa Rican actress Maribel Guardia. Figueroa died Sunday in Mexico City at the age of 28 — just one day after what would have been Sebastian’s 72nd birthday.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
In an Instagram post, Guardia said Figueroa was found unconscious in his room while she was at the theater. “They called 911 and when the ambulance and police arrived, they found him already lifeless, with no traces of violence. The medical report indicates that he died of acute myocardial infarction and ventricular fibrillation,” she said.
Figueroa, who was known for songs such as “Pídeme,” “Volaré” “and Cómo Olvidar,” had a close relationship with his father, which could be reflected in one of his last Instagram posts.
“How slowly 8 years have gone by since the day you left time tastes more bitter. And people proclaim that time is a fix for everything, but this is a vile lie, it hurts more every day, and this is without fear of hurting sensibilities,” the artist wrote, next to a photo of himself as a child with his father.
Sebastian, who died in 2016 after a long battle with bone cancer, had eight children with five different women. His love for his children often shined in his music like in “Julián,” the song he wrote for Figueroa 23 years ago.
The lullaby-like, waltz-inspired track — part of his Secreto de Amor album that spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the Regional Mexican Albums chart in 2000 — finds Sebastian dedicating sweet words of love, appreciation and promises to his then-5-year-old son.
Below, listen to the sweet track, followed by the lyrics translated into English:
When you were a child JulianYou asked me to write a song that saidWhat I feel for you
That’s not easy, JulianAlthough I wrote a thousand songsThe most beautiful thing about love, JulianIs carried in the hearts
And this waltz is for you, for you, JulianDance it, enjoy it from beginning to endAt your graduation and your wedding dayAnd this waltz is for you, for you, JulianI will be celebrating tooFrom a corner, I will be watching you dance
When you were a child JulianGod was very good to meHe gave me the honor of being, JulianOf being your father and your friend
And this waltz is for you, for you, JulianDance it, enjoy it from beginning to endAt your graduation and your wedding dayAnd this waltz is for you, for you, JulianI will be celebrating tooI promise I will be watching you dance