64 BILLBOARD • OCTOBER 12, 2019
LATIN POWER PLAYERS 2019
O
ver the past 10 years,
Puerto Rican singer-
songwriter Pedro Capó
has built a steady career
on the strength of his
romantic lyrics and pop-rock sound. He
has recorded soulful duets with the likes
of Thalía and Kany García, and on 2017’s
En Letra de Otro, he paid tribute to ’90s
Latin classics — scoring both a No. 5
peak on the Top Latin Albums chart and
an HBO Latino concert special.
Then in October 2018, he released a
remix of his song “Calma” that featured
reggaetónero Farruko — and in the
process landed his first-ever Billboard
Hot 100 entry, peaking at No. 71 in May.
He’s well aware that an assist from the
world of urbano — the umbrella term for
more rhythmic-leaning Latin music, in-
cluding reggaeton and hip-hop — helped
send “Calma” far beyond the Latin charts.
“As a pop artist by definition, you have
to learn to adapt,” says Capó. “[Urbano’s]
popularity pushed me toward change
and influenced my new sound.”
As Latin music has moved ever closer
to the pop mainstream, the definition of
Latin pop itself has evolved, increasingly
shifting from balladeer artists like Ricardo
Arjona and Juanes to urbano stars like
J Balvin, Bad Bunny and Maluma. The
top 34 entries on Billboard’s 2018 Hot
Latin Songs year-end chart were all
reggaetón, and major non-urban Latin
artists like Juanes and Arjona didn’t even
make the list. In the same year, a record
22 Latin songs appeared on the Hot 100
— 20 of which were by urbano artists.
Though the shift hasn’t upended the
whole business — the latest round of
Latin Grammy nominations features
almost no urbano artists in its major
categories — it is posing a challenge to
many artists and label execs who oper-
ate in the traditional pop realm. “While
reggaetón continues to thrive, there is
less wiggle room for other genres,” says
Diana Rodríguez, CEO of management
agency Criteria Entertainment, whose
roster includes Chilean singer-song-
writer Francisca Valenzuela and
Grammy-winning rocker Draco Rosa.
“Labels and publishers are searching
for [new Latin talent], but for the time
being, ‘Latin’ refers to reggaetón. Until
that attention shifts to the discovery of
all genres that encompass Latin, we will
be hard at work.”
On streaming platforms like Spotify
and Apple Music, urbano leads the
global playlists. Spotify’s ¡Viva Latino!
is the third-most-followed playlist on
the platform, with more than 10 mil-
lion listeners; Baila Reggaeton is close
behind, with over 9 million. Apple Music’s
reggaetón-dominated ¡Dale Play! is its
top Latin playlist globally, according to
Jerry Pulles, a Latin music programmer at
Apple. “That’s what listeners and artists
are moving toward,” he says.
To some, this move away from
traditional pop is just another step in
the ongoing evolution of Latin music
— one that already has seen urbano
fluctuate in popularity. Back in the
1990s and early 2000s, crossover pio-
neers like Shakira and Juanes ruled Hot
Latin Songs with pop- and rock-lean-
ing tunes. Reggaetón remained in the
margins until Daddy Yankee’s 2004
breakout hit “Gasolina,” which peaked
at No. 32 on the Hot 100 and paved the
way for artists like Wisin y Yandel and
Tego Calderón to dominate radio.
By 2005, Univision had launched 10
all-rhythmic stations called La Kalle in
major markets like Chicago and New
York. But over the following years,
the pendulum swung back. La Kalle
rebranded as a more diverse format that
played pop, bachata and reggaetón.
“Reggaetón softened down, and we
ended up evolving to a broader pop/
rhythmic station,” says Ismar SantaCruz,
vp/managing director of radio strategy
at Univision. “Sometimes we forget that
pop music literally just means ‘popular.’
It’s not just reggaetón or urbano or tradi-
tional pop. It’s all of those collectively.”
To reflect urbano’s current domi-
nance, Univision switched six Latino
Mix radio stations from pop to fully
rhythmic, though it still has pop-only
and pop-leaning playlists on its Uforia
app. “Music naturally evolves, and that is
exciting,” says Valenzuela. “Ideally, there
would be space to pursue a creative ca-
reer without having to be like everyone
else or do what everyone else is doing.”
Gabriel Buitrago, a top radio promoter
and founder of product management
company Summa Entertainment, says
these kinds of changes are not unusual.
“It’s always a cycle, especially in the U.S.,
where there is no format for ‘traditional’
pop,” he says. “For many artists right
now, it’s in their best interest to collabo-
rate because it gives them more outlets
to get played in.”
Which is precisely what some of
Latin’s less urban-leaning pop artists
are doing to keep up. In 2016, melodic
pop-rock trio Reik collaborated with
Nicky Jam on “Ya Me Enteré,” which
hit No. 6 on Hot Latin Songs. Last year,
the Mexican band featured Ozuna and
Wisin on “Me Niego,” which became its
first No. 1 on Latin Airplay.
Meanwhile, Grammy-winning duo
Jesse & Joy paired up with Balvin on
their single “Mañana Es Too Late,” a pop
song with subtle rhythmic elements that
became the group’s first entry on Latin
Rhythm Airplay and one of its biggest
Latin Pop Airplay hits. “I don’t think
genres are in a fight with each other,”
says Joy. “Pop continues to change,
evolve, and I think it’s interesting to see
how creators will continue to create
alongside reggaetón.”
The artist who’s perhaps most suc-
cessfully striking the balance is Universal
Music Latin’s Sebastián Yatra, a Colom-
bian singer-songwriter who has placed
eight tracks on Hot Latin Songs since
2018 — some are more rhythmic, like “Ya
No Tiene Novio” with Mau y Ricky, but
some are like the more traditional ballad
“Un Año” with Reik. The music video
for “Runaway,” his collab with the Jonas
Brothers and urbano stars Daddy Yankee
and Natti Natasha, has racked up more
than 200 million YouTube views.
“The truth is that we do not think
reggaetón became an obstacle for other
genres,” says Alejandro Reglero, Sony
Music Latin’s vp A&R. “On the contrary,
it opens more opportunities and opens
the spectrum to work on other projects.”
And just because an artist breaks from
current trends doesn’t mean they can’t
cut through. As Reglero notes: “Every-
thing starts with a great song.”
Staying In
The Mix
As urbano stars dominate playlists,
genre charts — and now the Hot 100 —
Latin’s more traditional pop artists are
adapting, and collaborating, to keep up
B Y G R I S E L D A F L OR E S
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.Clockwise from left: Reik’s Jesús Alberto
Navarro Rosas, Capó, Yatra, Jesse & Joy’s
Jesse Huerta, Reik’s Julio Ramírez Eguía,
Valenzuela, Reik’s Bibi Marín and Jesse &
Joy’s Joy Huerta.