From Rumba to Reggaetón: Latin Music on Billboard's Backpages

Streaming has brought Latin music to the top Bulletin board chart, but the magazine covered it for more than 100 years before Bad Bunny hit No. 1. From genre architects like Xavier Cugat to modern hitmakers like Karol G and from “Bésame Mucho” to “Despacito,” the many subgenres of Latin music have for over a century added flavor to the US airwaves — and the pages of Bulletin board. What is life without La Vida Loca?

Lingo Duo

“Surely a great artist,” remarked August 24, 1926, Bulletin board about Raquel Meller, a Spanish-born Broadway star. “These are folk songs, street ballads of Barcelona of…. For all the talk that you don't need to know the language to understand, there is a frantic search for librettos to appreciate.” Bulletin board took the beat for the November 2, 1940 cover of Cugat, which described the bandleader as “aiding and abetting the current conga and tango craze” and credited him for “skillfully incorporating Latin American syncopation into everyday life of the American public”.

Apple music.

“Pérez Prado's waxing of 'Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White' has surpassed the 1,000,000 sales mark,” reported May 21, 1955, Bulletin board when the Cuban bandleader's single was still No. 1 on various pre-Hot 100 singles charts. (When the Hot 100 debuted on August 4, 1958, Prado's hit “Patricia” was No. 2.) By the August 18, 1956 issue, Tito Puente was big enough to Cuban carnival rated alongside Frank Sinatra's new album. “It should appeal to some jazz fans as well as the more conventional Latin American buyer.”

Latin Calling

“The US Latin market was a very widely dispersed field with radically different musical tastes,” reported the September 6, 1986, Bulletin board. To put it in perspective, the October 4 issue introduced a new chart to address “the growing needs of the Latin market.” This chart, now called Hot Latin Songs, was compiled by the staff “calling the top 70 Latin (Spanish-speaking) radio stations in the US and Puerto Rico.” (Don't ask about phone bills.)

Big Mac

A multi-page package on August 17, 1996, Bulletin board he covered the “exploding regional-Mexican market,” which grew because of “down-to-earth, gritty performers” like Los Tigres del Norte and La Mafia. That same year, Los de Río's “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)” topped the Hot 100 for 14 consecutive weeks. “'Macarena' was very much a Top 40 event and much needed,” noted the Sept. 7 issue. An article the following week stated that the dance craze had become a staple at “weddings, bar mitzvahs and family gatherings nationwide.”

Nuevo Mundo

“English is not the only language of value,” said J Balvin Bulletin board on a cover dated April 29, 2017. Prophecy: On May 27, Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's “Despacito” began its 16-week run atop the Hot 100 — an unprecedented feat for a song in a foreign language. Since then, many Latin artists have gone mainstream in Spanish. “When I got into this business,” Bad Bunny said in an article on February 16, 2019, Bulletin board“I've never been afraid to be myself.”