To recap the year, I had some thoughts on the music scene. First, I'll start with the major musical trends of the 2010s. We had the death of indie, but we also saw the rise of other genres. We all know K-Pop started really getting popular in the tail end of the 2000s and early 2010s with groups like Girls Generation, BIGBANG and EXO, culminating in a major cultural moment with Psy's "Gangnam Style," which for a while held the status of the most viewed music video of all time. Also there was the eruption of underground and experimental hip-hop starting in 2011, with artists like Death Grips, Shabazz Palaces, A$AP Rocky, Odd Future, Aesop Rock, Danny Brown, etc. So in 2020, and maybe extending back to 2019 or 2018, one of the major trends I see is the explosion of Latin and Spanish-language artists, such as Rosalia, Bad Bunny and Kali Uchis, both critically and commercially. Bad Bunny, a Latin trap and reggaeton artist hailing from Puerto Rico, is my best example of incredible critical and commercial success in 2020. He had a stupendous year, placing #19 in Billboard's Top Artists of the year. He released two proper studio albums in 2020, both with artistic/critical value. The first, YHLQMDLG, is a personal and psychedelic take on reggaeton, and was very well received by critics. It sold over a million album-equivalents, including nearly 75,000 copies in the U.S., and set new records on the Billboard 200 for an all-Spanish record. Compare this to Bad Bunny's previous album, X100PRE (2018), which sold only half as much, including only 5,000 in the U.S. The second, El último tour del mundo, is an ode to touring and the live concert. It came out a bit too late for critics to properly evaluate it, but it debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, making it the first all-Spanish album to top Billboard in the chart's history. A mostly-Spanish album first topped the chart in 1995, with the release of Dreaming of You, a posthumous album by Latin icon Selena. 2020 has been the best year for Bad Bunny's career so far. Next up is Rosalía, the artist from Barcelona with the quivering voice modernizing flamenco, who in 2020 was featured many times by other artists, a clear sign of commercial viability. Most prominent is the remix of "Relación" by Sech, Daddy Yankee and J Balvin, which went double platinum in Spain. A song more prominent in the States was "TKN" with Travis Scott, which helped propel Rosalía into the top 100 most-streamed artists on Spotify, despite her not releasing an album this year. Previous to this, Scott and Rosalía showed up together in the final days of 2019 on the "Highest in the Room" remix with Lil Baby. In November, Rosalía also featured on Bad Bunny's new record as well as a remix of the Weeknd's "Blinding Lights," one of the most popular songs of the year. Apart from all these features, Rosalía also performed at the Grammys before the pandemic. Rosalia is also relatively popular with music critics, since her most recent album El Mal Querer placed in the critics' year-end top 50. Rosalia has had incredible success in the feature department all year, and that sucess is sure to continue. Colombian-American artist Kali Uchis, while having grown up in the States, earned a victory for Spanish-language music this year. For some backstory first, her major label debut, Isolation (2018), was an all-English-language of alternative pop and R&B music, featuring the likes of Tyler the Creator, Steve Lacy and Gorillaz. It scored her moderate success on Billboard, and a lot of favor with critics. One would expect her to continue on this trajectory. But instead, she decided on her sophomore release to make a pretty-much all-Spanish album to pay homage to her family lineage, risking the alienation of her fans. But she achieved success again, scoring #1 on the Apple Latin charts and #8 on the Billboard Latin charts. Even Kali herself was surprised by the success. But I think it shows that English-speaking audiences are more willing than ever to listen to music in other languages. Those are my main examples of commercial success, but I have several more examples of critical and artistic success. Colombian singer Lido Pimienta infuses indigenous and Colombian music into art pop, earning positive acclaim from critics. Chilean-American electronic producer Nicolas Jaar was extremely prolific in 2020, releasing three albums and one EP, most of which received positive reviews. Meridian Brothers, while still relatively unknown by both listeners and critics, is making a uniquely kooky version of cumbia. Natalia Lafourcade continues to honor Mexican pop tradition with top-notch musicians and production value on her latest record. And who could forget club music eccentric Arca? While these artists don't do amazing numbers, they have enough success to earn a solid living making music. These artists have thrived in 2020, carving their own niches in the music industry.
The achievements of Bad Bunny, Rosalía and Kali Uchis this year are quite impressive and admirable, and Spanish-language music in general seems to be hitting a peak of recognition. Now, I admit I'm probably overselling this. After all, reggaeton has been mega-popular since at least the beginning of the 2010s. J Balvin, pretty much the biggest name in Latin music over the past few years, hit it big earlier in 2017 and 2018. However, let us remember that Balvin mainly creates reggaeton music, just one of many forms of Latin and Spanish-language music. Similar to how Death Grips, Danny Brown and Odd Future don't make the same monolithic style of underground hip-hop, neither do Spanish-language artists with Latin music. The 2020 artists I have mentioned make differing styles and genres of music - Latin trap, alternative R&B, art pop, cumbia, etc. 2020 is not simply an explosion in popularity, but a widening of perspective; this year has shown the world that Latin music and the Spanish language can be incorporated into popular music in vastly varying ways. And to see Latin music on the cusp of taking a seat at the big table alongside Anglo music, that might be the most significant sign of all.
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AuthorI was born and raised in San Francisco, California. I am proud of my Chinese heritage, and I think my background gives me a unique edge on this vast field of opinion. As a self-proclaimed music historian, I have loved pop music ever since I first heard it. These are my opinions on some of the recent albums and songs that are making a splash in the industry. Archives
December 2020
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