Music

In April, “Gata Only,” a sly reggaetón number about flirting online, gave Chilean newcomers FloyyMenor and Cris MJ their first No. 1 on a Billboard chart. It dominated Hot Latin Songs for 14 consecutive weeks — but even beyond that impressive achievement, “Gata Only” was historic. The last time a Chilean artist had hit No. 1 on the chart was in 1991, when singer-songwriter Myriam Hernández’s “Te Pareces Tanto a Él” ruled for four weeks.
“Gata Only” also entered the Billboard Hot 100, Latin Airplay and both Billboard Global charts — and, in the process, put Chile’s thriving urban movement on the map. “The song touched different angles,” says Adrian Mainou, artist marketing manager of Latin/U.S. at UnitedMasters, which released the song. “It had a very cool impact on the culture, where the lyrics talk about something that’s relatable to the younger generation, and it was catchy on TikTok. For us on the marketing side, it was about taking the record outside of Chile.”

Trending on Billboard

Taking advantage of the song’s organic local growth, Mainou began working with a Chilean press team and engaging influencers in countries such as Argentina, Ecuador and Mexico to use the song in lip-syncing and dance challenges on TikTok. It worked: “Gata Only” has been used in over 4 million videos on the platform, and that spurred superstars Ozuna and Anitta to jump on a remix. “Chile felt proud,” Mainou says. “It translated from just being a big song to a cultural representation.”

In the ’90s and early ’00s, Chile’s music scene leaned more alternative, as artists like Mon Laferte, La Ley, Álex Anwandter and rapper Ana Tijoux all had presences on the Billboard charts. Then, in 2004, Puerto Rico’s booming reggaetón scene infiltrated the South American country — but although local artists began to create their own reggaetón music, it took more than a decade for Chile’s urban movement to really gain momentum.

“Everything changed in 2019,” explains Josue Ibañez, who with his brother Oscar is co-CEO of Chile-based label Wild Company. (Both are also A&R executives with Rimas Publishing.) “There are various artists who made the change, like Marcianeke, who made Chilean music start to be heard in clubs, but in a massive way. He got Chileans to start dancing to the music of their own artists, because previously we consumed a lot of music from outside like Puerto Rico and Colombia.”

Oscar Ibañez (who is also a producer under the name David Wild) adds, “If you ask any Chilean artist, they will tell you that our Daddy Yankee, our OG, is Pablo Chill-E. At the same time, we had Paloma Mami, and we started to take big steps outward. That was when the big record labels started to want to invest in Chile.”

Pablo and Paloma both entered the Billboard charts, the former on Hot Latin Songs with 2020’s Bad Bunny and Duki collaboration, “Hablamos Mañana,” the latter on Top Latin Albums with Sueños de Dalí and on Latin Pop Airplay with the Ricky Martin-assisted “Que Rico Fuera,” both released in 2021.

Since, Chilean reggaetón tracks have increasingly appeared on the charts, including Cris MJ’s “Una Noche en Medellín” (2022), Polimá Westcoast & Pailita’s “Ultra Solo” (2022) and Jere Klein’s “Ando” (2024).

“I feel like we created our own sound,” Oscar Ibañez says. “We gave our own reggaetón an identity that we didn’t have before. What we did at first was replicate a sound that was playing elsewhere; it was very neutral. Our ‘Chilenismo’ wasn’t applied to it. We gave reggaetón music a more Chilean twist with our idioms, our phrases, and it often happens that almost nobody understands what we say, but that same cadence became the DNA of Chilean music. Just by the accent, you know when it’s a Chilean artist.”

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And even as the movement has grown beyond Chile, it has done so in large part because of the faithful and loyal audience for its music within the country itself. “The key to Chile today is self-consumption,” Josue Ibañez explains. “We have a lot of fans. I think it was the fandom that made us get onstage and out into the world. That has been the most beautiful thing of all, that our culture through music has been able to expand internationally.”

“It used to be very difficult for that to happen,” Cris MJ says. “So now the fact that Chileans themselves are supporting us is good for the movement. They trust us, the talent. It was hard, but it was achieved. Personally, I’m dedicating myself to creating music that can be heard outside of Chile.”

Now, with the global success of “Gata Only,” Chile is on the wider music industry’s radar. Earlier this year, Rimas Publishing expanded its services to the country, where through a strategic agreement with Wild Company it will provide A&R services, artist development, musical composition creation and more.

“Chile is a market that has impressed us a lot. The growth has been exponential,” Rimas Publishing managing director Emilio Morales says. “It is a phenomenon like what’s happening in Brazil, where they are very proud of their national artists. In Chile, the support for their artists has a lot to do with education and culture. It’s a market where numbers and consumption are very significant.”

“One of our dreams is for Chile to become a musical powerhouse,” Oscar Ibañez says. “We want to educate the industry in Chile so that music is a blessing and not a problem. I believe in giving Chilean culture a healthy and educated music industry.”

Chile’s New Urban Leaders

Meet some of the artists driving the country’s burgeoning music movement.

Clockwise from left: Jere Klein, Pablo Chill-E, Marcianeke, Polimá Westcoast

Illustration by Israel G. Vargas

Cris MJ and FloyyMenor

Though both started as solo acts, Cris MJ and FloyyMenor achieved their greatest chart success thus far collaborating on “Gata Only,” which reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart, spending 14 consecutive weeks there.

Jere Klein

Known for his distinct, high-pitched voice, Klein made his first Billboard chart appearance in January with “Ando” on the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. lists; his second entry came on Global Excl. U.S. in February, “Princesita De…” with Chilean acts Nickoog CLK, Lucky Brown and El Bai.

Pablo Chill-E

Another Chilean urban pioneer, the trap artist born Pablo Acevedo has his own label, Shishigang Records. In March 2020, he secured his first entry on Hot Latin Songs, joining Bad Bunny and Duki on “Hablamos Mañana,” which debuted and peaked at No. 22.

Marcianeke

Though he doesn’t have a U.S. chart history, the trap and reggaetón artist revolutionized the urban movement in Chile. Known for his raspy vocals, he was the first Chilean urban act to perform at local nightclubs back in 2019 — which encouraged the country’s listeners to begin embracing their own urban artists.

Polimá Westcoast

The artist with a trap-meets-rock-star attitude got to No. 9 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart in 2022 with “Ultra Solo” featuring Chilean act Pailita; that same year, Feid, De la Ghetto and Paloma Mami jumped on the remix. He’s now collaborated with J Balvin and Quevedo and in 2023 signed a global deal with Sony Music U.S. Latin.

This story appears in Billboard‘s Rumbazo special issue, dated Sept. 14, 2024.

Billboard Latin Music Week is returning to Miami Beach on Oct. 14-18, with confirmed superstars including Gloria Estefan, Alejandro Sanz and Peso Pluma, among many others. For tickets and more details, visit Billboardlatinmusicweek.com.