WATCH: Celebs Dancing to Bad Bunny’s Rumbita Durisima in the Grammys Sala
Bad Bunny set the tone for this year’s Grammys with his spirited performance of “Tití Me Preguntó,” a bona fide hit that has crossed cultural boundaries and become a mainstream hit. Of course, having him open the 2023 Grammys was a fantastic idea, as evidenced by everyone’s inability to stay in their seats (except Harry Styles).
Taylor Swift absolutely eats up Benito’s performance
However, one celeb was having a particularly good time. Just this little-known artist named Taylor Swift.
Swift had the honor of sitting next to Benito at this year’s ceremony. We say honor because they clearly had a great time together.
However, before any of that happened, viewers could see T-Swift jamming to “Tití Me Preguntó” with Benito’s dancers. And not in the way DJ Khaled tried to get attention by bum-rushing the stage during the Hip-Hop Anniversary performance, lighter raised high.
Like Adele and Lizzo, it’s clear she bumps Benito more than one day a year.
Although she only took home one Grammy, for her “All Too Well” music video, none of that mattered when Bad Bunny was on stage.
Benito murdered his opening performance at the 2023 Grammys
If you missed it, here’s Benito’s full performance:
And Taylor Swift couldn’t get enough
Jack Harlow makes a second-long appearance but, besides Benito himself, Swift stole the show. They might not seem like a match made in heaven based on the music each of them makes. Based on her years-long feud with Kanye, one might assume Swift isn’t a hip-hop fan at all.
Think again! As long as nobody’s rushing the stage to steal her moment, Swift is down to party.
Some social media users couldn’t resist the opportunity to poke a little fun…
…but Swift is having the time of her life and none of us can take that away from her.
Benito makes history on an international stage
Bad Bunny is one of the first Latino hip-hop artists to really break into the mainstream. We know, we know. We mean no disrespect to artists like Daddy Yankee, but Bad Bunny is a bona fide phenomenon. He’s been the top-selling Latin artist since 2019. Now, he’s the overall best-selling artist of 2022.
In the age of streaming, Bad Bunny selling roughly 5 million album-equivalents for “Un Verano Sin Tí” is incredibly impressive. Especially because he doesn’t really do physical releases. Nowadays, no one does. Prior to streaming, an album sold was enough to count as, well, an album sold.
When was the last time you bought a physical CD? Exactly.
Streaming changed the game
Now, streaming requires 1,500 plays to qualify as one album equivalent. Take, for instance, the top-selling album of 2000, “The Marshall Mathers LP” by Eminem. That album sold 32 million copies in one year, equivalent now to 48 billion streams. The thing is, no living artist on the planet has come even close to racking up 48 billion streams on one album.
There is no way that Eminem’s 32 million buyers listened to the album 1,500 times each. It’s just not possible. In comparison, “Un Verano Sin Tí” racked up nearly 5 billion streams in 2022. We all know the music industry is not what it once was. Album sales have steadily declined for the last couple of decades.
Yet, Bad Bunny is doing mid-2000s numbers like it’s nothing.