With Father’s Day in full swing (June 21), we’ve put together a list of sweet dad-related Latin songs you can dedicate to your papá on this special occasion. The heartfelt list includes Vicente Fernández‘s ranchera version of the father anthem “Mi Viejo” to the surprising bolero “Flor” by Los Rivera Destino featuring Benito Martinez a.k.a Bad Bunny, and beyond. In celebration of Father’s Day, Victor Manuelle revamped his tune “Algo le pasa a mi héroe,” dedicated to his father who suffered and passed away from Alzheimer’s in 2018. The new version heard below features Kany Garcia, Tommy Torres, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Pedro Capo, and Noel Schajris. “June is a very important month for ...
In celebration of Pride Month, Mexican singer-songwriter Georgel is honoring and amplifying black queer artists who have inspired and empowered him throughout his career. The “Que No Nos Importe” singer shared exclusively with Billboard his ultimate pride playlist, which includes songs such as “Pink + White” by Frank Ocean, Todrick Hall‘s “Boys” and RuPaul’s “Cover Girl,” citing the drag star as “the Oprah of gay culture in my generation.” During Pride Month, the openly gay singer also took to social media to commemorate the Pulse nightclub shooting victims who died four years ago. In a poignant and heartfelt post, Georgel calls for unity and peace. “It was the biggest massacre of the century again...
With the help of nearly 200 people from all of over the world, including artists like Thalía, Juanes and more, Jesse & Joy are declaring “love is our language.” Today (June 15), the Mexican-American duo released the “Love” music video to speak out against violence toward the LGBTI+ community and raise awareness about conversion therapies that to this day take place in Mexico and other parts of the world. “Our music will always be there to remind you that you are beautiful just as you are,” the Mexican previously said about the song, included in their recently-released album Aire. “It’s called ‘Love’ and talks about love being the universal language, the language that all of us should speak.” Toward the end of the video, the message is loud and clear: “...
The blue-hued animated video for J Balvin‘s sensual reggaeton song “Azul” has topped this week’s new music poll. In the poll, published Friday (June 12) on Billboard, music fans voted for the Colin Tilley-directed video, which tells the story of how Balvin is trying to move on from a woman he’s crushing on. The video brought in 24% of the vote. “Azul” is from Balvin’s latest album, Colores, and follows other Tilley-directed videos for “Blanco,” “Morado,” “Rojo,” “Amarillo,” “Gris,” “Verde,” and “Rosado.” “‘Azul’ is one of the most ridiculous ideas I’ve probably ever had,” Tilley previously told Billboard. Coming in second place with 22% of the vote was Ungodly Hour, the new album from Beyonce proteges Chloe x Halle. 6ix9ine and Nicki Minaj‘s ...
From career milestones and new music releases to major announcements and more, Billboard editors highlight the latest news buzz in Latin music every week. Here’s what happened in the Latin music world this week: A message from Becky G: The “They Ain’t Ready” singer took to social media to just check in on her fans earlier this week. The quick check-in comes after Becky G has been vocal on social media about her solidarity with the black lives movement and amid national outrage over systemic racism and police brutality. “I just wanted to check in on you guys and se how you’re all doing,” she starts the video. “And to tell you guys that I love you and I pray for you every single day for every single one of you and your families. ...
After going radio silent for a few weeks after he shared “bye, I left” on social media May 19, Bad Bunny has broken his silence and spoken out in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. In a poignant statement titled “Forgive Me” published in TIME magazine, the chart-topping artist asks his fans to forgive him for not speaking out sooner but, “I can’t even believe this is still happening. Maybe it’s because I’ve always seen people’s hearts and, in my house, I was always taught that we are all the same regardless of race, religion and surname; that we are all brothers/sisters. I SWEAR I don’t feel well, and I don’t think I can express myself properly.” Amid national outrage and protests following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was...
Gloria Estefan’s new single was originally slated for a fall 2019 release. Lucky for us, it comes today (June 12) at a time when the song, and its title, are sorely needed. “Cuando hay amor” (When There’s Love) is a celebration of love set to the beat of Brazilian and Colombian drums. The video, shot in Salvador Bahia, features Estefan dancing a samba de roda – a traditional Afro-Brazilian dance — surrounded by Bahian women of all ages. “We wanted to highlight the movements and singing of the beautiful Bahianas who are important historical representatives of the Samba culture,” says Estefan. “I felt we need to put some love vibes out in the universe right now,” she added about the timing of the release. “We need some alegría, we need some joy. It’s very unifying. I really wanted this...
Juanes was in Colombia, ready to perform for his fans at a sold-out Bogota show when the coronavirus outbreak caused businesses to close, concerts to cancel and airports to stop operating. Since March 13, he’s been hunkered down in Miami with his family, reorganizing and trying to understand the new reality. “My values and priorities are different now,” he said to NPR’s alt. Latino Felix Contreras during the Latin Alternative Music Conference on Wednesday (June 10). “It changed me and changed the way I’m going to create music in the future.” In his latest studio album, Más Futuro Que Pasado, released before the pandemic, the Colombian artist experimented with different sounds. At that time, he was certain of the path he wanted to take his music and lyrics. But because of quarantine a...
DJ Snake has hit the billion streams mark on Spotify, again, with his smash “Taki Taki.” The slinky bilingual hit, featuring a no scrubs lineup of Cardi B, Selena Gomez and Ozuna, was the party starter of 2018 and has kept on racking up major plays since its release nearly two years ago. This is the third time the French phenom has reached a billion streams on Spotify. His era-defining Major Lazer collaboration “Lean On” became the platform’s most streamed song of all time just eight months after its March 2015 release, with 526 million streams. (Five years later, “Lean On” is now the platform’s 18th most streamed track of all time, with a cool 1.359 billion plays.) Then, in October of 2018, Snake again made Spotify history by becoming the fifth art...
“I feel just like Kobe when he won his second championship.” Anuel AA secures his second No. 1 debut on both the Top Latin Albums and the Latin Rhythm Albums charts as Emmanuel bows atop the June 16-dated surveys. His sophomore album dethrones Bad Bunny’s YHLQMDLG. “I feel blessed!” Anuel tells Billboard. “Many people ask me what I would’ve said had the album not reached No. 1. We will never know… I feel blessed, just like Kobe when he won his second championship. Grateful to all my fans, I love you with my life.” Emmanuel arrives with 39,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending June 4, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. Of Emmanuel’s starting count, 3,000 were in album sales and the bulk of the remainder attributed to streams. The Top Latin Albums chart ranks the most ...
People across the country and around the world have taken the streets to protest since late May, demanding justice for George Floyd and other black citizens who have died in the hands of police. Marching in solidarity with the black community and fighting against institutional racism, Mexican-American rapper Snow Tha Product (real name: Claudia Feliciano) is among the thousands of people who are chanting “black lives matter.” “We represent a culture that has our own struggles, and me as a Mexican queer woman, I definitely have plenty struggles tacked on to my career,” Snow tells Billboard. “But this is about all of us. This is about inequality. Black and brown unity is very important.” The California-born “Bilingue” singer has also ...
CNCO got graduates dancing at home with their party-ready mix Sunday night (June 7). The Latin pop boy band — Christopher, Erick, Zabiel, Richard and Joel — synchronized their own moves, in separate video frames, as they performed “Honey Boo,” “Hey DJ” and “Reggaetón Lento” remotely during the after party following the “Dear Class of 2020” YouTube Originals graduation ceremony. Earlier in the evening, in the midst of the actual ceremony, they also popped in to teach this year’s grads how to say “Congratulations to the class of 2020” in Spanish. The virtual graduation, which started with Lizzo‘s powerhouse flute performance and was chock-full of all-star commencement speeches from the likes of Bara...