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:
New year, new you
If you’ve taken the “new year, new me” pledge, you’re not alone. Latin artists including Reik’s frontman Jesús Navarro, Lali, Nathy Peluso, Gerardo Ortiz, Ivy Queen, among others, shared with Billboard what their new year’s resolutions are. “Like most people, I struggle with maintaining a level of health that is reasonable,” Navarro told Billboard. “I feel like I don’t take care of myself as I should. And I would like to use this lockdown as an opportunity to be a little more stable and disciplined. That’s one of my resolutions. Read some of the other artists hopes, dreams and resolutions are for 2021 here.
Manifesting dream bilingual collabs for 2021
To continue the momentum of the Spanglish collabs trend we saw in 2020, Billboard’s Latin editors came up with 10 dream team ups that we’d like to see happen in 2021. From Rosalía and Billie Eilish teaming up to Karol G and Rihanna collaborating. Or how about a duet between Bad Bunny and Harry Styles? See the Spanglish collabs we’d like to see happen this year and vote for your dream collab here.
Chartbreaker: Eslabon Armado
Introducing Billboard’s January chartbreaker, regional Mexican teenage trio Eslabon Armado. After recording music in their home garage in Patterson, Calif., Eslabon Armado officially joined indie label DEL Records’ roster in 2019 and scored three consecutive chart-topping albums in 2020. “It’s not like the old days, when you could release one album a year,” says Angel Del Villar, founder/CEO of DEL Records. “Now, you release one album, and [fans] want another.” Read all about Eslabon Armado here.
Anuel AA’s sweet return to Instagram
After a two-month break, Anuel made his grand return to Instagram on Jan. 4 sharing an adorable of him and his 4-year-old son Pablo. “Blood weighs more than water,” the “China” singer captioned the picture. “Life ends, careers end but family never dies.” See the photo of Anuel on a boat with his son here.
Marc Anthony talks Daddy Yankee collab “De Vuelta Pa’ La Vuelta”
For their first collaboration together, Puerto Rican powerhouses Daddy Yankee and Marc Anthony placed all bets on a traditional salsa track that shot to No. 1 on Billboard’s Tropical Airplay chart (dated Jan. 9). The salsero shared that after who receiving the demo from Yankee he instantly fell “in love” with the song. “What he sent me was pure gold. Absolute Marc Anthony vintage,” he added. Billboard broke down the Sergio George-produced salsa hit and you can read all about it here.
