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'Despacito' Deep Dive: More Than Meets The Ear

Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee perform onstage at the Billboard Latin Music Awards.
Sergi Alexander
/
Getty Images
Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee perform onstage at the Billboard Latin Music Awards.

"Despacito," by Puerto Rican artists Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, dominated the summer of 2017. We've heard it in bodegas, at the beach, in the park, at professional baseball games, on TV talk shows, in stores at the mall and in cars driving through both ethnic neighborhoods and Whole Foods parking lots.

Yet that success makes us wonder about some of the musical and social forces behind the song.

Its success on streaming platforms (where most people hear their music these days) is unprecedented, and maybe the most impressive "Despacito" stat is the number of YouTube views. The original, all-Spanish language version currently has over three-and-a-half billion views. If you add in the version that features Justin Bieber, that number grows to over four billion.

It could be argued that it was Bieber's participation in the "Despacito (Remix)" that shot the song past all known markers of success, but was it a case of the Latin artists crossing over to the mainstream or was it Bieber crossing over into a mainstream now dominated by Latino culture??

And what does it mean that a song performed entirely in Spanish has conquered our collective consciousness while immigrants are being vilified from The Oval Office down to the corner pub in economically distressed communities?

There is lots to talk about, so this week, AltLatino — featuring special guest co-host Jessica Diaz-Hurtado, our former producer who covered the rise of the song over the summer for All Things Considered — reached out to some folks who can help us figure it all out. It turns out this is one pop song that acts as a prism through which culture, politics, sociology and controversy all come shining through.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Felix Contreras is co-creator and host of Alt.Latino, NPR's pioneering radio show and podcast celebrating Latin music and culture since 2010.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

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