While most music critics are focused on the ability of Latin artists to crossover into the American, English-speaking market, there have been a number of American artists who have gone Latin. This trend has exploded over the last few years with some major artists releasing tracks and albums in Spanish.
We’re going to run through a few of the most notable examples below:
Becky G
It almost feels cheap including Becky G on this list. She has made a massive impact on Latin music and is now one of the Queens of Latin Music. Ultimately, her legacy will be her music in Spanish, but that does not discount the beginning of her career. Becky G had a massive hit in Shower in 2014. To this day, that is her biggest hit on Spotify with over 429 million streams. Since 2016, Becky G has released music almost exclusively in Spanish. Some of her biggest Latin hits have been some of the biggest hits of the last few years. Along with Natti Natasha, Karol G, and a few others, Becky has carried the flag for women in Latin music, especially urban music. Still only 23, Becky G will be a force to be reckoned with for years to come.
Black Eyed Peas
One of the most recent entries on this list, the Black Eyed Peas released a Latin album in 2020. For anyone of my generation, they remember the Black Eyed Peas for their hits from ~2009 – 2012. You couldn’t go to a middle school dance without hearing I Got a Feeling less than a thousand times. It just wasn’t possible. Their latest album Translation certainly doesn’t reach their early 2010s heyday but it has some hits. Girl Like Me with Shakira spawned a massive trend on TikTok and Ritmo (Bad Boys for Life) with J Balvin was the theme for the newest Bad Boys movie. It remains to be seen if Latin music is just an experiment for the Will.I.Am-led group or if this will be their new lane. Regardless, they’ve made a major splash so far.
Akon
Future Presidential candidate Akon made some of his biggest hits in the early 2000s with songs like Smack That and I Wanna Love You. Akon has always flirted with Latin music, appearing on albums from Aventura, Daddy Yankee, and Pitbull in the past. He finally released his own Spanish-language album El Negreeto in 2019. It’s a surprisingly good album. My favorite song is Bailame Lento. Akon also appeared on Aventura’s 2009 song All Up 2 You with Wisin & Yandel, which I just heard for the first time but is such a perfect example of a song from that era.
Tory Lanez
This Canadian rapper, whose first name is Daystar, crossed over into Latin music only a few times. He makes this list solely for the fact that he has a few Spanish collaborations, including songs with Ozuna and Arcangel. As of 2018, Lanez was telling people that his next project, titled El Agua was going to be released that year. As far as I can tell, that never came to fruition. Evidently, when Lanez said “I’m going full in on this…it’s not just a side project” about his Spanish album, he wasn’t exactly being truthful. Hopefully we eventually get to hear this album but his legal trouble stemming from an altercation with Megan Thee Stallion may further delay the project.
Selena Gomez
With her latest single, which we discuss here, Selena Gomez is making it clear she plans to be a major player in Latin music. Named after Selena Quintanilla, the superstar Mexican singer who was murdered by the President of her fan club, Gomez is allegedly planning to release a Spanish album in the near future. According to Billboard, Selena has connected with her Latin roots throughout her career. While we don’t have much recent evidence of that, we will soon when she releases her new album.