Re-Despacito

Bob,

Thanks so much for writing about this song and about Luis Fonsi. I worked on 3 albums for Fonsi in the 2000's and was his A&R on this record. A few years back I wrote you saying that Latin is where the next creative movement and the future superstars are going to come from. I've believed this for years. It's like what Hip Hop was to mainstream culture in the late 80s and early 90s. Give Fonsi and Universal credit for a few things that most artists don't do.

1. He worked with unknown producers. He didn't go the obvious route. Andres Torres & Mauricio Rengifo are brilliant, and Fonsi took a chance on them. Their production is not an accident.

2. We were patient. We went through half a dozen if not more versions of the song until we got it right. We knew it was a hit when it was on an acoustic guitar…Obviously no one knew it was going to be this big. But if you have a special song on your hands, take care of it.

On a side, This weekend the Staples Center saw 2 shows by Gloria Trevi and Alejandra Guzman. Packed houses, but you'll never hear about it in the mainstream. You won't hear about Romeo Santos selling out Yankee Stadium, or about La Santa Cecilia playing at the Hollywood Bowl…

People either don't know or forget The United States has the second largest Spanish speaking population in the World, Only second to Mexico… But we also watch Alec Baldwin on SNL, listen to NPR, go to basketball games (I'm a hockey fan personally), attend Coachella, and like Bruno Mars (I know he's Puerto Rican, but I bet half your readers don't). Point is this bicultural existence has started to manifest itself into something new and original, just like Hip Hop & Rock and Roll once did. This is only the beginning because the talent pool is deep and the different musical genres that come out of Latin America, the caribbean, Mexico and Spain are incredibly diverse and practically endless.

Cheers,
Sebastian Krys

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C'mon Bob get a clue when it comes to the world. Spanish music has always been global. Second to the King's English, Spanish is the world's most dominant language. The world south of Miami has twice as many people as North America. Also, Eastern Europe countries outside of Spain and Portugal understand the language too. he music had always been and always will be massive.

The US program directors are the only ones that don't get it. They program by superstars instead of superhits these days.

2 of the top 10, if not top 5 most followed playlists on Spotify are Viva Latino and Baile Reggaeton. It means the world loves latin music based on population alone. A billion phones down there. So Despacito was a phenomenon before Bieber. He just supercharged it into the American mainstream. Which turns into sales on top of free YouTube views.

65 Million people in the US are Latino or of Latin descent too, regardless of the f..king wall. A song like this only brings it to the forefront. And to the money.

I have built a career on songs that cross both borders. Between Frankie J, Baby Bash, Pitbull and now Play N Skillz, we will continue to make these. Only hoping we run across a "Despacito".

We aren't going anywhere.

Signed

A poor Mexican guy from Texas

Charles Chavez

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Thanks for writing this piece on "Despacito". I do a lot of work in this space and as you say, this is a hit record. I have known Luis Fonsi since he started and have recorded on just about every album he's ever made from day 1. He has been at it for a long time. He's a great songwriter, has an amazing voice and may be an even better guy. Works hard and is authentic. He's the real deal in the Latin pop world. Very proud that he's getting international props.

All the best..........Dan Warner

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We, the public that keeps up on things, lost care for this track when Justin tried to perform it live and disrespectfully blah blah'd through it. Sure, maybe it is #1 but I assure you, it should be for less time than Macarena. Then again, I constantly discount the dumb kids that don't understand the world and what is happening in it. I love a good pop song. I hate blah blah blah.

http://www.spin.com/2017/05/justin-bieber-despacito-blah-blah-blah-video/

Janelle Haubach

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I've been loving this tune for the past 6 or 7 weeks now; and no, it's certainly not because I'm, what did you call it, a Belieber?? But it's just such an undeniably fresh sound, sweeps over you like one of those waves Brian Wilson wrote about half a century ago. And oddly enough, I was just listening to something that came to me from a 3rd party, an actual ROCK act, but they worked with one of the credited producers on "Desparcito", one Andre Torres. And damn, it's got that same freshness all over some of the songs, even though they're honest-to-god ROCK songs! Who woulda thunk it possible??

Take care,

Barry Lyons / Rent A Label

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Bob I'm going to respect fully disagree with you on this one. While it's true that video is well-made the song is average at best. Very dated and who even cares about Daddy Yankee. So though no one is disputing its success I'm chalking this one up to an oddball abnormality in the music business. Just my two cents

Johnny Vieira

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Reggaeton is a Latin genre that has exploded in the last 7 years. First it was Daddy Yankee other central american urban artists. Lately Shakira, Luis Fonsi, Enrique Iglesias, -read Latin pop- have started producing Raggaeton because it is where the hits really are.

When I was 18 and going to clubs (I live in Mexico) , music would be all EDM and a little Rap, all in English. Raeggeton is now the top of charts and club music, all the way: edm and rap are mostly fill-in music in the Latin world. Where I'm getting at is that this is good music, mostly family-friendly and trendy, so it is played everywhere, unlike edm and rap. So my guess would be you will be this is a huge hit, but others will continue to come.

- David Gzz from Monterrey, Mx

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Spot on summary of the impact. We saw this track on late night TV in Florence a few weeks ago. My wife and I started dancing immediately. Massive tune. Return of the music video, or at least, the fedora.

James Veil

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Check out "No Me Doy Por Vencido"..it is my favorite Fonsi song..he is the loveliest guy in the world…and has paid all the dues and done the hard work for a long time all over the Spanish speaking world. This is his time and it could not happen to a better dude.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hRGBcr_gJc

https://open.spotify.com/track/1eLRga2SlL8WNMe3IbwP3q

Clyde Lieberman

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Best song of my Spring in Paris watching pop videos to get away from CNN

Best best best w/out Bieber. Even an oldie like me could not resist dancing around. Great music. I was kinda pissed that Bieber was added to US version but I did understand the value to Radio but the original is waaaayy better. It was addictive!

And then there's also SUBEME LA RADIO by Enrique Iglesias. Irresistible!!! At least they won't have to add Bieber ??. There are a few more I'll look to see if they transfer but they probably won't.

There a few more but I'll leave that alone. It's fun to hear these songs the past few years before they break in the US. I don't think the daft punk song with Julian Casablancas of 3 years ago made it big here but I listen to it constantly.

Just my thoughts.

KATHY ROWE

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The Latino makeup in the Major Markets guarantees more hit crossover artists & records now & forever. It's not a fad - it's a fact!

"Despacito" is not a novelty record by any means. And with Bieber and Scooter's smarts to plug into first, the EDM movement and then the Latin Crossover movement - made it an even bigger record and is very organically bridging Latin Crossover into the Mainstream. There is no stopping this momentum.

Great Piece - As Always Bob! - Keep it Goin'

Terry Anzaldo

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Happy to be out of touch for more than 2 decades, when I stopped listening to radio. I'm just not interested in kids music or 'the biggest hit of the last 3 hours' anymore. I'd rather spend my time digging deeper into the endless treasure trove that exists between The Carter Family and Sunn 0))).
But if you still want to follow every single viral hit, power to you. Whatever makes you happy.
Cheers,
Marcel Burgstad
The Netherlands

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Don't forget the original 'Volare' or the original 'Sukiyakii' to name a few foreign language 1's of the swinging 60's!
Jimi LaLumia

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Zuleyka Rivera - Miss Universe 2006 and former partner of NBA Dallas Mavericks Jose Juan Barea.

Nice article, thanks!

Joel Sanchez Berlingeri
v
Think this was shot with a drone, not a helicopter. Probably a GoPro 1080 HD camera.

Dave Logan

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Zumba helped - it is also a huge dance craze,
Best,

Leanne Ungar

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Spanish radio has done a great job of keeping Despacito their own. In addition to the Bieber-less Reggaeton version (the original), there is a salsa version. In NY, the Salsa version appears to have garnered the most airplay since the pop version hit. DY isn't on it.

Lois Aronow

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422 million people in South America. 46 million in Spain. 10 million in Portugal. 127 million in Mexico. 42 million in Central America. 3 million in Puerto Rico. 650 million total. It's a whole other market you and me know little about.

It's a catchy track with and without Justin.

B. Bremer

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Watched half the video. Not to my taste. Cultural exclusion. There are zero white people in the video

Regards
Thaddeus

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My son and his Colombian girl friend were all over this up here in T O.

Olie Kornelsen

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Thank you for writing this and acknowledging this was a hit before Beiber. Carlos Perez is the video director and a friend of mine, very talented. I've been working in the Latin industry for 14 years. It was time this happened and there will be more to come! Reggaeton is a genre loved by many more people other than Latinos...like dancehall, which is mostly in patois, which other than Jamaicans or other Caribbeans don't fully understand, it's infectious it's about the music, the dancing, the culture. This song had all the right components to become the global hit it is. ??

Loren Medina

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Hi Bob

As a puertorican born and raised in PR this achievement has special pride. Both Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee have been mastering their talents for decades. Daddy Yankee had the monster hit "Gasolina" which was huge in Latin America and Europe. He is one of the Godfathers of the reggaeton movement which is akin to the hip hop of Latin America. Fonsi has been a crooner in PR, Caribbean, Latin and Central America and Europe. This means that 2/3rds of the planet already knew of these two. Together it just exploded.

My wife was the one who turned me on to the song it's infectious. Then while watching the Telemundo we saw it was the song for the soccer "futbol" COPA ad. Now it was on its way to go global.

At a time when things are so f..ked up on my island this song brings a smile and hope to our people. For an island that's only 100 x 35 I am proud of our musical legacy and it keeps on growing and giving to the world.

Welcome to the puertorican lifestyle. That's how we roll. I guarantee you, at every party this song will play and yes we'll dance "despacito".

Gracias

Emilio J Torres-Requena

Gasolina https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGKrc3A6HHM

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You're actually wrong about the success of Despacito.

The success of the original came from Latin American cell providers including spotify in their plans which raised the # of subs dramatically. You can see now the increase in Spanish speaking subs across all charts. Then when the song started to move into the top 50 charts Bieber and his team saw it.

Jahan Karimaghayi
Founder Benchmob

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Bob, this video and song may be getting a lot of play, but this isn't really that unique. If you've ever spent any time in Miami over the past 15 years, there's songs like this playing all the time. I doubt you'll see this song have much more staying power than your usual Marc Anthony or Enrique Iglesias song. I worked with a couple of Miami rock bands over the past few years and penetrating mainstream American music with Spanish is incredibly hard. These bands were indies with lots of potential, but they couldn't play much outside the south Florida market. The Pachanga music festival in Austin is doing a great job of getting American bands with Latin influences together, but the fact that you've probably never heard of Pachanga shows just how little these circles overlap.

Leonardo Dosoretz

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So glad you wrote about this, Bob. This is a solid hit. A real one. And, not a first. Deserving of your virtual ink.

One of the names worth mentioning here is Alejandro Sans. This song is what it is because of him. Not new to the scene, but every bit as fresh as when he first hit the scene.

It's incredible to me that all things Latino have been obscured by the "new dialogue" in America where being Latino is a bad thing, yet, we are the ones building the new American economy with jobs, job creation, and an infusion of youth this country desperately needs. Look at the stats (http://latinodonorcollaborative.org/data/). This is not about immigration - it is about US-born Latinos who choose to be American Latinos and patriots...but that's a hard story to tell right now for the obvious (and sad) reasons.

But, back to the music. This is a bona-fide hit - a great piece of music, a great video, and a great, uplifting feeling. Sans and DY are a good combo. But, make no mistake, this is a hit because of Sans.

Thanks for giving it the sunlight it well deserved. Check out the article in the Washington Post…it's a good one.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/06/02/americas-number-one-song-isnt-in-english-that-doesnt-happen-often/?tid=ss_mail&utm_term=.ad6c3f229941

Best,
Alex Lopez Negrete President, CEO
Lopez Negrete Communications

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Another key is that the ladies LOVE this song man.
If it makes the girls move, how are any guys not gonna watch that.
Plus it's not an eye roller how a lot of popular songs tend to be due to corny production.

The track's got a sensual pace, but keeps the thick modern club thump, and allows the beat to breath in between, unlike so much of that EDM stuff you can't grind to! (Why everyone still thinks they feature on an EDM beat is beyond me)

Bottom line if it makes a woman move, (not teens) its a hit.
"It's a man's world, but it would be nothing without a woman." after all.

Ps. Vibe reminds me of Kevin Lyttle - Turn Me On (2004) a bit.

Best,
Danny, DJ from San Diego, CA

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Good morning Bob,

Thank you for this. I've been addicted to this song for a while and was wondering if it would come up in your Newsletter. I'm glad the Bloomberg article gives credit to Fonsi, who's been successful in the business and well known in latin America for years. I remember hearing "No me doy por vencido" in Mexico in 2009 -it was everywhere, and he had already been signed for about ten years at that point. As for Bieber, it's no secret many Canadian and American artists want in on the latin audience -hence Beyonce's "Si yo fuera un chico", Usher and Drake's stints with Romeo Santos (these go both ways though -I'm sure Romeo Santos benefitted from the extra audience from Usher/Drake R&B fans)...

Here's an interesting article about the politics of reggaeton (more specific to the mix between pop and reggaeton, the negative connotation reggaeton had for a long time, its ties with race, and how it has slowly taken over the latin music market):

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/05/despacito/527403/

Also, another tune you may enjoy (by Maluma, another latin hit-maker):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_jHrUE5IOk

Best,

Lena Lgd

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Hi, Mr. Lefsetz.

This is the new Blurred lines? Just what was the old Blurred Lines, "The Bird Is the Word" by the Trashmen? That's about how long "Lines" stayed around and I expect no more longevity from this piece that my Italian relatives would call "Disgradziade" - Disgraceful. Not worthy of God's grace. I love this word! - rather than "Despacito".

And OK, I'll take another look and listen to "Despacito". If you say it's cool then maybe I'm missing something.

Thanks for all you do and best regards,

Steve Silverman
Glens Falls, NY

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oh c'mon this is bullshit , is like saying all the great rock songs from the 60's sound the same... definitely not the kind of music I want my daughter to listen to ... don't you think it is so appealing to the masses because the great audio production ?? and then the labels take care of the marketing

Gabriel Wiernik

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Biebs! Talk about your cultural appropriation. Elvis cops Big Mama Thornton's "Hound Dog" and the cycle of theft continues...

Cameron Dilley

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Hi Bob,

I love music from all over the world. That's why this old Baby Boomer discovered Despacito months ago, thanks to the CBC music app.

Check it out -- and, while you're at it, check out the French-language CBC music app, ICI Musique (Music is Here.) Both are free and available on iTunes and for Android. I don't think there is any equivalent in the USA. (See links below)

Anyway, Despacito has been on my pool playlist (I have a waterproof shuffle) since March.

Although I am a Canadian, I have to say that the Bieber cover TOTALLY blows. The original has heat. It has beat. It has joy. It has life. It has sex.

Bieb's cover is the musical version of corn flakes with too much milk and sugar.

It reminds me of the 50s when the music/radio business would get Pat Boone or some other white crooner to cover the rocking, bluesy, down'n'dirty African-American originals, or when Hollywood takes a European hit movie and adds a bunch of explosions and car chases in a remake.

As we say in Greek, FEH!

Antonia Zerbisias

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Same boring 4 chords on 100's of pop hits Recorded over the last 30 years.

Nothing new and the public falls for this over and over and over.

Nicely dressed but at the end of the day,
Just the same old shit

See Axis of Awesome, 4 chords.

Ho hum

John French

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Mr. Lefsetz,

Big fan.

Respectfully, a few additional factors which you left out. One, the song belongs to Luis Fonsi, not Daddy Yankee. Luis remains on the track but some of his vocals were replaced on the record by Justin. Daddy Yankee's rap remains on the record. DY is known as the King of Reggaeton, a genre of music which currently dominates Spanish language music across the board but particularly streaming, to your point. It is a relatively new genre created within the last twenty years or so.

Second, Justin embarrassed himself by mocking the song only a few weeks after releasing his remix. Below is video where he "forgets" the lyrics. I"d argue he never actually knew them. You're correct in that the song isn't a novelty like Macarena was. It's part of a movement to break into the mainstream. Justin recognized the strength of the Spanish-language market when J Balvin remixed his song in Spanish and Justin came out to perform with him at Staples. And now, the game has changed.

http://www.complex.com/music/2017/05/justin-bieber-forgot-the-lyrics-to-despacito

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10IKRNNfCGU - Sorry remx with J Balvin

Best,

David Ortiz


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