In the 2010s, technology and connectivity made creating, distributing and listening to music easier than ever before. Latinos crossed over to worldwide audiences and collaborated with artists from different countries. ‘El género urbano’ reached new horizons and we heard the classic reggaeton beat being sung in lots of different languages. The result was both a blessing and a curse: There was a lot of great music out there, but it was virtually impossible to keep up. So we narrowed it down to the best Latinx songs of the decade. Read on to find out which 13 songs were the most played, memorable and catchy hits of the 2010s.  

‘Mi Gente’ by J Balvin x Willy Williams

Inspired by the French singer Willy William’s, “Voodoo Song”, J Balvin’s ‘Mi Gente’ became the first song in Spanish to reach the ‘Top 50 global’ songs on Spotify with help from Beyonce and her remix. 

‘Despacito’ by Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber

Despacito was definitely the biggest song of 2017, and arguably the most played Spanish-language song of the decade. The sweltering pop reggaeton-love ballad hybrid was everywhere that summer, playing in cities and suburbs, at house parties and barbecues, at wedding receptions and department stores, in people’s headphones during their commute. “Despacito” was inescapable and inevitable. You couldn’t avoid the song if you tried.

‘Waka Waka’ (This Time For Africa) Shakira

What’s the most beloved, most streamed World Cup song of all time? If your first guesses were Ricky Martin or Pitbull, you’re way off — the honor belongs to Shakira, whose 2010 anthem “Waka Waka (Song for Africa) handily beats them all. The track, recorded with the Cape Town, South Africa fusion band, Freshlyground, went to No. 1 in 15 countries and is one of the best-selling singles of all time

‘Vivir mi Vida’ Marc Anthony

Marc Anthony’s super hit was number 1 in the US Hot Latin Songs, Latin Pop Songs and Tropical Airplay, and peaked at number 92 on the US Billboard Hot 100. ‘Vivir Mi Vida’ was Certified gold in Italy with sales over 15,000 copies and in Spain with sales over 20,000 copies. Vivir Mi Vida’ is a song about life, living happy and forgetting sadness. It’s a happy salsa tune registered Anthony’s return to music after 10 years. Marc said:”I like living with the ideas of a song for a long time before I even go to the studio, but I truly feel that this was the right time, and I’m very happy with the final product.”

‘Danza Kuduro’ Lucenzo ft. Don Omar

With French-Portuguese singer Lucenzo by his side, Don Omar hit the jackpot in 2010 with the one-of-a-kind “Danza Kuduro,” a Spanish/Portuguese-language tribute to an Angolan dance move. In the aftermath of 2000s reggaeton-mania, Don Omar seized an opportunity to innovate, adopting the kuduro 4/4 rhythm and dusting off an accordion sample for good measure. Don Omar’s globetrotting formula earned him his second Number One hit on Billboard‘s Hot Latin Songs chart – as well as Lucenzo’s first – and the single sold over a million digital copies. S.E.

‘Bailando’ Enrique Iglesias ft. Gente de Zona & Sean Paul

The original Spanish-language version was a beast unto itself; it spent a record 41 consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart (four years before “Despacito” surpassed it). The official video, the 11th most-viewed video on YouTube today, was the first Spanish-language music video to reach more than 1 billion views. But it was the Sean Paul-assisted Spanglish remix, however, that helped “Bailando” reach crossover audiences – it peaked at Number 12 on the Hot 100 chart.

‘Ginza’ J Balvin

“Si necesitas reggaetón, dale,” sang Balvin in his catchy hit – “If you need reggaeton, get it.” Balvin’s unbothered, melodic flow sets him apart from the aggro reggaeton players of yesteryear. After sitting at the top of the Hot Latin Songs chart for 22 weeks, “Ginza” broke the Guinness World Record for the chart’s longest stay at number one by a solo artist. 

‘Ai Se Eu Te Pego’ Michel Telo

The danceable song, which generated nearly half a billion YouTube hits, upped Brazil’s pop-culture presence its role as host of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. The pop song by Brazilian heartthrob Michel Telo was a massive, viral hit —and its probably the most popular song to come out of Brazil since The Girl From Ipanema.

‘La Gozadera’ Gente de Zona ft. Marc Anthony

Following a tropical Latinx music lyric tradition, “La Gozadera” calls out a list of countries from the Spanish-speaking world, inviting everyone to join the party. The happy show of Pan-Latin spirit pretty much guaranteed the song’s international popularity.

‘Felices los 4’ Maluma

The song made it to 48 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and number 2 on the Billboard Hot Latin Song chart. What’s more, it was on the set of the music video that Maluma met his girlfriend Natalia Barulich —the hit was a win-win situation for everyone.

‘Dile que tu me quieres’ Ozuna

Ozuna first rose to stardom with his hit single ‘Dile que tu me quieres’ in 2016. The song earned him a place at 13 on the Billboard Latin chart at the end of that year.

‘Adrenalina’ Wisin ft. Jennifer Lopez & Ricky Martin

This song cemented Wisin’s success as a solo artist and the only remainder of the ‘Extraterrestres Musicales’ duo between him and Yandel —the two have since reunited, but back then, in 2014 ‘Adrenalina’ was one of the top 10 songs in Latin America and the videoclip was the second most streamed video on Youtube in Spain for the whole year.

‘Reggaeton Lento’ (Bailemos) CNCO

After the success of ‘Despacito’, it was no surprise that the Latin boy band’s song quickly scaled the charts. The song, featuring a collaboration with Little Mix, peaked at number 3 on Billboard 200 in 2017.

Ponder this for a second: If money was not a factor (yes, if you were filthy rich), how much would you pay for a work of art? Hundreds of thousands, millions?! Whoever your favorite artist is (mine is clearly Frida Kahlo), it probably wouldn’t matter, right? I’ve been to enough Kahlo exhibits around the world, and I always ask myself two questions: 1. Who are the lucky people in the world that can say they are owners of an original piece of art by Kahlo? 2. Could I ever own a real Kahlo piece of my own? Those questions are, at times, depressing because the answer is always a “who knows” and “probably not.” However, it is still fascinating to hear Kahlo’s real work — not the replicas or random merchandise — continues to be of real value. 

At a recent auction in New York, a painting by Frida Kahlo titled “Lady in White” sold for $5.8 million.

Credit: christiesinc / Instagram

The painting that dates back to 1929 or 1930 is very different from her most famously known pieces. Some art experts suggest that one of the reasons why this painting appears to be different from her surrealist and vibrant techniques is because Kahlo perhaps never finished the artwork. And, you can tell because the banner on top was left empty. 

It is said that Khalo painted this piece when she and her husband Diego Rivera were living in San Francisco. He was there of course because he was commissioned to do several murals. However, it is Kahlo who is still remembered by the San Francisco community — they did, after all, rename a street in her honor. 

The buyer of the piece is unfortunately unknown, but we do know somethings about the previous owners. 

Credit: fridakahlo / Facebook

According to Artnet, Kahlo first gave the painting to another female Mexican artist. Photographer Lola Álvarez Bravo, “a major figure in the Mexican Renaissance of post-revolution art from the 1930s through the 1950s,” was the first person ever to own this million-dollar piece. It was later in the hands of Stanford University from the collection of Dr. Helga Prignitz-Poda, on loan. The 

Christie’s Latin American art sale sold “Lady in White” on Nov. 22 at their auction, and we are so curious as to who bought it. Art collectors, of course, can be anyone living in the one percent, so we just hope this piece of iconic art is in the right hands. 

There’s always been speculation on who the “Lady in White” is, but I have my doubts. 

Credit: fridakahlo / Facebook

Some Kahlo experts say the “Lady in White” was Kahlo’s first lesbian lover, and the reason the painting isn’t finished is that “their love affair ended abruptly.” Another theory is that the woman was a friend of Kahlo’s and that this woman ended “their friendship finished unexpectedly before she can finish this painting.”

Artnet reports that in 2014, two people said the “Lady in White” was their aunt Dorothy (Brown) Fox. They also report that it could be a “relative or friend of Ralph Stackpole, a sculptor who lived with Kahlo and Rivera in San Francisco.” According to Virgilio Garza, the head of Christie’s Latin American Art department, that he thought the woman in the painting was “Kahlo’s high school classmate Elena Boder.” My theory is it could have been anyone that Kahlo felt was deserving of being memorialized forever. 

This is not Kahlo’s highest-grossing painting that was sold at a Christie’s auction. 

In 2016, Kahlo’s 1939 painting “Dos Desnudos en el Bosque (La Tierra Misma)” sold for $8 million. The highest-grossing Latin artwork ever sold at the auction is one by her husband Diego. 

Credit: fridakahlo / Facebook

The piece, titled “The Rivals,” sold for $9.76 million, which put it on the top of the list. The record was previously held by Kahlo herself.

“It’s undoubtedly one of Rivera’s masterpieces,” Garza told CNN. “The viewer’s gaze recedes in stages, from the men in the foreground, to the brightly dressed women under the hanging papel picado. Rivera’s brilliant composition of intersecting planes creates a cinematic narrative.” 

Sure it’s an incredible work of art, but nothing and no one will ever come close to the genius that is Kahlo.

Credit: fridakahlo / Facebook

Whoever the lucky buyer is, can you please loan it to any museum so we can see it in person too?!

READ: There’s A Frida Kahlo Exhibit That Features Rare Family Photos And It Made Me So Emotional