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In early 2020, Kimberly Loaiza uploaded her very first TikTok video to promote her single “No seas celoso,” which loosely translates to “don’t be jealous.” The 15-second video features the Mexican pop star doing a short and simple choreography to her song with a request to her followers: “Loves, if you want to see me post more often here, I invite you to do the #noseascelosochallenge.” Since, that clip has earned more than 3 million likes, and the singer has continued to post religiously, growing a zealous fanbase on the short-form video platform. This year, according to TikTok’s recently released year-end report, Loaiza was the app’s most-viewed music artist globally.
At a time when the music business is obsessed with TikTok and nearly every hit song must take off there to thrive elsewhere, Loaiza has built a following of 70 million followers — up 16% from the year prior — and 4 billion likes on her account. Key to the 24-year-old’s growth on TikTok has been her collaborating with other influencers in her videos, as well as connecting with fans through popular trends like viral dance challenges and video reactions. Of course, she’s also using TikTok as a platform to grow her music career, which already includes key collaborations with artists such as Grupo Firme. Her top five tracks this year on the app are “Devoto” with Elvis de Yongol (657,500 videos on the app), “Apaga la luz” with Ovy on the Drums (525,000 videos), “No seas celoso” (276,000 videos), “Mejor Sola” with Zion y Lennox (274,000 videos), and “Me perdiste” (221,000 videos).
“TikTok allows the use of music for the creation of content,” Loaiza’s manager, Leonardo de la O Crovi, tells Billboard. “The basis of everything is to constantly form work teams that adapt to the new ways of communicating. That’s where we try to get the most out of it with good, original and creative ideas. The platform undoubtedly enhances the songs and gives artists an opportunity to grow.”
“This shows the growth opportunity that exists when an artist and her team work together with the TikTok team to generate creative strategies that result in the growth that the artist seeks,” adds Rob Ruiz, music operations lead for Mexico at TikTok.
Additionally, Loaiza has established many new business relationships including with Loud And Live, which will bring her Bye Bye Tour to the U.S. for the first time in 2023. It also marks the last tour where she and her husband JD Pantoja, who’s also a recording artist and popular social media personality, will share the stage.
“You can expect many beautiful things, many good things,” Loaiza assures. “You can expect a great show because that’s what we want to give our fans. We want to give them a truly unforgettable show that they go and say, ‘Wow, it was all worth it.’”
Below, Loaiza talks about being the number one most-viewed artist globally on TikTok, how that’s helped her music career, and more.
You’re ending the year as the most-viewed artist globally on TikTok. What has contributed to your major success on the app?
I sincerely believe that the potion for success is to be constant, to fight for your dreams, remove the barriers that you have in your mind, and do what you really like. When you mix all that together I really feel that you make something explode and everything that you propose yourself to will work out in the end.
What makes Kim Loaiza stand out from the crowd where more than 70 million followers are connecting with your content?
I think I’m super transparent with the people who follow me. I’m always trying to give them the best possible content, always aware of what they want, and always reading their comments. I think that’s what makes my fans connect the most with me because I’m 100% transparent and I like to pamper them and give them the content they ask of me.
Beyond being a famed TikTok personality, how do you feel the app has propelled your very own music career?
It’s helped a lot because my music is uploaded to the app and gets exposure. Either I make a dance challenge for it or fans create one, and it goes viral. You learn the trend, you learn the song. That’s what’s helped my musical career a lot and I really love it.
Your husband JD Pantoja is also on the list with you. What does being a TikTok Power Couple mean?
It feels super nice to share this achievement as a couple because I know everything he has gone through, I know everything he has lived through to get to where he is. I was with him from the very start. I recorded his first Vine videos and helped him with his social media. To see that now we have a very different lifestyle from the one we had a few years ago is crazy. All the support we receive from fans feels beautiful, and well, the truth is, I am super proud of everything my husband has achieved.
Manuel Turizo rebounds to No. 1 on the Billboard Argentina Hot 100 chart (dated Dec. 3) after ranking at No. 2 for one week. The song adds a 12th week atop the tally, tying with Maluma and The Weeknd’s “Hawai” and Pedro Capo and Farruko’s “Calma (Alicia remix)” for the fourth-most among all titles since the chart launched in 2018.
Rosalía’s “Despechá” returns to its No. 2 high for a 23rd week. Meanwhile, as “La Bachata” tops this week’s ranking, it sends Bizarrap and Duki’s “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 50” to No. 4 after one week in command. Bizarrap also rises to No. 3 through another of his music sessions: “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 52,” with Quevedo. Plus, La Joaqui, Gusty DJ Salsatkbron’s “Dos Besitos” holds steady at No. 5.
Elsewhere, Quevedo’s “Punto G” scores the Greatest Gainer honors of the week as it climbs 47 rankings, 78-31. Plus, the Hot Shot debut goes to Karol G & Ovy On The Drums’s “Cairo” at No. 57
Further, four other titles debut this week, starting with Paulo Londra and Lit Killah’s “Necio” at No. 59, Nathy Peluso’s “Estás Buenísimo” opens at No. 73, Nicki Nicole’s “Frio” bows at No. 80, while La Joaqui and Omar Varela’s “Mañosa” arrives at No. 92.
Jenni Rivera‘s untimely passing left a void in Latin music. At the time of her death in a plane crash in Mexico on December 9, 2012, Rivera, 43, was at the peak of her career and the single most successful woman in regional Mexican and on the Billboard Latin charts.
With anthems such as “Inolvidable,” “De Contrabando,” “Basta Ya” and “Resulta,” Rivera was able to create a blueprint for herself in a male-dominated genre, and was on the verge of a major crossover, with a residency in Las Vegas in the works and her very own television series. Still, the regional Mexican icon may no longer be here but her presence on and off the Billboard charts looms larger than life.
Ten years after her tragic death, Rivera’s legacy is very much alive thanks to her five children — Chiquis, Jacqie, Michael, Jenicka and Johnny who spoke at length about their mother at this year’s Billboard Latin Music Week — and her empowering anthems sang by a strong yet vulnerable woman for women from all walks of life. She’s also been an inspiration for the new generation of regional Mexican acts such as Grupo Firme, who’s frontman Eduin Caz told Billboard of her influence on him.
With more than 30 entries on the tally on the Regional Mexican Airplay, fourteen of those hit the top 10, and 25 songs on the Hot Latin Songs chart, Billboard‘s Latin editors have chosen Rivera’s 10 best songs (in no particular order). From “Ovarios” to “La Gran Señora” and “Las Malandrinas,” check out the list below.
Omar Apollo — who kicked off his career in 2017 when he borrowed money from a friend to upload his first song to Spotify, the heartfelt “Ugotme” — went from working at McDonald’s and Guitar Center to becoming a Grammy nominee for best new artist at the upcoming Feb. 5 ceremony.
He’s one of the industry’s most exciting names thanks to his unique musical shapeshifting, effortlessly moving between viral tracks that drip with soul and R&B to overtly pop jams to alternative rock, reaching a crescendo with the release of debut album Ivory in April. Along the way, a generation of fans readily see themselves in Apollo, from his proud Mexican heritage to his authentic openness about his sexuality.
Hot off his nationwide Prototype tour, Apollo spoke candidly to Billboard about the evolution of his sexuality (including his trials and tribulations and that recent viral tweet), as well as his close relationship to his Mexican culture and the new video for his Hot 100 hit “Evergreen (You Didn’t Deserve Me At All).”’
Congratulations on being a best new artist Grammy nominee! What does that mean to you?
It’s such an honor to even be nominated. I mean that’s insane. I was definitely very, very excited. I called my parents and told them the news, and so many friends reached out. It was a crazy feeling.
Where were you that morning? Did you watch the announcement?
I was watching it in my hotel room in Atlanta. Me and my team were watching it. My manager tackled me, and I fell on the bed. Everyone was “Ahh!!” They were recording it, it was so funny. And then I really had to use the bathroom, so I kicked everyone out and called my dad. He was so excited; he had a little cook hat on. He was so excited, just saying congratulations and he started to say, “You’ve been working so hard.” Dad stuff. And then I called my mom and she was super excited, and we started talking about what we’re going to wear.
How did your tour go? You played the biggest rooms during the biggest run of your career so far, but I know you had to cancel a date because it was taxing on your voice.
Yeah, totally. Oh my gosh, that’s the biggest stress, your voice. I have a lot of things I do on the road to be able to take care of it, but I’m going to have to go harder on this next tour to really, like, have a regimen. Your voice is these two little vocal folds in the back of your throat that are so, so, so sensitive and delicate, and touring is so not delicate. And, you just have to be able (to get through it). Right down to the food you eat.
As anyone who’s seen your tour can attest, you really don’t encompass one genre. There’s R&B-forward songs like “Evergreen (You Didn’t Deserve Me At All),” but you also have more alt rock, hip-hop, pop and you even threw in some traditional Mexican songs. Was it a conscious decision to have a discography that zig-zags through genres, or just the general evolution of your music?
I grew up on soul and R&B and that’s where my soul and heart is. I also just have a general interest in music itself. I can’t help but attempt to try out all of these different styles. I grew up rapping and I did that before I started singing. That turned into writing and all that. Honestly, it’s a discovery. There was a point in time I was putting things out because they felt good.
The traditional Mexican songs have become a highlight of your show. What made you incorporate them into the tour in the first place? You performed them when you were a kid, right?
Yeah, so I was in Ballet Folklórico, which was like a Mexican folk ballet. So I wasn’t singing; I was dancing to very similar music when I was in third grade or something like that. So it’s always been a part of my life and I grew up watching videos of Folklórico and stuff like that, so I was like, this feels genuine to me, this feels like something I want to do at my shows. I just had to try it. It turned into being this moment in the show where I would amplify (the culture).
An artist like Selena grew up in Texas and (at least at first) didn’t speak Spanish, but her heritage was important to her and it seemed like she represented the Latin community in the States. Meanwhile, you’re from Indiana and tapping a similar fanbase. What does it feel like to juggle that part of your heritage, and do you feel a responsibility?
I was born and raised in Indiana; my parents came from Mexico with the intention of having a better life here. Some things my parents would always tell me were to not forget where I came from, so the family and our traditions and the culture has always been super important. It’s its own culture, because it’s mixed with this American culture. To have this visibility…. A lot of the people who come to the show are all Latin. It’s great because that’s something I wanted growing up. An artist who represented my people, who looked like me and could actually have my story of how my parents came here and their kids could be successful. There are so many different ways success can be. It’s just wonderful to know that my parents’ intentions were pure, true and I was able to change my family’s life forever.
Speaking of Hispanic culture, I want to talk about your partnership with Buchanan’s Whisky, which you always post about on social media. It’s a brand that is popular with the Latin community, and I know it’s one that’s close to your family.
Yeah, well I only really like to partner with brands that are authentic to me and my family, my uncles, my friends all drink it. So it’s been a brand I’ve already been connected with and I really love how they celebrate the Mexican culture. When they asked me to support 200 Percenters, which is 100 percent Hispanic and 100 percent American [their 200% Futuro Fund which raises money for Hispanic and Latin organizations], it just felt like a no-brainer. Honestly, it was great to tour with them. They joined a few of the dates and had some stands for drinks, so I’m excited for everything that’s to come with them.
What does your family think? For the Buchanan’s drinkers this must be a dream. Free Buchanan’s for life!
Yeah, totally! They just sent my dad a bottle; he was so excited. I was with him when he received it. He tells everyone.
Your queerness is also a major part of your identity. I wanted to ask you about your viral tweet in which someone accused you of queerbaiting and you had a NSFW response and you clarified, in an NSFW way, “No, I’m actually gay. This isn’t just some marketing thing.” What made you tweet that?
I’m gonna be honest with you man, that tweet had zero thought. I saw the tweet and thought, this is actually comical because it’s so untrue. So opposed to being defensive, I just thought of something…. Twitter is literally a place where I have so many tweets like that. It’s kind of funny that it keeps being brought up because it was my little vulgar moment! (Laughs) What did Jay-Z say? “What you eat don’t make me sh-t.”
I think the shocking thing is not that you tweeted it, but the fact that it wasn’t too long ago that an artist would hide the fact they were gay as much as they could. But there you are being 100 percent honest, essentially saying: “I’m gay, this is what gay people do, what are you gonna do about it?” The gay community reacted to that like, “Yes!”
I’m totally aware of the privilege we have now to be ourselves and still have a career. Honestly it had a lot to do with me growing up in Indiana which is very conservative. Everyone is always tiptoeing around it. As opposed to trying to defend myself, I embraced the sexual aspect of it. I don’t normally think when I go on Twitter, it’s reactions. Everything on there is just a bunch of reactions. But people thought I was queerbaiting before (early in my career). I wasn’t super open about my sexuality, but people were hearing things. In Indiana people were saying “He’s not even gay, he’s just doing that to be artist-y.” I always thought it was funny because the reality of my life is not that; it’s not a choice, it’s just what I am. You have to laugh at things like that. I didn’t think I was going to get this far in-depth talking about that tweet.
I remember my first time writing about being gay in a public forum; it was a milestone for me considering it was something that was so personal. Do you remember your first time incorporating it into your music?
Yeah… I don’t know if I ever said this, but I put out music when I was 18 and it was a song called “Beauty Boy.” That was the first time I ever said anything about it. I made it subtle. I didn’t say, “This is my gay song!” I just kind of put it out. I was feeling confident; my friends knew, I told them and they were like, “Do it.” In my town it started to get a lot of criticism and it got back to my family. I started getting really discouraged because the way it was received didn’t make me feel good…. It’s still kind of tough to talk about it. So (after that) I stopped putting pronouns in my music for a couple years, I think. But then I just realized, I can’t let other people’s opinions influence my life. I can’t let them dictate my life. That’s silly. I grew up very religious, so I was dealing with that too. Eventually, I put out a song called “Stayback” and the video had…. homosexual undertones. I remember being terrified. It was really hard for me. I almost didn’t put it out, but luckily my friends were very supportive. It wasn’t that I wasn’t out; I had been out for years. But when you come from this very conservative, Catholic upbringing… I experienced a lot. There’s a lot of things people don’t know about. Those things just stay with me. To be able to go and talk and be myself is a blessing. I’m very fortunate and I don’t take it for granted.
It’s a personal evolution for everyone, but for you your personal evolution has doubled as an artistic evolution through dealing with that. But culture is a mirror held up to society, and you’re giving other people who have gone through those same experiences a voice.
I mean, that sort of thing makes me really happy. It feels like that was, like, robbed from me. I didn’t get to experience this open, high school love. That was type of thing that I had to experience later in life. I had to develop it later. So yeah, it’s a lot.
In The Velvet Rage it says if you’re gay, even if you experienced dating with a member of the opposite sex, you inevitably have to do it all again at some point with a member of the same sex.
The Velvet Rage! That’s a good book.
Tell me about the video for “Evergreen (You Didn’t Deserve Me At All),” which just came out and has so far collected over six million views on YouTube. You’re insulated in this room and then there’s a collapse. What was your thinking behind its concept?
Honestly, I hate explaining things just because it kind of puts it in a box. Literally, in the video it was a box I built (laughs). But I was working with these directors, rubberband [jason sondock and simon davis]. Super talented producer and cinematographer. Everything couldn’t have gone better and it was a great day. The video was made to amplify what is being said in the song. I always had a tough time with videos, things like trying to work in a love interest. But the directors were so talented and they thought everything through. We worked really hard on the edit and coloring and tried to get to feel how I wanted it to. It was perfectly executed. I love it.
Sony Music US Latin has officially opened its new headquarters in Puerto Rico, Billboard can confirm today (Dec. 8).
The multinational record label, which has had its facilities on the island since 1980 (formerly CBS Records), is relocating to the modern office complex Ciudadela in Santurce, where the label’s artists will have access to a press room, recording studio, content creation room for networks, and other benefits.
“These new offices are a tangible demonstration of what Puerto Rico represents for Sony and for Latino culture,” Alex Gallardo, president of Sony Music US Latin tells Billboard via email. “In addition, this expansion will allow us to provide a better service and support our current artists even more.”
Reaffirming its commitment to Boricua talent, Victor Manuelle, Pedro Capó, and Luis Figueroa were some of the Sony artists present at the inauguration, alongside Gallardo and Tuti Bou, vp and general manager of Sony Music US Latin (Puerto Rico Branch).
“After 42 years of having founded our company in Puerto Rico, today we celebrate this new stage,” Bou adds. “At Sony Music PR we are proud to be the only established multinational committed to the development of our music and culture. The space is modern, and spacious, and in which we have our own recording studio to continue developing, promoting, and discovering new talent. Sony Music Puerto Rico will continue to be ‘The House of Artists.’”
In addition, the label has commissioned a mural from the renowned artists of The Stencil Network in support of the urban development in Santurce.
Sony Music Latin offices in Puerto Rico
Dianeris Nieves/Sony Music Latin
Intocable climbs to a milestone 45 top 10s on Billboard’s Regional Mexican Airplay chart as “Un Poquito Tuyo” jumps 13-9 on the Dec. 10-dated ranking. The group now ties with Los Tigres del Norte for the most top 10s overall.
“Un Poquito Tuyo” lands in the upper reaches of the chart in its fifth week thanks to a 15% weekly increase in audience impressions earned in the U.S. in the week ending Dec. 4, according to Luminate. The song was released Oct. 14 via Good I Music.
“Un Poquito” is the second single from Intocable’s forthcoming album (release date to be announced), and was written by Carlos Preciado and Ricardo Muñoz. As mentioned, the song advances to the tally’s top region and earns the group its 45th top 10, all spanning four decades, tying with Los Tigres del Norte for the most top 10s since the chart launched in 1994. Here’s the leaderboard:
45, Intocable
45, Los Tigres del Norte
44, Banda El Recodo de Cruz Lizárraga
36, Los Tucanes de Tijuana
35, La Arrolladora Banda el Limón de Rene Camacho
32, Banda MS de Sergio Lizárraga
32, Calibre 50
30, Marco Antonio Solis
28, Conjunto Primavera
24, Vicente Fernandez
The new top 10 arrives just a month after the sextet earned its second top 10 of 2022 through “Más Muerto Que Vivo,” with Matisse (Nov. 5-dated ranking). Previously, “Si Me Duele Que Duela” ruled for two week in July.
Elsewhere, “Un Poquito”climbs 32-26 on the all-genre Latin Airplay chart.
Bad Bunny talks to our Chief Content Officer of Latin Leila Cobo about his current tour, World’s Hottest Tour, his favorite places to tour, how he approaches collaborations, when he wants to take a break from his career, reflects on his journey to the top and more!
Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2023, presented by ABC and dick clark productions, returns to Puerto Rico for its second annual Spanish-language countdown, Billboard can exclusively announce today (Dec. 8).
La Isla del Encanto will host the coveted New Year’s celebration at the DISTRITO T-Mobile in the Puerto Rico Convention Center, with the night’s first countdown kicking off at 11 p.m. ET on December 31st. Puerto Rican actress and producer Roselyn Sanchez returns as co-host and the Boricua superstar Farruko has been confirmed to perform a medley of hits.
“We will have an enchanting night and are so very pleased to share our beautiful Island and welcome 2023 with a bang!” Sanchez said in a press statement. “What a blessing to be a part of the New Year’s Rockin’ Eve tradition from my home island of Puerto Rico that represents and means so much!” Farruko added.
Last year’s inaugural Spanish-language countdown from Puerto Rico coincided with the celebration of the 500th anniversary of San Juan’s founding and featured global Reggaeton star Daddy Yankee with a hometown performance in his native San Juan.
“We are very excited to again host Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve on our Island to lead the countdown in welcoming 2023. Puerto Rico’s participation in this high-caliber event celebration will allow us to continue projecting to the world everything we have to offer as we head into our peak tourism season,” said Pedro Pierluisi, Governor of Puerto Rico. “We will again be front and center on national television to promote Puerto Rico’s beauty, culture and attractions and continue driving our booming tourism industry and economic development”
Sanchez and Farruko join the previously-announced lineup, which includes 18-time host Ryan Seacrest and co-hosts Liza Koshy, Jessie James Decker, Ciara, Billy Porter, and D-Nice, as well as artists Aly & AJ, Armani White, Bailey Zimmerman, Ben Platt, Betty Who, Billy Porter, Ciara, Dove Cameron, Finneas, Fitz & The Tantrums, Halle Bailey, Lauren Spencer Smith, Maddie & Tae, Nicky Youre, Shaggy, TXT, and Wiz Khalifa.
Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2023 airs live on Saturday (Dec. 31) starting at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
During the first of his two sold-out stadium shows in November in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bad Bunny lost his voice.
‘Tis the season to start listening to Christmas songs on repeat without thinking: Is it too soon? As if on cue, like many other artists across genres, Latin acts have begun releasing back-to-back bilingual (Spanish and English) holiday songs — whether original or covers — to get in the spirit navideño.
Among those who recently released a cover of their favorite Christmas song is Kenia Os, who dropped her version of “Blanca Navidad.” “It’s a classic that’s never missing in my house when Christmas begins,” the influencer and singer says in a statement about the recording. “When they asked me to choose a song that represented that magical moment of being close to our loved ones, the first one that came to my mind was ‘Blanca Navidad.’”
José Feliciano — of course known for his anthemic “Feliz Navidad,” which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2020 and it remains one of the top 10-performing hits in the decade-plus history of Billboard‘s Holiday 100 chart — is now back with a whole new Christmas-inspired album, Love & Christmas, which includes his new up-tempo track “Viva La Navidad.”
There’s also Chiquis, who unleashed her rendition of “Jingle Bells (Vamos All the Way)” with a twist on the lyrics, marking the first time she’s released a holiday-themed song. The Mexican-American artist’s version is a catchy urban-tinged cumbia track that will get anyone on their feet and singing along to her Spanglish lyrics.
Ahead of the holidays, here’s a list of new Navidad-themed or inspired Latin songs released this year, to add to your Christmas music playlist.
