Tag: Nicky Jam

Fans Worldwide Can Now Stream Duki and BZRP’s Session—And Watch Spotify’s Exclusive Video

November 16, 2022

Biza and Duka

Like so many artists of his generation, Bizarrap started out as a “bedroom producer” making beats over a capella freestyles and remixes of local trap artists using inexpensive tools and self-taught production. But the Argentinian 24-year-old has gone well beyond that, creating a name for himself on the global production scene by collaborating with artists from around the world. 

Thanks to the Bizarrap Freestyle Sessions, which he started in 2014, BZRP is now heralded as the first Argentine artist with the most songs featured in the Spotify Global Top 200. His collaborators include Villano Antillano, Nicky Jam, Snow Tha Product, NATHY PELUSO, and many more. 

Now BZRP has reached more than 50 freestyle sessions, and to celebrate, he’s collaborated with the number-one artist from Argentina: Duki. Duki listeners may remember the artist’s dismissal of the idea in 2019. But after a few years of fans’ urging and requesting the collaboration, the two artists promised to do a session together if the Argentinian National Team became Copa América champions. (Spoiler alert: The team won in 2021). 

After spending a year finessing the single, “Duki: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 50” is here—just in time for the next-biggest football event for Argentina and the world.

In honor of the milestone collaboration, we also released an exclusive video set in Biza’s home studio. We personified iconic elements from Biza’s studio such as the wallpaper, mic, synthesizer, and speakers by giving them the voices of Spanish streamer IBAI, Southern Cone’s most prominent streamer, Coscu, Mexican YouTuber Luisito, and Argentinean journalists Morena Beltran and Julio Leiva, chatting as they eagerly anticipate the 50th session.  

A Beat, a Queen, and a Lot of Gasoline: ‘LOUD’ Podcast Explores a Genre’s Evolution

August 4, 2021

Few genres have taken the world by storm in recent years quite like reggaeton. The beat is said to have originated in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but it soon became a staple in music throughout Latin America, influencing countless musicians who have become icons of the genre. 

Starting today, LOUD, a new Spotify Original podcast, explores the full tapestry of reggaeton music—from its origins in San Juan to the successes of cultural hits like Daddy Yankee’s “Gasolina” to its prominence in cities like Santiago, Chile, and Medellín, Colombia. 

And who better to tell this story but Puerto Rican singer, rapper, and songwriter Ivy Queen?

Follow along over the course of 10 chapters and across five countries as host Ivy Queen weaves a story featuring special guests and Latinx music icons such as Nicky Jam, Zion y Lennox, Sech, and Maluma. They speak about their stories within the history of the genre, one that has generated massive hits, global artists, and the futuristic sound defining the 21st century.

For the Record spoke to creative producer Julio A. Pabón about the series, which was three years in the making. 

You’ve been reporting on this topic for years. What prompted the idea for this podcast?

I’ve always wanted to make the definitive audio documentary on reggaeton. There are so many stories, rumors, half-truths, and exaggerated facts out there that I knew someone had to set the record straight and tell as close to a definitive oral history as possible. At the time, our team helped with podcast development, so I took the opportunity to develop the series as an audio-exclusive offering.

The podcast is broken down into three parts. How and why did you pick the themes for these chapters? How do they come together to tell the overarching story?

The three parts are essentially created by watershed moments in reggaeton’s history that most people would describe as “genre defining.” Without giving too much away, the release of  Daddy Yankee’s song “Gasolina” was an example of one of those moments. 

We followed a chronological approach to telling this story, starting with the roots of reggaeton in the Black communities of Panama. As with most documentary storytelling, the themes revealed themselves as we moved forward and did more research from there. 

The podcast features the voices of so many influential artists and creators. Did anyone have thoughts or stories that surprised you?

So many things, and I grew up on reggaeton! I had a great experience learning about the origins of certain rivalries between MCs, Jamaican immigration to Panama, and the true meanings of certain colloquialisms, just to name a few. The one that probably will stand out most is that Daddy Yankee was a baseball prospect before getting shot in the leg and deciding to take music seriously. What would the genre be without him? And yet it almost didn’t happen.

What were the main challenges in putting together a podcast of this scope? 

Access was our biggest challenge. The genre is now in its thirties, so there are some people who are no longer with us and others who changed careers and never looked back.

What conversations about reggaeton are you hoping this podcast can spark?

I want this podcast to spark conversations about race, sex, and the politics of the culture. In the end, it’s an inspirational tale of how a marginalized community created a genre of music with universal appeal. The idea behind LOUD is to spark that inspiration many times over. This isn’t exclusive to reggaeton though—we want to explore K-pop, Afrobeat, and Brazilian funk in future seasons.

Stream the first episode of LOUD today. 

Santiago de Chile: la capital del streaming de reggaetón de Spotify

October 16, 2019

Cuando la estrella del reggaetón colombiano J Balvin y el artista puertorriqueño de trap Bad Bunny lanzaron su álbum colaborativo de ocho tracks, OASIS, en junio de este año, cada canción llegó al Top 50 de Chile en el primer día de su lanzamiento. Aunque es potencialmente sorprendente a primera vista, una mirada más cercana muestra que este logro está totalmente en línea con el reggaetón.

Puerto Rico y Panamá pueden ser los lugares de nacimiento del género, y Colombia una potencia actual de producción, pero con más de 400 millones de reproducciones por mes, Santiago de Chile es la capital indiscutible del streaming de reggaetón. En Santiago se toca el doble de canciones de reggaetón que la segunda ciudad de la lista, Ciudad de México (a pesar de que la capital mexicana tiene una población casi el doble del tamaño de su contraparte chilena).

“Lo que estamos viendo con el reggaetón en Chile es un gran testimonio de la potencia absoluta que es América Latina cuando se trata de construir y entregar audiencias para artistas latinos”, dijo Mia Nygren, directora gerente de Spotify en América Latina.

Spotify Flagship Playlist ¡Viva Latino! Hits 10 Million Followers

July 26, 2019

It’s been growing five times faster than any other playlist in Spotify’s top 1000. It’s propelled numerous Spanish-language songs to the Global Top 100 and Top 50 charts. And now, ¡Viva Latino!, our flagship Latin music playlist, has hit a remarkable 10 million followers. 

Spotify users from all over the world are tuning into ¡Viva Latino! to hear the hits from the hottest Latin artists – whether it’s the latest global anthems by Bad Bunny, J Balvin, Ozuna, or Nicky Jam, the soulful sounds of Karol G, the sultry hits of Becky G, or Rosalia’s reinvention of flamenco, to name just a few. ¡Viva Latino! is loaded with songs that grab your attention, fill your day with music, and secure a place in your heart.

The growth of the third-most-followed playlist reflects the incredible movement within Latin music over the past few years. Since 2014, Latin artists have seen a staggering 250% increase in representation across the Global Top 100. Plus, in the past two years alone on Spotify, we’ve seen an average 33% year-over-year increase in streams of Latin music.  

We’re excited about this 10-million-follower milestone—thanks in large part to you, the listeners and fans. The artists who made the playlist great are thankful and excited too. Check out the video below for best wishes from Daddy Yankee, Anitta, Wisin & Yandel, and more. We are 10,000,000 strong.

If you’re as excited about this milestone as we are, come celebrate with us in Miami at the second ¡Viva Latino! Live concert, featuring Bad Bunny, Nicky Jam, Rosalia, Sebastian Yatra, and Sech. Get tickets on Ticketmaster. 

¡Viva Latino! Live Miami Adds Rosalía, Sebastian Yatra, and Sech to Lineup

July 16, 2019

On June 10 we announced that renowned hitmakers Bad Bunny and Nicky Jam would be headlining the next installment in our ¡Viva Latino! Live series in the vibrant metropolis of Miami. Today that lineup is growing to include some of the hottest rising stars in the business: Rosalía, Sebastián Yatra, and Sech. Each artist brings their own growing momentum to the show, touting a combined 53.4 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

  • Rosalía has catapulted to stardom since being featured as an emerging artist just a year ago on ¡Viva Latino! The artist, who recently became the Spanish singer with the most monthly listeners on Spotify, gained widespread acclaim for her debut album and Coachella set this spring. Her collab with J Balvin, “Con Altura,” is now #41 on the Global 50.
  • Sebastián Yatra is one of the most formidable stars to rise in recent years. Since his breakout song “Tracionera” in 2016, he’s released two albums, including this year’s pop-leaning FANTASÍA. The album’s lead single, “Un Año,” reached the Global Top 50 in March. Most recently, he featured the Jonas Brothers singing in Spanish on “Runaway.”
  • Sech is this year’s biggest success story; the Panamanian artist was featured as an emerging artist to watch on ¡Viva Latino! in April with the release of “Otro Trago,” which reached #4—and is currently at #10—on the Global 50.

 This year’s lineup is a testament to the ever-growing power of Latin music. Bad Bunny’s surprise collab album with J Balvin, Oasis, debuted in three of our Top charts within the first 24 hours after release, and his track “Callaita” is #9 on the Global Top 50. These victories, coupled with Nicky Jam’s massive #1 global anthem, “X,” mark the show as one fans won’t want to miss.

 There’s no doubt that Latin artists will continue to grow within the Global Top 100. In fact, we’ve seen a staggering 250% increase in the number of Latin artists appearing in the Global Top 100 since 2014. In the last two years alone, we’ve seen an average 33% year-over-year increase in streams of Latin music.

 With ¡Viva Latino! on the precipice of reaching 10 million monthly followers—growing at a rate five times quicker than any other playlist in Spotify’s Top 1,000 Playlists—there is no better time to bring the music to life with a live show.

 ¡Viva Latino! Live Miami takes over American Airlines Arena on August 30, 2019, and tickets are now available on Ticketmaster.com.

 For the latest info, updates, and behind-the-scenes looks, be sure to follow @VivaLatino on Instagram and @SpotifyLatino on Twitter!

¡Viva Latino! Live Miami Assembles Stellar Line-up with Bad Bunny, Nicky Jam and Others

June 10, 2019

There’s no denying that Latin music—replete with infectious hooks and hip-swaying rhythm to spare—has claimed a spot among the most popular genres in the U.S., Spotify’s ¡Viva Latino! Playlist, which shares Latin anthems like Bad Bunny’s “MIA (feat. Drake)” that have topped more than half a billion streams each, is en route to surpass 10 million followers on Spotify, making it the third most followed playlist on the platform.

Music has a unique quality. It possesses the power to inspire and connect us with the creators and artists who move our souls. In the spirit of that connective power, last year we introduced our ¡Viva Latino! Live series in Chicago. On August 30th, with renowned hitmakers Bad Bunny and Nicky Jam as headliners, Spotify is taking the series to the cultural epicenter of the Latinx community – Miami.

Like “el ritmo” that defines the genre, we don’t see Latin music’s popularity waning any time soon. Latin artists continue to grow within the Global Top 100, seeing a staggering 250% increase in representation since 2014. In the last two years alone, we’ve seen an average 33% year over year increase in streams of Latin music. In fact, ¡Viva Latino! is growing at a rate 5 times quicker than any other playlist in Spotify’s Top 1000 Playlists.

“When Spotify approached me to be part of the first Viva Latino live last year I was truly honored,” says Bad Bunny. “To once again be a part of this mega experience is truly incredible. This year we are going to be on a whole other level.”

¡Viva Latino! Live Miami takes over American Airlines Arena on August 30, 2019. This installment in the series also marks the first time one of our live shows will offer ¡Viva Latino! superfans access to pre-sale tickets through www.VivaLatinoLive.com. A group of superfans in the Miami-area will be given early access to secure their spots. So, if you’re local and a fan of the show’s artist line-up, be on the lookout for an email from Spotify to see if you’re one of the lucky few! Then, don’t forget to head over to the ¡Viva Latino! playlist to get yourself hyped for the show.

Tickets will be available on Ticketmaster.com with presale beginning Tuesday, June 11 at 10:00 am ET. General sale will begin on Friday, June 14, 2019 at 10:00 am ET.

Additional artists will be announced in the coming weeks, so be sure to follow @VivaLatino on Instagram and @SpotifyLatino on Twitter for the latest developments.