Karen Rodriguez is ready to take (Made in) America by storm…
The Peruvian and Dominican American singer and American Idol finalist will perform at Jay Z’s Made in America festival.
Rodriguez, who earned kudos for her bilingual cover of Adele’s “Hello,” joins a lineup that includes J. Cole, The Chainsmokers, Migos and Solange.
The Made in America festival will take place on September 2-3 in Philadelphia.
Luis Fonsi is making history with an assist from the Biebs…
For the first time in more than 20 years, a mostly Spanish-language song ranks in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, as the 39-year-old Puerto Rican singer and Daddy Yankee‘s smash “Despacito” vaults 48-9 (on the May 6-dated chart), driven by a new remix featuring Justin Bieber.
The last time such a song hit the top 10 was in 1996, when Los Del Rio‘s “Macarena,” powered by its Bayside Boys remix, spent 14 weeks at No. 1.
While Bieber notches his 12th Hot 100 top 10, Fonsi and Daddy Yankee each earn their first.
It’s “such an incredible honor to have a Spanish song in the top 10 of the Hot 100 chart. It’s been an incredible ride since the very first day we released the song, seeing how the world just connected to it,” said Fonsi to Billboard after learning about the song’s race to the top 10.
“Despacito” isalready a huge success on Billboard‘s Latin charts, and this week it spends a 12th week atop Hot Latin Songs. The release of the remix (on April 17) spurs a 129 percent surge in U.S. streams, to 24.1 million (in the tracking week ending April 20, according to Nielsen Music), more than doubling its own record for the most weekly streams for a core Spanish song. The original version of “Despacito” earned 10.9 million streams on the April 15-dated chart.
Digital sales for “Despacito” soar 510 percent to 60,000, as the track re-enters at No. 8 on the all-genre Digital Song Sales chart (where it had previously peaked at No. 48). It tallies a 10th week atop the Latin Digital Song Sales chart, where it logs the highest sales frame for a mostly Spanish-language song (with no accompanying primarily English version) in the chart’s seven-year history. Enrique Iglesias‘ “Bailando,” featuring Descemer Bueno and Gente de Zona, peaked with a prior-best 76,000 downloads (Aug. 16, 2014); notably, those sales also included Iglesias’ mostly English version of the song.
Globally, “Despacito” has forged record-breaking feats. According to Spotify, it’s the first Spanish-language song to reach No. 1 on the streaming service’s Global Chart and is that chart’s highest-ranking Spanish-language record to date.
Further, upon the release of the official remix audio clip on YouTube, it became the top music debut of 2017, accumulating more than 20 million views in its first 24 hours, according to the platform. It has reached 76 million worldwide views so far.
Meanwhile, the song’s original music video surpassed 1 billion global views on April 20, becoming the second-fastest music clip to reach the milestone across all genres (following its Jan. 12 release). Only Adele‘s “Hello” made a quicker ascent to the 1 billion mark.
Of its worldwide accolades, Fonsi adds that “the billion views in four months, No. 1 on Spotify Global and Justin Bieber jumping on-board with the remix have taken the song to another level. This is great for Latin music!”
Karen Rodriguez is saying “Hello” to the Billboard charts for the first time…
The Peruvian and Dominican American singer and former American Idol contestant (Season 10) has made her Billboard chart debut as a lead act with her viral Spanish-language rendition of Adele’s hit single “Hello.”
Rodriguez enters the Latin Pop Digital Songs chart at No. 4 (2,000 downloads). A video posted on Rodriquez’s YouTube channel has garnered more than 3.6 million views since being uploaded on December 1, also supporting a No. 3 debut on the Billboard + Twitter Emerging Artists chart.
“I just connected with the song and really had the urge of writing and singing it in Spanish,” Rodriguez told Billboard. “I never expected my Spanglish version to go viral!”
When asked about how she adapted the English song to Spanish she reveals, “It was my own interpretation and I chose to write it in a way that made sense to me but still kept the essence of the original.”
While Rodriguez enjoys her first solo chart arrival, she is no stranger to the Latin charts — as a songwriter. She was a co-writer on Romeo Santos’ 2014 smash hit “Odio,” featuring Drake — a 13-week chart leader on the Hot Latin Songs chart.
The nominations for the 2012 BET Awards have been unveiled… And, rising star Miguel leads the Latino pack of nominees with three nods.
The 25-year-old half-Mexican R&B singer/songwriter has received a nomination in the Best Male R&B Artist category. He’ll face off against fellow Latino singer Bruno Mars, as well as Chris Brown, Trey Songz and Usher.
In addition, Miguel has been nominated in the Best Collaboration category with Wale for their song “Lotus Flower Bomb.” Other nominees include Beyonce f/ J. Cole – “Party,” Big Sean f/ Kanye West & Roscoe Dash – “Marvin & Chardonnay,” DJ Khaled f/ Drake, Rick Ross & Lil Wayne – “I’m On One,” Drake f/ Lil Wayne & Tyga – “The Motto,” The Throne (Jay-Z & Kanye West) f/ Otis Redding – “Otis.”
Miguel’s final nod comes in the Coca-Cola Viewer’s Choice Award category for his same collaboration with Wale on “Lotus Flower Bomb.” The pair will face off against Beyonce – “Love On Top,” Chris Brown – “Turn Up the Music,” Drake f/ Lil Wayne & Tyga – “The Motto,” Mindless Behavior – and “Hello,” The Throne (Jay-Z & Kanye West) f/ Otis Redding – “Otis.”
But Miguel and Bruno Mars aren’t the only Latino artists getting nominations… Zoe Saldana received a nod in the Best Actress category, while New York Giants’ star Victor Cruz was nominated in the Subway Sportsman of the Year category.
The 2012 BET Awards, which will be hosted by Samuel L. Jackson, will be held on July 1 at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium. Last year’s awards show drew 7.7 million viewers on BET.
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