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Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco — her fiancé who happens to be one of the top pop producers of today — are making the rounds with their joint album I Said I Love You First.
Best representing the creative collaboration between two halves of a shared heart, the set is home to 15 tracks, including “Call Me When You Break Up,” featuring Gracie Abrams, and “I Can’t Get Enough,” the pair’s 2019 team-up with J Balvin and Tainy.
“It just felt like it was a little taste of what we are and how we made this together, and how much we loved it and how much we love each other,” Gomez recently said about working with her romantic partner in an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “And it just felt like it was meant to be.”
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One of the set’s standout track is “Ojos Tristes,” a bilingual glam-pop track that features vocals from the Marías leader María Zardoya, who is also credited as a songwriter and producer. The song — whose lyric video has nearly 2 million views and is in the top 10 on YouTube’s Trending chart for music at the time of publishing — samples Jeanette’s 1981 classic “El Muchacho de los Ojos Tristes.”
Below, Billboard compares the 2025 version with the original by the English-born Spanish singer.
Title: “El Muchacho de los Ojos Tristes”
Artist: Jeanette
Year: 1981
Song: A song about a young man with sad eyes became one of the most emblematic songs of Jeanette’s career. Lyrically, she sings about coming across a lonely man who has sad eyes and needs love, and her desire to see him again and make him feel better. Musically, it’s a soft, glam-pop ballad that transmits melancholy backed by Jeanette’s dreamy and dulcet vocals. “El Muchacho de los Ojos Tristes” was written and produced by Manuel Alejandro and marked the third single from Jeanette’s Corazón de Poeta album released in 1981.
Video: A video published on Jeanette’s official YouTube channel shows the then-30-year-old singer performing the song in a live television setting. Completely alone onstage, the artist interprets the song’s lyrics with grace, passion and her own sad, brown eyes glistening. She’s wearing a sequined purple dress with cowboy boots as she sways side to side.
Title: “Ojos Tristes”
Artist: Selena Gomez & Benny Blanco
Year: 2025
Song: While the ’80s song is about the desire of knowing more about that mysterious man with the sad eyes, Gomez’s “Ojos Tristes” is about an unwanted breakup. “It’s not your fault I have to leave/ Please don’t you look that way, baby […] Those sad eyes, sad eyes/ You know I don’t wanna say goodbye,” she sings at the beginning of the track. Produced by Blanco, Josh Conway and Maria Zardoya of The Marías, the song conserves its hazy-disco aura, but with more percussion and instrumentation. The Marías also sings Jeanette’s timeless chorus in Spanish and adds another verse about never forgetting her ex despite the years.
Video: An official music video has yet to be released, but a lyric video featuring Gomez hugging Blanco in bed on a loop captures the nostalgic sentiment of the song.
One is a Broadway veteran; the other a debutante. Natalie Venetia Belcon and Isa Antonetti are the stars playing legendary singer Omara Portuondo at different stages of her life in BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB, the new Broadway musical about the Cuban artists who brought the acclaimed Grammy-winning album of 1997 to the world.
With Broadway credits including Matilda (Mrs. Phelps) and Rent (Joanne), Belcon is a Trinitarian-American actress and singer best known for originating the role of former child television star Gary Coleman in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Avenue Q. She had already played the Cuban icon knows as “La Novia del Filin” (“The Bride of Feeling”) during the BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB off-Broadway run, receiving the 2024 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Performer in a Musical and a nomination for a Drama Desk Award for the role.
Meanwhile, Antonetti is a “Latinx, indigenous, mixed race LGBTQIA+ actress and singer from the Greater Rochester, New York area,” as stated in the show’s playbill, and is currently completing her BFA in Musical Theatre at Carnegie Mellon University. With credits including Evita (NYCC), Macbeth (CMU), and A Chorus Line (OFC Creations), she recently made her film debut in Gift of Fear, and is excited to make her Broadway debut in BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB — “as it reflects her own experiences growing up performing with her father’s Latin band, Orquesta Antonetti.”
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Buena Vista Social Club was formed in Cuba in 1996, as a project organized by World Circuit executive Nick Gold, produced by American guitarist Ry Cooder and directed by Juan de Marcos González, who named the group after a popular music venue in Havana in the 1940s. To showcase popular styles of the time, such as son, bolero, and danzón, they recruited a dozen veteran musicians, some of whom had been retired for years.
The group’s eponymous debut album was released in September 1997 and quickly became an international sensation. On the Billboard charts, it reached No. 1 on Tropical Albums, where it stayed at the top for 24 weeks and spent a total of 266 weeks on the chart. It also reached No. 1 on Top Latin Albums and World Albums, and spent 19 weeks on the Billboard 200. In 1998, it won the Grammy for Best Tropical Latin Album, and the Billboard Latin Music Award for Tropical/Salsa Album of the Year by a Group. The Buena Vista Social Club album was also voted into the National Recording Registry in 2022 and the Grammy Hall of Fame last year.
With a book by Marco Ramirez, the Saheem Ali-directed Broadway show is inspired by true events, and features a band of international musicians to narrate the legendary story of the artists who brought the original album to life, going back and forth between the mid-90s and the 1950s. The company also features Julio Monge as Compay Segundo, Mel Semé as Ibrahim Ferrer and Jainardo Batista Sterling as Rubén González — with Da’von Moody, Wesley Wray and Leonardo Reyna as their younger versions, respectively. Renesito Avich plays Eliades Ochoa, and Ashley De La Rosa a young Haydee. Also performing are Angélica Beliard, Carlos Falú, Hector Juan Maisonet, Ilda Mason, Marielys Molina, and Sophia Ramos, among others.
Last Tuesday afternoon (March 19), dressed to the nines for the musical’s official Broadway premiere, Belcon and Antonetti sat with Billboard Español to share their experience giving life to one of the most beloved singers of Cuba. (Hours later, Omara Portuondo herself, now 94, would pay the cast a visit at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater in New York City ahead of opening night. She was not available for press).
What did you know about Buena Vista Social Club before joining this musical?
Natalie Venetia Belcon: I have musicians for parents, and they introduced me to Buena Vista Social Club, the album. I was 26, 27, something like that.
Isa Antonetti: I also have musicians for parents, and they would play the music [with their band] or the music would play it in the background and I would never know what I was listening to, until my dad told me: “You should do some more research on this on this Cuban band that we love to play sometimes.” And I was like, “Okay.” So I heard [the song] “Chan Chan” and I heard a couple of their songs and I was just humming them all over the place. And then they kind of just stayed in my Spotify and I would listen to them once in a while.
In the musical, you speak in English but sing in perfect Spanish. Are you fluent? How did you achieve the accent?
Antonetti: I’m not fluent, but I do speak.
Belcon: My father’s side of the family is Spanish, [but] I don’t speak Spanish. When we moved up to this country, we moved to the South Bronx, which is, you know… [heavily Puerto Rican]. So I am used to hearing it. I just never had to speak it. But I treat languages like I would music — I go off of the sounds and the dialect coach, so I’m good like that, just repeating and recording and putting my earphones in and you know, listening to it all the time is how I learned, anyway.
Antonetti: I always think musicians have the ear. You could give me some sheet music and I could make my way around it, but I learned best by our dialect coach, you know, speaking it and sending us voice memos, making sure I’m pronouncing it the way that is authentic to this show.
Beyond the Spanish, how did you both prepare to play Omara at these two stages in her life?
Belcon: I’m lucky in the sense that the stuff that you see of her is of her older. And so I watched “Adiós” quite a few times and listened to the stuff a lot. I mean, I can’t even help it now, it’s just kind of, you know, on repeat, basically.
How about you, Isa? There’s not so much of Omara from that era.
Antonetti: It’s so funny because I was thinking about it and I remember in the rehearsal room when they had the pictures up, it’s just like one picture of Omara when she was younger. I would do some research, I would look to see if there’s some videos of her when she was younger with like her sister and with her quad. And so I would use that, and I would also talk to [Associate Music Director] David Oquendo and ask what is the essence of someone who’s 19 in Cuba? You know, and I would try and bring that to her as well.
What was the biggest challenge of portraying a vocalist known as “La Novia del Filin” [The Bride of Feeling]?
Belcon: Well, today, it’s going to be [hard] to not pass out when I meet her. I hope my understudy is ready, ’cause I might be in the ER with IV (Laughs). The challenge is, even though this is a fable, to make sure that we are still being respectful and not making up somebody entirely. And to have a semblance of who she is, to have it resemble her as much as possible.
Antonetti: Absolutely. I could just quote what she said. All of it!
But this is your Broadway debut so, for you, what was the biggest challenge?
Antonetti: Besides the genuine general things about Broadway being exhausting through the rehearsals and the previews — you know, that it’s challenging in its own way. I think for the show specifically, it’s keeping making sure the time period stays in your body when you step on stage. I’m playing someone in the 1950s, so that’s different than how I would play someone else. I think the challenging part is remembering when you step on stage that you are a different person and you’re being respectful and you’re bringing life to something. It’s challenging and rewarding and all of the above.
At some points during the musical, your characters meet, creating really emotional moments. Any favorites for you?
Belcon: I think it might be [Ibrahim Ferrer and Portuondo’s duet] “Silencio,” when the younger two are up top on the malecón (pier) and Ibrahim comes in and then I’m having all the memories of things. That and, not necessarily my favorite but I think in my head the most important, which is how it all starts when she — again, it’s a “Do I go left or right?” It’s a crossroads: “Do I make the album or not?” Then she chooses and it’s a butterfly effect; it kind of affects everything and everybody else.
Antonetti: I would say “Chan Chan” — it’s had different iterations since we started rehearsal and I’m so grateful that I get to be a part of that number even longer because it’s so emotionally devastating, but I love the moment and I only get to see it from behind the stage of the malecón. I get to see Natalie come in and Angélica [Beliard] do this beautiful dance move where she transfers the trauma into Natalie. Just remembering it, that moment, I’m telling you, I need like three hours to recoup.
Belcon: I need three drinks! (Laughs)
What did you both learn from Omara Portuondo in this process, as a person and as an artist?
Belcon: I mean, to say that she’s strong is an understatement. There needs to be a better word — maybe it needs to be “I am Omara,” right? You know, she’s been through a lot, just a lot, and came through it all and succeeded. More than succeeded. Just the time period, what was happening [in Cuba], and she not only survived that, she thrived regardless.
Antonetti: As a person, as an artist… She is more than just those words. Whenever I think of her, it’s like what you said, strong is an understatement. She is just this powerful being that can take my breath away.
After months of rehearsals, how does it feel to see the whole show finally come together on Broadway?
Belcon: I had a little bit of a heads-up cause I’ve done it once before [off-Broadway.] I think it is different in the bigger space, definitely, but that’s always a fantastic payoff moment. All the hard work and the not sleeping and all the rest of it, when you see everything fall into place, you know, those moments when you see the younger and the older [characters together], it’s always the payoff. They’re emotional moments. They are.
Antonetti: There are moments where I just have to hold myself back because I am an emotional person. And I was like, “This is a dream and it’s coming true and I have to be grounded in that or I’ll freak out.” It’s like what I told someone else outside: It has been exhausting, but it is worth every inch and ounce of that exhaustion. Absolutely.
Actors Natalie Venetia Belcon and Isa Antonetti on the red carpet as they arrive to the Buena Vista Social Club musical opening night on Broadway on March 19, 2025, in New York City.
Andy Henderson
It was a bit past midnight, and a shirtless and sweaty J Balvin was backstage at the Kaseya Center in Miami chit-chatting and drinking with some of his closest friends. Ryan Castro, Justin Quiles, Sky Rompiendo, Mau & Ricky, and Balvin’s model wife Valentina Ferrer were all there Saturday (March 22), celebrating the wrap of the third night of his Back to the Rayo Tour, which launched Thursday in Atlanta.
Balvin (real name: José Álvaro Osorio Balvin) was ecstatic to be back in the 305, and to be kicking off the North American leg of his CMN-produced, 27-date trek in support of his Grammy-nominated album Rayo. In 2022, the Colombian artist was set to begin his José U.S. tour, but it was postponed because of “unforeseen production challenges” due to COVID-19.
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Three years later, he’s back on the road and not braking.
Inspired by the classic ‘80s film Back to the Future (hence the tour’s name), Balvin — in true fashion — delivered an immersive concert experience for fans. His stage elements were simple yet vibrant, futuristic and captivating: two large LED panels, a floating LED panel and a silver car in which Balvin made his grand entrance. For the second part of the show, a large, purple head and praying hands took over the stage.
Balvin, as well as a group of six dancers, DJ Pope (his longtime DJ) and backup singer O’Neil carried the two-hour-long spectacle, delivering the back-to-back bangers that have made Balvin a global sensation: “Reggaetón,” “Con Altura,” “6 AM,” “Ay Vamos,” “Ginza,” “Mi Gente,” “La Canción” and many more.
“¡Qué chimba Miami! I don’t want to leave. If it were up to me, I’d stay parchando [partying] here until 7 a.m.,” he told the packed venue. “Straight from Medellín, I am your parcero [friend] José. I’m proud of being Latino and of taking reggaetón to other levels.”
Below, check out some highlights from his Miami tour stop:
A Tribute to Colombia
In the middle of the show, after performing some of his latest songs, such as “Polvo de tu Vida” and “+57,” Balvin proudly showed off his Colombian roots. The lights on the stage reflected the colors of his native country’s flag (yellow, blue and red), and his DJ played a mix of emblematic songs from Colombian artists, starting with Joe Arroyo’s “Rebelión.” The salsa tuned was followed by Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie,” Karol G’s “Si Antes te Hubiera Conocido” and Maluma’s “Según Quién” in collaboration with Carín León, before Balvin brought out the first special guest of the night.
Special Guests
As part of the Colombian tribute, Balvin invited Ryan Castro to the stage. There, Castro performed “El Ritmo Que Nos Une,” “Parte y Choke,” “Fan De Su Relación” and “Jordan.” Shortly after, Balvin also invited Puerto Rican artist Justin Quiles to sing some of his greatest tunes for the audience, including “Jeans,” “Cuaderno” and “Loco.” As the crowd danced to Castro and Quiles’ mini sets, Balvin was taking shots. “I’ve never drank so much alcohol in a concert,” he said with a laugh.
Love Is in the Air
A heartfelt moment during Balvin’s show was when he performed his romantic reggaetón song “Rio,” named after his son. He not only dedicated the song to his partner and mother of his child, Valentina, who was in the audience with her parents, but also took the time to give out flower bouquets to his fans. “I still remember when I would come to Miami to vacation, and now I’m here. How cool!” an emotional Balvin said. “It’s worth working hard. I love you!”
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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Girls’ Night Out
It was a star-studded week in Miami, and Becky G did not hesitate to gather her girls for a night out in town. In a surprising reel using Bad Bunny’s “Nuevayol” sound, the Mexican-American singer is seen hanging out on a yacht with 11 of her celebrity friends. Each of the beautiful ladies, including Jessica Alba, Gloria Estefan, Emily Estefan, Eva Longoria, and Becky, have their moment to shine and show off their best dance moves to the trendy dembow-salsa tune. The ladies were celebrating Longoria’s 50th birthday, where Marc Anthony was also one of the guests. “Grateful to have begun celebrating my birthday (as it will be a month long). I felt so loved! […] Ready for this new decade,” the actress said on her Instagram. Watch the fun clip below.
The Bromance That Keeps on Giving
On other birthday news, Nicky Jam celebrated his 44th birthday on March 17, and in honor, his good friend J Balvin took fans down memory lane. In a video recap, Balvin collected the best highlights from their bromance throughout the years: “mi real y yo” (my real one and I), he subtitled the clip. The video captures more than 10 years of friendship between the two reggaetón artists, including memorable pranks, viral moments, and their mano a mano panel at 2017 Billboard Latin Music Week. “Happy birthday, Nicky Jam, for more moments like these,” Balvin captioned the post. Additionally, the Colombian and Puerto Rican artists have collaborated on many bangers including “X,” “Superhéroe,” “Travesuras (Remix),” and “Poblado (Remix),” to name a few.
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The She Wolf Pack
In a sweet fan moment, Kunno could not contain the moment he shared with Shakira during one of her concerts in Mexico this week. “Her success has had many roads and Shakira invited me to walk with her at her first concert in Mexico City,” the Mexican influencer expressed on his social media accounts. In the clip, Kunno is seen dressed in a metallic jumpsuit and accompanying the Colombian sensation during a part of her show where she’s walking through the crowd with her “she wolf” pack. “Dreams definitely come true and among wolves we stay in a pack,” he added, thanking Sony Music México and Ocesa for making this opportunity possible. Watch the journey below.
The Future of Music
This week, Rolling Stone revealed its annual The Future 25 list featuring two Latin names: breakthrough Música Mexicana star Ivan Cornejo and Puerto Rican newcomers Chuwi. From around the world and across all genres, the artists were selected by the RS staff, “spotlighting the next generation of artists shaping the sounds of tomorrow. Cornejo—who was Billboard’s Genre Now cover last January—got his own Future of Music cover and performed as headliner at Rolling Stone’s Future of Music showcase at SXSW earlier this month. “Completely honored to be the face of Rolling Stone representing música mexicana,” he shared on social media.
This week, Billboard’s New Music Latin roundup and playlist — curated by Billboard Latin and Billboard Español editors — features fresh new music, including new albums by Jay Wheeler (Girasoles) and Guaynaa (Cumbia y Amor). Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Following his Broadway debut last fall and […]
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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Jay Wheeler, Girasoles (Dynamic Records/Empire)
“I have lived so much and now I understand the true trophy,” Jay Wheeler declares in the nearly two-minute intro of his latest album Girasoles. If his testament is any indication, the Puerto Rican artist opens up about the new era he’s living both personally and professionally. Home to 15 tracks, including collaborations with Omar Courtz, ROBI and Shantty, Girasoles represents his evolution through the phase of a sunflower: challenges in life (represented by planting a seed), his transformation period (growth), and maturity (a full bloom).
Musically, Wheeler steers away from the romantic reggaetón sound that made him a household name and delves into synth-pop and heartfelt rock ballads laced with dramatic futuristic melodies. Lyrically, he’s vulnerable, at peace, and deeply in love with his mom, his wife Zhamira, and his daughter Aiunii —the three ladies whom he dedicates this album to. Notably, the focus single “Abrázame Fuerte” captures his emotions of becoming a first-time dad. “Never settle and keep working on yourself, show love to others, and continue to evolve despite difficulties, just as sunflowers continue to grow toward the light,” Wheeler expresses in a press statement. “People talk about outcomes, but no one talks about the process of getting there.” — JESSICA ROIZ
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Christian Nodal, “El Amigo” (Sony Music México)
Nodal’s melancholy look at the girl who got away and the guy who got her is both evocative and relatable. A slow ballad in a 6/8 beat, it could very well be a slit-your-wrists ranchera ballad except it trades mariachis for electric guitar and discreet strings for a more contemporary sound, and also features a middle section where Nodal chants/sings to bring the song to more modern territory. Still, what really shines here is the songwriting, courtesy of Edgar Barrera and Keytin at their best with a storyline that has us waiting with bated breath for what will happen next. Together with Nodal’s beautiful, pathos-filled vocals, this is a winner. — LEILA COBO
Danny Ocean x Sech, “Priti” (Atlantic Recording)
Danny Ocean and Sech — Venezuelan and Panamian powerhouses, respectively — have come together for a playful track that perfectly celebrates the arrival of spring. “Priti,” a play on words of “pretty,” merges the infectious rhythms of Caribbean merengue with chill Afrobeats. The song is adorned with heartfelt lyrics that capture the exhilarating sensation of love that comes unexpectedly, evoking the sweet and electrifying feelings of infatuation. As the melodies intertwine with lively instrumentation, “Priti” promises to transport listeners to a sun-soaked paradise. — INGRID FAJARDO
Guaynaa, Cumbia y Amor (Guaynaa Records)
“Time will pass, and fashions come and go/ But let there be no end of cumbia to dance to,” Guaynaa proclaims in the intro to his third full-length, Cumbia y Amor — a vibrant love letter to the art form that has defined countless celebrations across Latin America and beyond. The party ignites instantly with “QNPLC” featuring Tropikal Forever, where the Puerto Rican artist explores cumbia’s transcendence through iconic references and lyrical nods to legends like Colombia’s Toto La Momposina, Chile’s Chico Trujillo, Puerto Rico’s Los Chinchillos del Caribe and the queen of tejano music, Selena.
From Colombia’s shores, where cumbia first blossomed as an Afro-Indigenous creation, to the rebellious synthesizer-powered rhythms of Argentina’s cumbia villera, he traces the genre’s evolution with reverence. He celebrates Mexico’s cumbia sonidera, born of DJs and producers spinning lively beats in the clubs, and Peru’s psychedelic chicha, where cumbia takes on a kaleidoscopic flair.
The album showcases an array of collaborations, each representing different facets of this rich musical tradition. Bronco injects its signature grupera style into the sultry “Matame de A Poquito,” while Ximena Sariñana lends her voice to the irresistibly upbeat “Cosita Guapa.” “Sí A Todo” pulses with a villera edge, and Grupo Ráfaga closes the album with “Como Duele,” a horn-blaring anthem that encapsulates the genre’s communal joy and heartbreak.
Throughout the record, Guaynaa honors the greats who paved the way, name-dropping legends like Los Ángeles Azules, Celso Piña, and more. But beyond the references, Cumbia y Amor is steeped in emotional authenticity — serving as both a swaying, hip-shaking delight and a heartfelt tribute to a genre that unites generations and nations. — ISABELA RAYGOZA
Los Ángeles Azules & Kenia Os, “Una Nada Más” (OCESA Seitrack/Virgin Music Latin)
Los Ángeles Azules continue on their captivating collaboration streak, this time teaming up with Mexican pop star Kenia Os on “Una Nada Más,” which loosely translates to “one more and nothing else.” Produced by Juanjo Martín, Yoby Zúñiga, and Rodolfo Lugo, the sensual cumbia sonidera — powered by weeping accordions, trumpets and percussion — spotlights forbidden love with a chemistry so strong that it goes beyond only one night. “Kenia Os gave us incredible energy,” the Mexican cumbia group expresses in a statement. “We hope her fans, like ours, take out their best dance moves to enjoy this song.” — J.R.
Banda Los Sebastianes & Luis Fonsi, “Sabes Qué Hora Es” (Fonovisa/Universal Music Group)
With the characteristic Sinaloan sound of Banda Los Sebastianes and the soft and undeniably romantic voice of Luis Fonsi, a perfect blend of regional Mexican and pop is achieved. From its first chords, “Sabes Qué Hora Es” is an anthem to love and a feast for the ears. With a rhythmic sound featuring the Mazatlán group’s signature instruments accompanying the heartfelt quality that the Puerto Rican star brings to his performance, the song showcases the best of both worlds, making it a joyful listening experience for anyone, regardless of their musical tastes.
“It’s something no one saw coming, that Banda Los Sebastianes and Luis Fonsi got together to sing a super romantic song with so much feeling and love,” Fonsi says in a statement about the tune written by Diego Bolela and Horacio Palencia. “From the moment we received the song, we thought of him to do it, we sent it to him, and he liked it,” the band adds. “For us, it’s an honor that this has been made possible.” — TERE AGUILERA
Los Amigos Invisibles, “Wiki Wiki” (Gozadera Records/140 DB)
Los Amigos Invisibles continue to expand their long list of catchy grooves with “Wiki Wiki,” a song that fuses Afrobeats with Caribbean rhythms and fun lyrics that invite you to dance. “The music is crazy, the atmosphere gets good/ Out of control, until the sun comes up,” sings vocalist Julio Briceño in Spanish before repeating in the chorus: “Making Wiki Wiki we get freaky, making Wiki Wiki.” “Wiki Wiki is whatever you want it to be: Swirling the whiskey with a finger, shaking the boat when you dance, making arepas with rhythm, or making something delicious with style,” the Venezuelan tropical disco funk band explains in a press release. “It’s also a state of mind, a flow, a term used when the party gets good.” It’s a perfect track to warm up the party this spring. — SIGAL RATNER-ARIAS
Check out more Latin recommendations this week below:
Billboard celebrated Spain’s music industry leaders at a private event March 18 in Madrid attended by over 100 top executives, artists and creators. Held at the rooftop of Gynko at Hotel VP Plaza España Design, the event celebrated the publication of Billboard’s Spotlight on Spain included in the March 8 issue of Billboard magazine, but […]
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 […]
In the ‘90s, Selena Quintanilla singlehandedly revolutionized the Tejano genre, fusing her authentic Mexican roots with bold new sounds such as R&B, pop, dance and rock.
With her bubbly charm, dazzling aura and a universal appeal, which powered hits like “Como La Flor,” “Dreaming of You,” “Amor Prohibido” and “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom,” the artist, known as the Queen of Tejano, shattered ceilings in a genre that was predominantly dominated by men, earning a zealous fanbase both in the U.S. and in Mexico.
Well on her way to a major mainstream crossover, the Mexican-American powerhouse was tragically shot dead on March 31, 1995 at the age of 23. However, her music and legacy has stood the test of time and, along the way, she’s influenced a new generation of hitmakers, making her a bona fide Latin icon in pop culture 30 years later.
On the Billboard charts, Selena earned 24 entries on Top Latin Albums, 16 of which hit top 10 and seven No. 1’s—among them Amor Prohibido, spending 20 weeks at the top in 1994 and Dreaming of You, released posthumously, which spent 40 weeks at the top in 1995. On the Regional Mexican Albums and Latin Pop Albums charts, the late artist placed seven and six No. 1 titles, respectively. Amor Prohibido topped the former chart for nearly 100 weeks.
As a testament to her enduring legacy, the Quintanilla family released Moonchild Mixes in 2022 — an album with 10 previously unreleased songs that the superstar recorded between the ages of 13 and 16. The set peaked at No. 1 on the Latin Pop Albums chart that same year.
“We as a family had discussed this amongst ourselves that in the future, after Selena’s passing, we were going to maintain her presence through her music and we’ve done that,” A.B. Quintanilla, Selena’s dad, previously told Billboard. “I’m more than sure that the fans are going to love it because if you listen to it, it’ll move you emotionally and take you back to as if Selena was recording it this morning.”
Here, Billboard ranks the albums that make up Selena’s incomparable recorded legacy. There are also a handful of compilation and live albums released throughout her career and after her passing — including Live!, which won the Grammy award for Best Mexican-American Album in 1994 — but while some have entered the Billboard charts, we are ranking only the studio albums released since her EMI Latin label debut in 1989. See our list below.
Selena (1989)
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo
For the first time ever, Mexico has entered the top 10 global music markets, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) has confirmed to Billboard Español. The milestone was driven by a 15.6% increase in recorded music revenue, as revealed in the IFPI’s 2025 Global Music Report published Wednesday (March 19). Mexico’s climb to No. […]