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At the end of 2022, pop singer-songwriter Mark Ambor felt lost in his music career. Despite recently signing a record deal and releasing his debut EP, Hello World, something didn’t feel right.
“I fell into this routine of teasing a song, [and] if it did well, putting it out, but I was feeling like I wasn’t saying anything I really mean,” he remembers. “I wasn’t digging deep or singing about things important to me.”
To clear his mind, Ambor, 26, embarked on a months-long international backpacking trip with his then-girlfriend — and returned feeling grounded with a whole new wave of inspiration for songs. He quickly wrote the whimsical, acoustic “Good to Be” and now refers to it as the first time he was musically “genuine and fully expressing myself.”
Just a few months later, he struck gold: While playing guitar in his bedroom, he wrote the lyrics, “You and me belong together/Like cold iced tea and warmer weather,” which would become the instantly catchy hook to the cozy, uplifting “Belong Together,” his ultimate breakthrough and first Billboard Hot 100 hit.
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Meredith Jenks
Ambor grew up with a musical background in Pleasantville, N.Y., playing the piano from a young age at his parents’ request. Though the skill took a backseat in high school, he rekindled his love for the instrument as he approached graduation, trading the classical pieces he previously learned for modern-day pop songs. He proceeded to pen his first song that summer, as he grappled with the emotions of having to leave his small hometown to attend Fairfield University in Connecticut. “I didn’t want to leave home,” he says, “and I tried to write a song to get those feelings out.”
He then returned to work that night as a barback and casually sent the song to his parents in a group chat. “My mom was like, ‘Dad and I love this song. Who’s the artist?’ ” he recalls with a laugh. “I was like, ‘Mom, what do you mean?’ It’s me!”
Ambor self-released a few songs while obtaining a marketing degree in college, and upon his graduation in 2020, decided to take six months to completely immerse himself in chasing his dreams as a musician before considering a different job. “COVID happened after I said that,” he recalls. “I got to spend time working on music at home.”
Thanks to a suggestion from a friend, he joined TikTok later that year. He steadily began to grow a following with his cool guy next door vibe: People gravitated not only toward his big smile and curly brown hair, but to his voice and disarming demeanor as well. He soon began posting covers — including breathtaking renditions of Coldplay’s “Yellow” and Billie Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever” — as well as a few originals, and ultimately caught the attention of then-independent manager Kyle Thomson, who admits he’s a “sucker” for a great voice over a piano melody and asked Ambor to send a few demos.
“It was so early on in both of our careers,” says Thomson. “I was excited to dive into something that I felt was going to be a fun project to build.” By the end of 2020, Ambor had signed a management deal with Thomson.
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Like Ambor, Thomson knew that some of his artist’s early work wasn’t playing to the singer-songwriter’s strengths. “At the beginning, he told me he wanted to make early 2000s festival, opera-rock music, like Passion Pit or Grouplove,” he says. “I was like, ‘That doesn’t make sense for what I think your qualities are. Why would you take your natural, raspy voice and distort it with synths?’ What he meant [initially] was that he wanted to make music that made him feel the same way that those bands made people feel.”
But after hearing “Belong Together” for the first time, Thomson knew that Ambor had succeeded in his mission. On the heels of his release of “Good to Be” in October 2023 — and its growing popularity on a global scale — Ambor began to tease the forthcoming new track in late December. And following a few months of building hype on TikTok, “Belong Together” arrived on streaming services on Feb. 16.
Ambor continued to stoke the fire well after its release, posting many videos on the platform of him walking the streets of major European cities while on tour and singing its dialed-up final chorus, several of which have compiled more than 10 million views each. Per Thomson, user-generated content and influencer marketing was crucial in making “Belong Together” “as big as humanly possible.”
By May 11, the single debuted at No. 87 on the Hot 100. It later reached a No. 74 high — and has spent 21 weeks and counting on the ranking. It has also reached Nos. 24 and 20 peaks on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. and Pop Airplay charts, respectively. “Belong Together” has earned 141.6 million official on-demand U.S. streams and 610.2 million official on-demand global streams through Sept. 26, according to Luminate.
“It has been really surreal to write something that is so heartfelt and authentic to myself and then feel it resonate around the world the way it has,” Ambor reflects. “The way a song can mean something to a fan that’s different than my own experience, but it’s their own story that they’ve attached to a song of mine … that part blows my mind.”
Meredith Jenks
In August, Ambor’s debut album, Rockwood, arrived through Hundred Days/Virgin Music Group, despite some hesitation from the rest of his team to put out a full project too quickly. (Ambor notes the success of “Belong Together” helped in convincing them otherwise.) He split with the label soon after its release, and while he doesn’t divulge much on specifics, he emphasizes trusting his gut while continuing to grow his career.
“I think people sometimes get too caught in the industry of it all,” he says. “Maybe I’ll sign to a major; maybe I’ll stay independent forever. What really matters is putting out good music and meeting and talking to the fans.”
“He has the best work ethic of anyone I’ve ever met,” adds Thomson. “Mark thinks that he can be Taylor Swift, and I’m not going to stop him.”
A version of this story appears in the Oct. 5, 2024, issue of Billboard.
While Karol G, Bad Bunny and Peso Pluma dominate the charts — and elevate Colombia, Puerto Rico and Mexico’s music scenes, respectively, to the world stage — a new wave of artists across other Latin American countries is also seeking, and earning, the spotlight.
Earlier this year, Chilean artists scored their first No. 1 Billboard hit since 1991 when newcomers FloyyMenor and Cris MJ’s viral reggaetón hit, “Gata Only,” spent 14 consecutive weeks atop the Hot Latin Songs chart — a feat that would have seemed impossible for the country’s thriving local urban movement just five years ago.
The new generation of Chilean artists has broken out in part thanks to star-studded linkups: Pablo Chill-E on Bad Bunny’s “Hablamos Mañana” (alongside Duki) in 2020; Paloma Mami on Ricky Martin’s “Que Rico Fuera” in 2021; and Cris MJ enlisting Karol G and Ryan Castro for his “Una Noche en Medellín (Remix)” in 2023. All of those tracks made major inroads on Billboard’s Latin charts.
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“We believe a lot in the Chilean market, as it’s experiencing an extraordinary exploitation of music that’s still very young,” says Emilio Morales, managing director of Rimas Publishing, which this year expanded its services to the country through a strategic agreement with Chilean-based label Wild Company, providing A&R services, artist development and more. “Our interest in signing Chilean artists is not just to sign them. We are looking for new horizons for them and for them to be consumed outside of Chile. We want to boost their music to European and international markets.”
Argentina’s music scene has also stretched beyond the country’s borders. Among the speakers during this year’s Latin Music Week, María Becerra recently recorded with Paris Hilton and Enrique Iglesias, and Luck Ra, an emerging act from Córdoba, teamed with Chayanne for a revamped version of his 2003 hit “Un Siglo Sin Ti,” which peaked at No. 15 on the Tropical Airplay chart in September, Luck Ra’s first entry ever on the chart.
“I love collaborating with artists from abroad,” the Argentine newcomer says. “I feel that everyone in their country grows up with different music, everyone has different rhythms in their blood, but the fact that people from different ages and countries listen to you is the most beautiful thing.”
As Chayanne puts it, the song is proof that collaborations across the Latin world help all the artists involved: “The song’s rhythm, so close to Caribbean beats, once again demonstrates the deep brotherhood of all Latinos, reflected in our cultural expressions, especially in music.”
During Latin Music Week, Morales will appear on the “Role of Music Publishers in Cross-Cultural Collaborations” panel, Luck Ra on Billboard Argentina’s “Entre Amigos” panel and Becerra in a conversation with Thalia on mental health.
This story appears in the Sept. 28, 2024, issue of Billboard.
When today’s reggaetón stars refer to the genre’s OGs, names like Daddy Yankee, Don Omar, Wisin and Yandel always come up. During Latin Music Week, Yandel will star on his own panel, which, like his upcoming album (out Oct. 10 on Warner Music Latin), is titled Elyte and will feature new and legendary reggaetón names across 19 tracks.
At 47 years old — and now on his 11th solo set — Yandel is not only comfortable in his role as a solo act, but also as a leader and mentor to a new generation and a bridge between reggaetón’s past and future.
What does being a reggaetón OG mean to you?
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I feel blessed to be here and still be relevant. It’s any artist’s dream. I’m a real OG, a real musical gangster. I know how to traffic my music and lead my business. It’s been 25 years of killing it. I’m someone who respects new generations and collaborates with new artists. I think that’s what keeps me relevant.
How do you see reggaetón today versus 20 years ago?
The evolution of reggaetón has been a complex process, both musically and culturally. Reggaetón came up in the ’90s as a mix of reggae in Spanish, dancehall and hip-hop. In its beginnings, it was cruder, born from the parties and experiences in the streets of Puerto Rico. It has adapted, and in recent years it has integrated other genres like pop, trap, electronica and smoother rhythms like pop and ballads, which have allowed it to be more versatile and accessible to a global audience. It’s gone from being a marginalized genre to dominating global charts.
What’s your role in the genre today?
I’ll continue to explore different sounds, but keep faithful to reggaetón while incorporating trap, pop and dembow. On Elyte, I’ll display a versatility that maybe wasn’t there last year. And I’ll continue to grow on the business side, continue to be relevant and a bridge between classic and modern reggaetón. You know, keep being a legend. Captain Yandel.
This story appears in the Sept. 28, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Two decades ago, while hip-hop maintained its cultural dominance, reggaetón began to carve out a niche in the global music scene, and Fat Joe — deeply connected to his Puerto Rican and Cuban heritage and known for his unmistakable New York swagger — bridged the two genres. As both have evolved, so has he: His involvement in Don Omar’s 2005 “Reggaetón Latino (Chosen Few Remix),” alongside N.O.R.E. and LDA, marked a pivotal moment in bringing reggaetón and rap closer together.
Since then, he has consistently fused Latin influences with hip-hop, from his 2019 salsa-infused track “Yes” with Cardi B and Anuel AA (which samples Héctor Lavoe and Willie Colón’s “Aguanile”) to the more recent single “Paradise” with Anitta and DJ Khaled. Fat Joe spoke with Billboard ahead of his conversation with N.O.R.E. during Latin Music Week about the intersection of hip-hop and reggaetón.
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How has your Latin heritage influenced your music?
Man, I just love making music for everybody. But every time we can tap the Latino market — because I’m Puerto Rican and Cuban, my wife’s Colombian — we do it for everybody. And you know, nobody knows how to celebrate like Latinos. It’s about time we teamed up with Anitta from Brazil and then DJ Khaled [with “Paradise,” which premiered at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards] and make a Latino national anthem.
Since “Reggaetón Latino,” how have you seen the relationship between these two styles evolve?
I’m just proud of reggaetón and everywhere [those artists have] gone because when we started out, they were the little guys. Now they’re killing the whole game — Don Omar, Tego Calderón, Daddy Yankee, Wisin & Yandel, all the guys who pioneered the game and brought it over to America and then the world.
In your view, how have hip-hop and reggaetón supported or influenced each other’s wider cultural acceptance over the years?
Hip-hop is the blueprint. It’s the foundation of everything. Reggaetón came after and just took it to another level in the Latino space and the global space. Even people who aren’t Latinos love reggaetón, but hip-hop is always the blueprint. It started everything when you talk about the flow, the music, the fashion… It just runs neck and neck.
This story appears in the Sept. 28, 2024, issue of Billboard.
If Latin music exploded in 2023, it consolidated in 2024. According to Luminate’s 2024 Midyear Music Report, it is now the fastest-growing core genre in the United States, and Spanish is the second-most-consumed language in music both stateside and globally, behind only English.
This year, Billboard Latin Music Week celebrates it 35th anniversary Oct. 14-18 at the Fillmore Miami Beach, with a wide range of acts from around the world that reflects the genre’s versatility both musically and as a business. The festivities will include the Billboard Latin Music Awards (airing on Telemundo on Oct. 20) — plus these highlights. (For a full schedule of events, go to billboardlatinmusicweek.com.)
“From Viral Hits to Billboard Charts: The Power of Content Creators”
Content creators have become increasingly prominent in raising awareness of Latin music and artists — and now, many of them are signing recording deals of their own. In the past six months, Mexican influencers Yeri Mua and Domelipa signed with Sony Music, and Mario Bautista, another Mexican influencer, signed to Warner. At Latin Music Week, Mexican TikTok powerhouse Kunno — who has close ties to many Latin music stars and has also dabbled in music — will moderate a conversation between Mua, Domelipa and Bautista, along with internet personality Sophia Talamas and Venezuelan comedian Marko.
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“Making the Hit Live with Grupo Frontera”
Grupo Frontera
Eric Rojas
For a fourth consecutive Latin Music Week, this groundbreaking session will host artists as they develop a hit in real time. This year’s panel features the norteño band that has earned more than 20 No. 1s on the Billboard charts since 2022, as its six members showcase their knack for adapting songs from other genres into their personal style. Two previous tracks created at Latin Music Week have been commercially released: Blessd and Ovy on the Drums’ “Billboard” and Pedro Capó and Carín León’s “Existo.”
“From Clubs to Stadiums”
Feid
Christopher Polk for Billboard
An unprecedented number of Latin acts, including Bad Bunny, Karol G, Grupo Firme and Feid, have toured stadiums in the past year. But their road to massive ticket sales began with their ground-up development: For instance, Colombian star Feid’s remarkable run culminated in July with his first-ever stadium concert at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium. Feid joins his manager, Luis Villamizar, and Hans Schafer, Live Nation senior vp of global touring, in a frank conversation about how to build a touring career that sells out major venues globally.
“The Winning Combo of Sports and Music”
Anitta
Pedro Vilela/Getty Images
Latin artists are developing closer ties than ever to the sports world, with ventures ranging from team ownership (Anuel AA, Ozuna, Bad Bunny, Marc Anthony) to sports-related gigs like Anitta’s recent halftime performance at the first NFL game in Brazil. This summer, Copa América, the soccer tournament that was played in the United States and featured steady cross-promotion between athletes and musicians, demonstrated the sport’s close ties with Latin acts — which will be the focus of a conversation between music stars and soccer stars Igor Lichnovsky and Leonardo Campana, moderated by Latin sports manager-agent Daniella Durán.
“The New Latin Music Business”
Latin artists, distributors and labels are becoming increasingly innovative in their deal-making, crafting everything from catalog deals to one-offs. Rancho Humilde, the label founded by entrepreneur Jimmy Humilde, has been a trailblazer in this regard, joining forces with different majors and distributors, and also making new label deals with its own artists. Humilde leads a conversation with Txema Rosique, vp of A&R for Sony Music U.S. Latin; Cris Falcão, managing director of artist and label strategy/GM of Latin for Virgin Music Group; and producer Atella, who is head of music for Zumba and leads the newly launched ZML Records.
“The Legacies Panel”
Chiquis Rivera
Alexander Tamargo/TELEMUNDO/Getty Images
Tradition runs deep in regional Mexican music, with many of its current top stars carrying on the musical legacies of famous parents and even grandparents. This once-in-a-lifetime panel will for the first time unite Chiquis Rivera, daughter of late banda legend Jenni Rivera; Camila Fernández, who is following in the mariachi tradition of her father, Alejandro, and grandfather Vicente Fernández; Lupita Infante, upholding the legacy of the iconic ranchera singer and actor Pedro Infante; and Majo Aguilar, representing the golden age of Mexican cinema through her musical heritage from grandparents Antonio Aguilar and Flor Silvestre. Sponsored by Smirnoff Ice, the discussion will delve into their individual and familial contributions to their rich cultural traditions.
“The Sony Music Publishing Icon Q&A With JOP (Jesús Ortiz Paz)”
The mainstay Latin Music Week Q&A this year spotlights the leader of Fuerza Regida and founder of Street Mob Records. Introduced by Jorge Mejia, president/CEO of Sony Music Publishing Latin, and moderated by Leila Cobo, Billboard’s chief content officer of Latin/Español, this session will provide deep insights into the band’s industry achievements and the expansion of its record label. Fuerza Regida became the first Latin band ever to top Billboard’s 2023 year-end Top Artists — Duo/Group list, and the act continues to innovate, introducing a blend of Jersey club and corridos (dubbed “Jersey corridos”) on the group’s 2024 eighth studio album, Pero No Te Enamores.
“The Icon Q&A With Gloria Estefan”
Gloria Estefan
Jesus Cordero
Fresh from receiving the Legend award at the 2024 Billboard Latin Women in Music celebration, the Cuban American superstar will sit for an intimate conversation about her four-decade career. Estefan — who rose to fame in the 1980s as lead vocalist for Miami Sound Machine, alongside her husband, Emilio, and changed pop music forever by infusing English-language pop with Latin flavor, while singing en español as well — became the first female Latin artist to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2023. The Broadway musical telling her life story, On Your Feet!, is being adapted into a feature film.
This story appears in the Sept. 28, 2024, issue of Billboard.
MarÍa Becerra announced a break from social media on July 30 amid the European run of her world tour. Despite positioning herself at the forefront of Latin pop over the past year — including scoring her first two No. 1s on the Billboard Argentina Hot 100 and selling out River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in record time — the 24-year-old simultaneously needed a hiatus from the scrutiny that she, and many of her peers, face online every day.
“I understand that social media is necessary for our careers,” she says. “But the limit is reached when they start taking away my joy.”
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Why did you decide to take a social media break?
It was doing me wrong to read so much hate — I was really affected by comments that only had the intention to harm [me]. The attack on women’s bodies who are part of the [music] scene is constant: If I’m too skinny, if I’ve had a boob job, if I train too much, how I do my makeup, how I dress… We struggle internally trying to please everyone without losing our own identity. Do you know how draining that is? Then, I said, “Enough. I’m tired, this hurts.” Instead of enjoying a tour that I dreamed so much about, I was suffering because of someone who writes from behind a screen.
What advice would you give to artists who feel similarly?
I’m currently in the process of learning to take care of myself. Going to therapy is beneficial for me; it helps me to think about what my limits are, what I want to share about my private life and what I want to keep for myself. I am a public figure, and those who listen to my music expect to know about me and see me beyond the shows. With my team, we seek a balance so that this ecosystem functions.
How could the entertainment industry better support artists?
I don’t know if [the problem] is the music industry. Everything I said before about what’s expected of female artists affects our self-esteem and puts an overexertion [on us] that ultimately generates a very large emotional imbalance. But the social media phenomenon has produced something where everyone needs to give their opinions. People express whatever they want, whenever they want, and while I greatly respect freedom of speech, this has turned into both a personal and social compulsion.
What can be done to create more open discussions on this topic in the industry?
The problem is not about talking; it’s what we do about it. How do we raise awareness of what is going on? What tools do people have to ask for help? I have the privilege of being able to pay for a psychologist, a health plan. But what about young people who are victims of cyberbullying and have no one to turn to? Who helps them? Talking about this in the media with responsibility could be a start, but I don’t have the formula. I’m just now learning to take care of myself and protect myself, and all of that is a long process.
This story appears in the Sept. 28, 2024, issue of Billboard.
This summer, singer-songwriter Yeison Jimenez achieved his lifelong dream of selling out the coveted Movistar Arena in Bogotá, Colombia — not once, but three times, with more than 40,000 collective fans attending the shows. The feat was not only historic for Jimenez, but for any música popular (regional Colombian) artist. “No one in the genre has been able to [sell out] a solo arena throughout Colombia,” he says.
Música popular — which fuses ranchera and the string music known as carrilera in Colombia — was born more than five decades ago in the country’s coffee region, which has four departments: Caldas (where Jimenez was born), Quindío, Risaralda and Tolima. Initially known as música de carrilera or música de cantina, its inspiration derived from regional Mexican music and first gained traction in small towns and local bars with the help of genre pioneers including Darío Gómez, Luis Alberto Posada and El Charrito Negro.
As Jimenez tells it, música popular traces back to Gómez in particular. The former notes that when the latter arrived at radio stations with the newborn fusion in the ’70s, they told him he was crazy.
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“This is not like vallenato, which is something authentically ours — we did not invent this,” música popular singer Pipe Bueno says. “We are a subgenre that comes from Mexico but with our essence and our flavor. The fact that we are Colombian gives it a different color.”
Lyrically, a regional Colombian song will often focus on despecho (heartbreak) or rejoicing in good times. Sonically, the arrangements can mirror the instrumentation of mariachi and ranchera music, such as trumpets, violins and the guitarrón (six-string acoustic bass), blended with the accordion, commonly used in vallenato.
As part of the new wave, Bueno and Jimenez — alongside artists including Paola Jara, Luis Alfonso, Jessi Uribe and Arelys Henao — have not only given the genre a modern twist but also propelled it to an international scale. Jimenez first reached Billboard’s Latin Airplay and Regional Mexican Airplay charts with “Tu Amante” in 2021, and he’s now touring nightclubs and theaters across the United States. Bueno, who entered the Latin Digital Song Sales and Latin Rhythm Airplay charts with his 2014 song “La Invitación” (featuring Maluma), has since collaborated with Grupo Firme and inked a deal with Warner Music Latina earlier this year.
“We are an aspirational genre,” Bueno says. “We have been at the top of the streaming charts alongside Peso Pluma. We are filling arenas. It wasn’t like this [when I started my career].”
“When we came into the game, we wanted to make music that would reach other countries and, above all, other generations,” Jimenez adds. “On one hand, there’s a lot of admiration. On the other hand, we are criticized a bit… I don’t pigeonhole myself because we are in another era.”
This story appears in the Sept. 28, 2024, issue of Billboard.
While recording his latest album, Eden, Eden Muñoz landed himself in the emergency room a whopping four times, all to monitor his fast-beating heart. “I consider myself a relatively healthy person,” the Mexican singer-songwriter says today, still sounding a bit perplexed by the situation. “It wasn’t stress — I know stress.”
After consulting multiple cardiologists, Muñoz visited one more (who was also a good friend) and finally got his answer: He was told that the process of making Eden proved too energizing. “It was a type of excitement that didn’t let me sleep because it felt like I was wasting time,” he recalls. “I needed to be in the studio.”
And though the hospital trips were nerve-racking, Muñoz welcomed the excitement — it was a feeling he hadn’t experienced in relation to music in a long time. Since launching his solo career two years ago after more than a decade fronting Calibre 50, he has enjoyed a whole range of new emotions. Most importantly, Muñoz says, “I know what it feels like to be happy again.”
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The 34-year-old first entered the scene in the early 2010s as Calibre 50’s lead singer, accordionist and songwriter. The group — which became one of the most successful norteño bands of all time — placed seven No. 1s on Billboard’s Regional Mexican Albums chart and landed more than 20 No. 1s on Regional Mexican Airplay. Despite the success, Muñoz felt something was off — and was craving more.
He announced his departure from Calibre 50 in early 2022 and, soon after, launched his solo career. “I was very limited as part of a group,” he says. “I felt that I could give a lot more at the production level.” As it turns out, making music on his own terms proved fruitful. Over the past two years, Muñoz has scored four top 10s on the Regional Mexican Airplay chart, including the title track to 2023’s Como en los Viejos Tiempos, which topped the list. He has also placed five entries on Hot Latin Songs, including a top 10 hit with his debut solo single, “Chalé!”
Edén Muñoz photographed on Sep. 7, 2024 at Old National Centre in Indianapolis.
Anna Powell Denton
Yet it’s Eden, released in August, that Muñoz feels most proud of. “I had been pleasing others for so many years that it was only fair that I do what makes me happy for a change,” he says. “This album reflects that transition.”
Eden arrived as Muñoz’s second album on Sony Music Mexico, which he signed with last year in a partnership with Sony Music Latin, and his third full-length since launching his solo career. The project spans 15 songs on which Muñoz fuses the traditional banda and norteño sound that have characterized his music with genres that have also shaped his musical palette: bachata, country and rock’n’roll.
While mashing up música mexicana with other styles would have been frowned upon by purists just a few years ago, when it mainly catered to an older audience, the decades-old genre is now reaching a new generation of listeners, thanks to a wave of young Mexican and Mexican American hit-makers who have embraced a more nuanced approach. By modernizing lyrics and borrowing from genres including trap, hip-hop and country, regional Mexican music has earned the approval of Gen Z — and Muñoz is leaning in.
“When I was creating this album, I broke out of my comfort zone to rebuild myself,” he says. “This album served as an exercise to see how far I can go and where I draw the line so it doesn’t go outside of Mexican music. It was like creating the perfect salad with a balance of protein and carbohydrates.”
Edén Muñoz photographed on Sep. 7, 2024 at Old National Centre in Indianapolis.
Anna Powell Denton
Now, with Eden behind him, Muñoz’s heart is at peace. “I have my studio, a little lake next to us where I go fishing, and I love to cook. I have everything here,” he says of his home in Mazatlán, a resort city in Sinaloa, Mexico, where he lives with his wife and children when he’s not on tour. (His Como en los Viejos Tiempos U.S. trek began in August.)
His newfound creative freedom hasn’t only benefited the music, but has altered his perspective, too. “I know I’m not at No. 1, and I probably never will be, and that’s cool,” he says. “I feel f–king great. I do what I want. I work with the people I want to work with. I’ve matured. That, to me, is being in my prime.”
This story appears in the Sept. 28, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Young Miko is sitting, legs criss-crossed, atop her purple bed, surrounded by bookshelves, a boombox and a big Tamagotchi. A microphone clutched to her chest, she’s visibly emotional, almost teary-eyed.
But she’s not alone in what appears to be her bedroom. On this September evening, she’s onstage at Miami’s Hard Rock Live, and a crowd of 7,000 is chanting the 26-year-old urbano star’s name — even though she hasn’t yet said a word. The bed, the centerpiece of her set, is a reference to the cover art for her latest album, this year’s att. And the satisfaction on her face is a reaction to an anything but private moment. She’s gazing in awe at the crowd of mainly Gen Z girls whose effortlessly chic looks mirror her own Y2K aesthetic — oversize T-shirts, baggy pants, ultra-pink girly ensembles with shimmery makeup and pigtails. Young Miko — clad in a sparkly baby blue checkered two-piece and pristine white sneakers, her hair in her signature slicked-back half ponytail — soaks it all in.
Ruven Afanador
Onstage, Young Miko is graceful and charming, or “very demure, very mindful, very cutesy,” as she jokes in English with her zealous fans, who roar as she flashes them shy, flirtatious smiles. Tonight, she runs through her early hits, like the trap anthem “Lisa,” as well as newer ones, like att.’s “Rookie of the Year,” a song that perfectly captures Young Miko’s rapid rise to fame. She even brings out Colombian star Feid, one of her earliest supporters, to join her for two songs, including their first collaboration, “Classy 101,” with which she made her Billboard Hot 100 debut last year. “Thank you for the love you guys have given me,” she tells the audience at one point, speaking in a mix of English and Spanish. “Today, I’m very emotional and I don’t have the words to describe just how much your support means to me.”
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It’s the final show of Miko’s 24-date XOXO U.S. tour, her biggest trek yet, swiftly following her 2023 Trap Kitty world tour. Last year, “we played 40 minutes,” Miko explains backstage hours before her performance. “Now I’m onstage for two hours. Our crew was like 10 people; now it’s more than 50 of us,” she adds, her eyes growing wider. “Everything has multiplied.” Her mixture of excitement and incredulity is understandable. The gifted singer-rapper born María Victoria Ramírez de Arellano in the northwestern Puerto Rican town of Añasco has had a meteoric rise, becoming one of the most promising global artists of her generation on the strength of her attitude-heavy trap songs and refreshing songwriting, which draws inspiration from her queer identity.
In the past year, Miko, who uploaded her first songs to SoundCloud in 2019 and signed with Puerto Rican indie label The Wave Music Group two years later, opened for Karol G’s stadium tour; collaborated with Bad Bunny on his track “Fina”; made her Coachella debut; and delivered her genre-bending debut album, att., which became her first Billboard 200 entry (short for atentamente, the title translates to “sincerely”). To date, she has had six entries on the Billboard Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S. charts, and 319.9 million on-demand official streams in the United States, according to Luminate.
“I take everything one day at a time,” says Miko, who was a tattoo artist before she committed to music full time. “Opening for Karol in stadiums, that helped me loosen up. Seeing her up close and personal and how she connected with her fans, that was huge. It helped me grow onstage, as a person and as an artist. It’s been a process, and I’ve learned to embrace every stage of my career.”
Ruven Afanador
Supporting Karol G’s tour was a “turning point” for Miko, says Hans Schafer, senior vp of global touring at Live Nation, which produced both Karol’s and Miko’s recent tours. “It solidified her presence in the Latin market and expanded her reach globally. Miko can potentially be one of her generation’s defining artists. She’s already proven she can headline [a] tour, and her ability to evolve musically while staying true to her roots is a critical factor in long-term success in the touring space.”
Miko’s achievements on the touring front and beyond reflect the slow but steady diversification of Latin music — and more specifically urbano music, which has been ruled by male artists for the past 20 years — and have made her rise feel even more momentous. The significance isn’t lost on her.
“Our generation is much more receptive and inclusive — what a time to be alive,” Miko says. “People just don’t give a f–k anymore; they care that you’re a good person. I remember how refreshing it was to hear Ivy Queen doing reggaetón and now you can name so many women in the genre; the change is here and you can’t deny it. It doesn’t mean we can now just lay back either. I’m excited to be part of a movement and a moment in history when people look back and say, ‘I remember Karol and Young Miko, and this one, and the other one.’ ”
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That turning tide inspired Young Miko and her team, which includes her manager (and best friend), Mariana López Crespo, and her longtime producer, Mauro (who is also López Crespo’s brother), to launch 1K, a company they describe as a creative collective comprising 20 individuals who are all also part of Miko’s team. “I don’t want to eat alone at the table,” Miko explains. “We’re very passionate about growing 1K into an empire — think Death Row Records — by signing and investing in new artists and content creators. We’re all in it to learn, grow and help others.”
She and López Crespo, who is also a queer woman, first met when they were teen soccer players. Together, they learned a valuable lesson. “The goalkeeper can’t save the game, the midfielder supports the defender, the defender is nothing without the forward, the midfield is nothing without the bench, and the bench is nothing without the coach,” Miko says. “We apply that mentality to everything we do today.”
López Crespo and Young Miko first met in 2012, when they were both trying out for the Puerto Rican women’s national soccer team. They both made the team — and instantly became best friends. Besides sharing a love for fútbol, the teenagers discovered they had the same taste in music, from Puerto Rican reggae band Cultura Profética to Lauryn Hill to Gwen Stefani. “She was the one on the team who was always blasting music on the speakers — she knew all the verses, she was charismatic, you could tell she really enjoyed performing,” López Crespo recalls of Miko.
After four years of playing together on the national football team (Miko as midfielder and López Crespo as forward), the two went their separate ways. Both were attending the University of Puerto Rico’s Río Piedras campus, but then Miko transferred to Inter American University and López Crespo moved to Costa Rica to play soccer, though she eventually returned to Puerto Rico after an injury. Around 2018, she reconnected with Young Miko — or Vicky, as López Crespo still calls her — who showed her some of the music she had recorded using her iPhone and the built-in microphone on her Apple headphones. “I told her that she had to take this seriously because there was something there — her songs had personality,” López Crespo recalls. “I said, ‘Maybe you don’t have the resources now, but you have the discipline. Don’t stop.’ ” Miko’s response? “I’ll pursue this only if you are my manager.” “Fine,” López Crespo remembers thinking. “I’ve never done this, but I like a challenge, so vamos pa’ encima [let’s do it].”
Entire Studios top, Tiffany & Co. necklace and bracelet.
Ruven Afanador
Trained to be on an attack’s front line as a forward, López Crespo hit the ground running and started assembling a team that would help develop the plan for Young Miko’s career. One of the first people she approached was her brother Mauro, a trained musician who was also just starting his career as a producer.
“My sister told me that Vicky was making music and showed me two songs she had on SoundCloud,” Mauro remembers. “I immediately told Mariana, ‘There’s something here — she has the look, the swag, the voice, the bars. It’s raw, but it’s all there.’ ” A saxophonist who graduated from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras with a bachelor’s degree in music, Mauro had taught himself to produce after being mesmerized when he saw one of his peers create a beat on a laptop. With the help of YouTube videos and patient producer friends, by 2020, he had posted some of his beats to Instagram.
“Things are always meant to be, they’re already written in our destiny,” Miko says. “When I was starting in music, Mauro was also starting to produce, so we grew together. I would give him that space to explore with me and he would give me space to explore as a songwriter, a singer. He forces me to open up, and I do the same with him. It’s been that way from the beginning.” She adds, categorically: “There would be no Young Miko without Mauro.”
Just as Miko and her team were getting going, the pandemic hit — but they used the COVID-19 shutdown to their advantage. López Crespo and Miko rented a mountaintop Airbnb in Rincón to host their inaugural songwriting camp. It was the first time that Miko’s “core” team, including producers and creatives, “locked ourselves in,” López Crespo says. “Not for the purpose of needing to get something out there, but rather to explore, get to know each other and build trust. I remember saying we’d give this process two years, and if we didn’t see anything happening, we’d reconsider. But it was clear that there was a special feeling in that camp. There was uncertainty, yes, but a lot of desire to grow.”
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Although the songs created during the camp were never officially released, Miko’s older material on SoundCloud still managed to catch Angelo Torres’ attention. The executive came across Miko’s SoundCloud link while scrolling through X. “I was instantly captivated when I heard her tracks,” he told Billboard when Miko was named Latin Rookie of the Year in 2023. “There was something undeniably intriguing about her sound. [I thought], ‘I really need to meet this person.’ ” He not only met her but signed her to The Wave Music Group in 2021, which he had recently launched alongside producer Caleb Calloway, who has since co-produced some of Miko’s biggest hits. Last year, Capitol Music Group locked in a long-term distribution deal with the label.
Torres was also one of the first people with whom López Crespo talked business. “He’s someone I’m grateful for because it’s people like him that really encourage you and want you to grow,” she says. “They may be veterans and you are the new one, but they see that hunger in you.”
Young Miko’s eyes light up when she talks about having her closest friends as part of her team, knowing she’s surrounded by people who believed in her from day one — especially the person she has won championships with on — and now off, in a sense — the field. “Mariana has been my sister for as long as I can remember and I’m so proud of her. We’ve always been a dynamic duo. It gives me great pride to know that when we are no longer here, they will mention a name as great as Mariana López Crespo and I will be next to that name. Damn, I got so gay today, bro,” she says as she walks over to hug López Crespo, who is crouched in a corner of the Hard Rock Live green room, hands covering her face. “Don’t cry, it’s what I feel. And I don’t tell you often, but sometimes we need to stop and smell the roses.”
As Young Miko sees it, the foundation of her life hasn’t really changed even as she has catapulted to stardom. “It doesn’t have to,” she says before inadvertently evoking an anthem by one of her favorite ’90s acts: “I’m just a girl,” she adds with a sweet smile.
She still lives in Puerto Rico and hangs out with the same group of friends she did before she became a global star. “I feel like we hustle just how we used to hustle back then,” she adds. “We enjoy the feeling of being an underdog. Having bets against you and responding with ‘No, we’ve got this’? Best feeling.”
It’s her parents’ lives that she says she has changed. “I take my parents everywhere with me. They are my biggest fans. They are just super grateful and excited. The other day they told me, ‘We feel like we just started living and we’re 60-something,’ ” she says, pausing and taking a deep breath. “I get emotional.”
Young Miko photographed August 29, 2024 at Seret Studios in Brooklyn.
Ruven Afanador
And while she’s no longer on the soccer pitch, she has a new squad cheering her on. “I think [Bad Bunny] and Karol saw something of themselves in me. It came from their hearts to want to support or contribute to my career. It also gives me a lot of motivation because they are artists that I admire and are examples I want to follow. When I have people like them telling me, ‘You can 100% do this,’ then I have to,” she says. “Karol would take me to her sound check, show me things she did to warm up; she didn’t have to do any of that stuff.”
Earlier this year, Karol released the music video for “Contigo,” in which Young Miko plays her romantic interest. Especially for an urban artist, it felt like a big statement in support of the LGBTQ+ community — though Miko says the genre is more accepting of queer artists today than it has ever been. “I used to do things that were so innocent to a certain extent that I didn’t even realize I was causing a shift in the pendulum,” she explains. “Now looking back, I understand how shocking these things can be. I’m already thinking of new ways to grow a bigger space for everyone and keep changing things.”
To that end, Miko is also working to get people registered to vote ahead of the U.S. November election. A few weeks ago, she encouraged her Instagram followers — all 7 million of them — to make sure they’re registered, adding that she’ll be voting early because she won’t physically be in Puerto Rico on Nov. 5. “It’s something I’m very passionate about — my whole team is,” she says of joining the significant number of Latin and non-Latin acts alike who’ve used their platforms to engage their fans in civic action. (She hasn’t yet supported a specific candidate.) “It is very important for the future of my island, the future of my people. I was very excited when I saw [Bad Bunny] posting; I saw myself in him as a person who lives in Puerto Rico. I think it is important to bring at least a little bit of awareness — like, ‘Hey, educate yourself on what you believe is right for you and your country.’ ”
It all feels intrinsically connected to another topic that makes Miko perk up: her vision for her future, which feels limitless. “It can look scary, but I know I’m capable of doing everything I set my mind to. I tell Mariana that I want to be in movies, that I want us to grow together as businesswomen — whether opportunities come to us or we go out and get them ourselves,” she says with determination. “I want to look back and be able to say that I did everything I wanted and squeezed everything I could out of this life.”
This story appears in the Sept. 28, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Music industry veteran Rebeca León, who has helped guide Latin music and culture into the mainstream and up the charts, is the recipient of the Latin Power Players’ Choice Award, which is an accolade chosen by Billboard Pro subscribers.
As founder and CEO of artist management company Lionfish Entertainment and film/TV studio Lionfish Studios, León helms a roster that includes Brazilian superstar Anitta, Venezuelan singer-songwriter Danny Ocean, rising Spanish act st. Pedro and Venezuelan reggaetón LGBTQ+ artist La Cruz. The Miami-based León also oversaw the rise of global stars like Colombia’s J Balvin and Juanes, as well as Spain’s Rosalía, whom León developed from an unknown flamenco artist.
León says working with artists she believes in is an honor and a privilege that “gives me hope for the future of music.” To that end, León and Pharrell Williams have partnered on the creation of a bicultural U.S. Latin boy band that’s set to debut this fall. Meanwhile, Lionfish Studios focuses on work that draws on León’s Cuban heritage with projects including the 2022 Father of the Bride remake starring Gloria Estefan and Andy Garcia, which was produced alongside Jeremy Kleiner of Plan B. Projects in development include one with Keshet Studios and Apple.
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Lionfish’s success follows León’s 25-plus-year career, which has included over a decade in the touring business as senior vp for Goldenvoice and positions at labels including Sony Music and EMI.
While León, who lives in Miami Beach with her three dogs, calls herself “naturally shy and reserved,” in the case of this year’s Latin Power Players’ Choice Award, she feels a responsibility to step into the spotlight. “This moment is bigger than me,” she says. “We’re in a time where women’s rights are being challenged, and there are those who want to take us backward. That is simply not acceptable.” She expresses gratitude for the recognition and for a platform “to say, without a doubt, we are never going back. This is for my nieces and all the young girls out there: Never let anyone tell you what you can or cannot do — whether with your body or your mind.”
Being voted into this position by the music industry community, she adds, “means the world to me, to have the respect of my peers, which include so many people that I admire so much.”
This story appears in the Sept. 28, 2024, issue of Billboard.