Latin

Sebastián Yatra surprised his nearly 30 million fans on social media when he appeared in a video with Tom Hanks.
The short clip, published on Wednesday (March 12) and captioned “hey @tomhanks,”  shows Yatra and the Hollywood actor having a conversation. “Hey, Tom. What song do you think would go good on these videos?” Yatra asks him.

“That’s not even a question … ‘La Pelirroja,’” Hanks replies, cuing a snippet of Yatra’s upcoming single of the same name. 

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The promo video features some of the Oscar-winning actor’s timeless movie clips, including Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, Toy Story, Cast Away, The Terminal, Saving Private Ryan and A Man Called Otto, to name a few, as a preview of Yatra’s heartfelt ballad about an unattainable love plays in the background. 

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“It’s a story that took me a long time to finish,” Yatra previously told Billboard. “The song never mentions ‘the redhead,’ but it has a bit in common with ‘Tacones Rojos’ in terms of the lyrics, which is that romanticism with a bit of naughty lyrics.” 

Noting that no specific lady inspired the song, the Colombian singer shared that it’s very sentimental. “It’s one of those songs you put on and it sets the soundtrack to your life,” he said. “It’s one of those songs you literally play and you feel like your life is flashing before your eyes. The redhead represents that person we’ve all had in life, the one we like, but she’s with someone else.” 

“La Pelirroja,” out on March 20, is part of Yatra’s upcoming studio album, which he confirmed to Billboard will be very pop and a “celestial experience.” 

Watch the teaser with Hanks below:

In the words of its members, Los K’comxtles is “a living tribute” to the evolution of rock in Mexico. Led by Rubén Albarrán of Café Tacvba, the rockabilly supergroup is a multigenerational project that “bridges the past and the present to project it into the future,” the sextet’s vocalist tells Billboard Español.
In addition to Albarrán, Los K’comxtles is comprised of veteran musicians Rafael Acosta (Los Locos del Ritmo) and Rafael Miranda (Los Sleepers), both of whom were part of the famed Mexican rock scene of the 1950s and ’60s; Gato Rockabilly and Christian K’comxtle (Los Gatos) from the ’80s; and Choco Cizaña (La Cizaña) from the ’90s.

“It started with the idea of creating a rock n’ roll group, perhaps as an antidote to all the music we hear on the radio nowadays, which is basically the same and sounds identical — pasteurized, digitized, everything driven by an electronic click,” explains Albarrán. “Our approach leans more toward something organic, more natural, something that moves and vibrates the way only rock n’ roll can. That was the core idea.”

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The band emerged in 2022, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has since released four singles on digital platforms. Among them is a reimagined version of a classic by Los Sleepers written 64 years ago, “Ojos de Araña,” as well as original songs — the most recent being “Mar de Amor,” whose music video premieres Friday (March 14). The video was filmed in Acapulco, in the Mexican state of Guerrero, which was devastated by the powerful Hurricane Otis in October 2023. “Mar de Amor” is described by the sextet as “a tribute to its beaches, sunrises, sunsets, human warmth, courage and a recognition of its people who fight and persevere.”

These and other songs can be heard live Sunday (March 16), when Los K’comxtles makes its debut at the Vive Latino festival, where the group will perform on the Carpa Intolerante stage. “Vive Latino is a huge showcase, and it’s a great opportunity for us to show off our rock n’ roll heart,” says Miranda.

For Albarrán, this musical project also represents an opportunity to honor the work of musicians such as Acosta and Miranda, who, alongside their bands Los Locos del Ritmo and Los Sleepers, confronted a conservative, “authoritarian and repressive” Mexican society. In their youth, these “martyrs of rock n’ roll,” as he calls them, endured criticism for the way they dressed, the type of songs they wrote and the rebellious spirit with which they chose to live, despite all obstacles.

“They confronted that society with great freedom and determination, committed to making music and living in a way they believed was transforming society — and they truly did transform it with their art and their way of being, to the point where we now enjoy many freedoms that we sometimes take for granted,” says the vocalist.

For Miranda, rock n’ roll has always been an act of resistance and a musical genre that has accompanied youth in their social struggles and artistic expressions.

“When we started out (in the ’60s), we were chased by the police for having long hair, wearing leather jackets, or playing this style of music,” he recalls. “We overcame those adversities, and others that came our way, but we were always convinced that rock n’ roll was our life. And here we are, still going strong.”

In celebration of his 31st birthday on Monday (March 10), Bad Bunny released new music video “La Mudanza,” which further emphasizes his everlasting affection for his homeland and family heritage.
The song, which is the outro track of his latest album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos, tells the story of Benito, a man who grew up in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, as the eldest of six siblings and worked hard from a young age, driving trucks like his father and grandfather, despite his dream of becoming an engineer.

The video begins by showing a nostalgic collection of old photos of his ancestors. Soon after, the visual depicts the birth of baby Benito. Halfway through, a the infant appears in a car seat, singing along to the song against a robust salsa rhythm. “Calle Sol, Calle Luna, estoy en la noche oscura/ Yo no canto reggae, pero soy cultura,” the baby spits, referencing Puerto Rican reggae band Cultura Profética.

The video transitions to a scene where the present-day Bad Bunny is seen running through a field, proudly waving the Puerto Rican flag, before arriving at a local community gathering. “A mí me quieren como a Tito y soy serio como Cotto/ Lugia, Ho-Oh, cabrón, hoy soy legendario,” he raps, drawing parallels between himself and revered Puerto Rican boxers Tito Trinidad and Miguel Cotto, while also invoking Lugia and Ho-Oh from the Pokémon series.

Debí Tirar Más Fotos reached No. 1 on multiple all-genre charts, including the Billboard 200 and Top Streaming Albums. Benito told Billboard a few weeks after releasing the album, “This project isn’t mine. It belongs to many people: everyone who worked with me, it belongs to Puerto Rico, my friends, my family. This project belongs to all of us who feel proud of being from Puerto Rico and being Latin.”

The Puerto Rican superstar is set to embark on a historic residency in Puerto Rico, which is expected to boost the island’s economy.

Check out the video for “La Mudanza” below:

A few weeks after revealing his plans to sell a custom 2022 Lamborghini Urus won from its previous owner, superstar Shakira, in a giveaway, Colombian-American artist Michael Mejía was involved in a car accident while driving the luxury vehicle on Thursday (March 6).
“I was simply hit. It wasn’t me who crashed,” Mejía told Billboard on Tuesday (March 11). “I was about to cross a street when a car came speeding, and the driver was probably distracted. It was quite a scary moment. Fortunately, I wasn’t injured, but it was a very [tough] moment. The car is being restored. Thankfully, I had good insurance, so the car will be as good as new.”

An Instagram video posted on Sunday (March 9) by Spanish-language reality series ¡Siéntese Quien Pueda! showed the purple Lamborghini damaged in Miami.

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In February, during an interview with El Gordo y la Flaca, the contest winner talked about receiving the car from Shakira and his intention to sell the car — worth $280,000 — for potentially $1 million because of the steep maintenance costs. Shakira had provided him with an extra $90,000 to cover various expenses such as taxes, the car’s title transfer, legal fees and six months of insurance payments.

He previously explained the financial challenges involved, facing about $95,000 in federal taxes at the end of the year, monthly insurance costs exceeding $2,000 and more expenses related to the luxury vehicle. And now, he tells Billboard, he’s also facing backlash from the pop superstar’s fans for needing to sell the Lamborghini.

“The reality of all this is that I am an artist — I earned this car with my art,” he tells Billboard. “I’ve had a super lovely experience receiving that recognition from Shakira. What’s happening now is that all of Shakira’s fans — who initially supported me — are hating me because I decided to sell the car, since it is very costly. So, to them, it’s like, ‘This man is an opportunist. How can he take advantage and sell the prize?’ They see it as potentially disrespectful towards Shakira. I mean, the reality is that the car is very expensive. All the monthly costs are too much, and I just can’t keep up with them.”

The artist — known for his work in fine art, murals and body painting — won the prize based on the merit of his artistic contributions. He adds to Billboard: “A car doesn’t define an artist; let [fans] not forget why I won that car.”