MORGAN HUGHES AND RUSSELL FOGDEN WERE HIRED TO LEAD WARNER MUSIC’S U.K. ARTIST SERVICES. INGROOVES SIGNED A GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION DEAL WITH BRAZILIAN LABEL GR6.
MIAMI — During his November 2019
concert in front of 45,000 fans in his
hometown of Medellín, Colombia,
J Balvin did something he never had
before: He gave a political speech.
“I understand the situation the
youth in this country are going
through,” said Balvin, speaking for
over three minutes to the crowd
at Atanasio Girardot Stadium. “If
they’re marching, it’s because some-
thing is not right.”
The show coincided with a week
of national strikes in the country.
Hundreds of thousands of people took
to the streets to demand an array of
changes to President Ivan Duque’s
social policies, from education to
minimum wage to the implementation
of a peace treaty with guerrillas and
armed fighters. As fellow Colombian
artists took a stand, fans began to
pressure Balvin to do the same. “I
hadn’t planned it,” Balvin tells Bill-
board. “But the day of the concert, I
went to Medellín, to the barrios, and
I reconnected and understood my
responsibility. I only want to be a
singer. But youth see us, they see me,
as a voice for the people.”
The statement was emblematic of
what has been an extraordinary year
for the convergence of Latin Ameri-
can music and politics. Fueled by a
perfect storm of regionwide political
and economic upheaval, coupled
with populist movements, Latin art-
ists from Puerto Rico to Brazil are
raising their voices louder than ever
regarding political issues, actively
pushing for change and releasing
politically charged music to support
their points of view.
The regional demonstrations began
in February 2019, when some 30 art-
ists performed at Venezuela Live
Aid, a massive concert held on the
Colombia-Venezuela border with the
backing of billionaire Richard Branson
to call attention to the country’s
deep economic distress. The show
raised over $2.3 million for humanitar-
ian aid, according to organizers, and
the artists called on the Venezuelan
government to allow international
aid into the country, though it ulti-
mately did not.
In Chile, Carlos Lara, CEO of con-
cert promoter Swing Music, beefed
up security for shows that wound up
coinciding with massive marches. He
even moved a Luis Fonsi show from
Concepción to the neighboring city
of Talcahuano. “The artists weren’t
canceling, but when you have 12,000
people coming to a concert in the
middle of a protest, there’s high risk.”
In July, Puerto Rican artists Ricky
Martin, Bad Bunny, Residente and
Kany García, among others, took the
lead in demanding the resignation of
Gov. Ricardo Rosselló after the pub-
lication of a government group chat
that included sexist, homophobic and
derogatory comments. Within days
of the chat being leaked, Bad Bunny,
Residente and Ileana Cabra (who
records as iLe) wrote and released
“Afilando los Cuchillos” (“Sharpening
Knives”), a furious rap track calling
the governor “corrupt” and “criminal.”
At the same time, dozens of artists
used social media to ask fans to march
in massive protests on the island.
“We’ll fight until Rosselló steps down,”
Martin posted on Instagram, drawing
over 700,000 likes. Two days later, on
July 24, Rosselló resigned.
The social and political upheaval on
the island was unprecedented. “I don’t
think the change could have happened
without the artists,” says Pompi
Vallejo, co-founder of promotion/
marketing firm Mr. & Mrs., whose
properties include the Urban Music
Awards. “The artists that intervened
are very successful, precisely because
of their connection to the people. And
they became the voice of the people.”
There is a rich history of protest
songs in Latin music, particularly in
Latin America, where the military
dictatorships of the 1960s and ’70s led
many popular artists — from Mer-
cedes Sosa in Argentina to Caetano
Veloso in Brazil — into exile. But
lately, social media has proved to be
a major driver of the current artist-
politics revolution. “The biggest
difference in the current times is that
thanks to the power of social media,
statements disseminate quicker, are
more direct and have become more
effective with no geographical limit,”
says Latin Recording Academy chair-
man/CEO Gabriel Abaroa.
“It’s pretty hard to feign ignorance
when we have direct contact [with
fans],” says Chilean singer Mon
Laferte, who made perhaps the bold-
est statement when she bared her
naked chest on the Latin Grammy
Awards red carpet, the words “In
Chile they torture, rape and kill”
scrawled in Spanish on her skin.
It was an act “almost of despera-
tion,” she says. “I personally went to
Chile, and I listened to the people,
and I can’t be the same again. Latin
America needs to wake up.” That
night, the singer released “Plata Ta
Tá,” a universal call to action, with
Puerto Rican rapper Guaynaa.
“We’re supporting Mon Laferte’s
artistic creativity, independent of
any symbolism or ideology,” says
Universal Music Latin Entertainment
president Victor Gonzalez, echoing
the sentiment of other labels that
have supported their artists’ more
political releases. “If her art carried
political symbolism, or if there is
social messaging implicit in the song,
the song would come first, and we are
committed to promoting it.”
Mon Laferte was far from alone.
From Luis Enrique speaking up for
Nicaragua, to García speaking for
gender equality, to Nella speaking for
Venezuela, stars referenced politics in
acceptance speeches and when talking
to reporters at the Latin Grammys.
And that mindset has persisted.
“The countries that are colonized,
oppressed, marginalized and taken
advantage of, in many ways are now
striving toward a future that is differ-
ent and new,” says Chilean singer-
songwriter Francisca Valenzuela. And
many artists are coming to terms with
their role in shaping that future. As
Balvin puts it, “Sometimes we have
so much power that we are more
listened to than any president.”
Standing Up For Latin America
From Puerto Rico to Brazil, artists like J Balvin and Mon Laferte
are baring their bodies and souls to counter government policies
BY LEILA COBO
Balvin (right)
and Nicky Jam
at Atanasio
Girardot Stadium
in Medellín,
Colombia, in 2019.
38 BILLBOARD • JANUARY 25, 2020
@ORLIARIASTHE MARKET GLOBAL REPORT