After breaking the record for the most streamed video with 7 billion streams on YouTube in 2020, Daddy Yankee and Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito” has reached a landmark 8 billion views, becoming the most-watched video on Youtube of all time.
The winner of the 2017 Latin Grammy award for Record of the Year once held onto the No.1 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 Chart for 16 weeks in 2017, and it continues to break records, over fives years after its release.
The two Puerto Rican artists infused Latin music with reggaeton and pop stylings to create a worldwide phenomenon that signaled the growing popularity of Latin music.
The song has reached worldwide acclaim, becoming the No.1 song everywhere from Japan to Argentina. “Despacito” is now certified diamond, the highest level of certification by RIAA, only bestowed upon artists whose single has sold over 10 million copies.
The song’s popularity then got supercharged following the release of “Despacito (Remix),” featuring Justin Bieber. Bieber’s guest spot allowed for the song to be understood even more thoroughly by English-speaking audiences, giving the Latin track a newfound international appeal that allowed it to soar on the charts with Bieber’s smooth singing over its guitars.
Only six months after the song’s January 2017 release, “Despacito” became the most streamed song in history, overtaking Justin Bieber’s long-standing record for his own hit, “Sorry” off of Purpose.
When discussing the song, Luis Fonsi shared: I come from Puerto Rico, and I live in Miami. We’re living in an interesting time right now when people want to divide us. They want to build walls. And for a song to bring people and cultures together, that’s what makes me proud.”
At this rate, 8 billion views seem to be just another milestone for “Despacito” on its path in a historical run for Latin American music reaching global acclaim.
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