Bad Bunny Said ‘Salsa Never Died’ and Took Over the Charts to Prove It
Bad Bunny has done it again. The Puerto Rican superstar’s new album “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” is No. 1 on the Billboard 200 after its first full week of tracking, dethroning Taylor Swift’s “Lover (Live from Paris).” It was a tight race to the top, with Bad Bunny beating Swift by only 1,000 units.
However, the victory is more than a demonstration of Bad Bunny’s strength. It also shows the endurance of salsa and Latin music as a global staple.
Bad Bunny is making sure that salsa and Latin music stay in people’s minds, and streaming platforms
The success of Bad Bunny’s latest album surprised and excited fans around the world. Swift has been a force in the musical world for years, and seeing Bad Bunny’s album rise so quickly to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 has energized fans.
According to Luminate, it was a really tight race to the top. Bad Bunny’s ‘DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” earned 203,500 units, while Swift’s “Love (Live from Paris)” earned 202,500 units. The jump to the No. 1 spot was fueled by the album’s first full week of tracking. Bad Bunny’s album started at No. 2 less than a full week after its initial release, and the popularity of the album has continued to grow.
“DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” is one of only 28 non-English albums to reach the No. 1 spot. It is the first non-English album to make the top spot this year. Last year, the four non-English albums that achieved this kind of success were all Korean.
Of the 28 non-English albums to make the No. 1 spot for Billboard, only six are mostly or all Spanish-language. Eighteen of the 28 albums are Korean, one was Italian, one was French, and two were a blend of Spanish, Italian, and French.
Why does it matter that Bad Bunny’s ‘DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS’ made it to No. 1?
The success of “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” is a moment for Latin music fans to celebrate. It is more than just Bad Bunny further cementing himself as a household name and a musical force. This moment is something to celebrate as the love for Latin music is growing in ways not seen since the peak of salsa in the 1960s when Celia Cruz truly made the musical genre a global success.
“It’s incredibly positive for Latin music in general when a contemporary artist visits their native musical roots and finds success,” Bruce McIntosh, the vice president of Craft Recordings Latin catalog, told TIME Magazine. “Salsa, in particular, has always been a genre of the people. Even when its peak commercial trend had waned, it remained strong in various countries, communities, clubs, and households, albeit with a narrowing audience. This instance is particularly positive because of the age and demo that is embracing it.”
Bad Bunny has embraced the musical genres our parents had us listen to as children. We might have been annoyed when these songs were played in our adolescence, but seeing their success now is a point of pride and honor.
We are seeing Latin music continuing to take its place at the table as a viable and widely popular music genre globally and among younger music listeners. Bad Bunny’s album brings together so many different Latin musical genres and delivers to the people en masse.
