Thanks for reading The Times

n a recent summer week, the most popular video on YouTube was not
from Taylor Swift or Lil Nas X, but from a cadre of international
musicians leading a global tidal wave of Spanish-language music.

“Con Altura,” by the Catalonian singer Rosalía, with J Balvin (a native of

Medellín, Colombia) and El Guincho (from the Canary Islands), is now
approaching half a billion views for its music video— it has another 155
million plays on Spotify — and as it topped the YouTube chart in late
June, it led a crop of eight Spanish songs in its Top 10.

This is the new order of things in the increasingly diverse, genre-

melding, multilingual world of pop: Language is no longer a barrier,
world rhythms mix and cohere, cross-cultural collaboration is common
and hip-hop influence seeps in from all sides.

In the case of “Con Altura,” Rosalía and the producers Pablo Díaz-Reixa
(El Guincho) and Frank Dukes, a Canadian, entered a studio in Miami
with the express mission of making a homage to old-school reggaeton,
the resurgent Caribbean and Latin American rap style pioneered by
artists like DJ Playero and Daddy Yankee.

After beginning with a simple, hypnotic vocal loop and the integral,
slightly dirty boom-pa-dum-pa reggaeton drums, Rosalía scoured
YouTube for a magic spark. There she came across a clip of dialogue
from the Dominican radio and television personality Mariachi Budda —
a catchphrase that translates literally to “with altitude,” and would go on
to give the song its name and attitude.

For Rosalía, 26, who was trained as a flamenco musician before

updating that traditional sound on her breakthrough 2018 album “El
Mal Querer,” releasing a reggaeton single was not exactly the next logical
step. But in the latest episode of “Diary of a Song,” she and her
collaborators discuss their Spanish-Language Music Has Gone Global.
Watch Rosalía Make Her Hit ‘Con Altura’
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Video

6:48
Watch How Spanish Superstar Rosalía
Made a Global Reggaeton Hit
Two Spaniards, a Canadian, a Colombian and a clip from a Dominican television show came
together to make “Con Altura,” an unlikely tribute to reggaeton, and one of the hottest
international songs of the summer.
Credit
Credit
Amy Harris/Invision, via Amy Harris, via Invision, via Associated Press
July 8, 2019
• 5

By Joe Coscarelli
In a recent summer week, the most popular video on YouTube was not
from Taylor Swift or Lil Nas X, but from a cadre of international
musicians leading a global tidal wave of Spanish-language music.

“Con Altura,” by the Catalonian singer Rosalía, with J Balvin (a native of

Medellín, Colombia) and El Guincho (from the Canary Islands), is now
approaching half a billion views for its music video— it has another 155
million plays on Spotify — and as it topped the YouTube chart in late
June, it led a crop of eight Spanish songs in its Top 10.

This is the new order of things in the increasingly diverse, genre-

melding, multilingual world of pop: Language is no longer a barrier,
world rhythms mix and cohere, cross-cultural collaboration is common
and hip-hop influence seeps in from all sides.

In the case of “Con Altura,” Rosalía and the producers Pablo Díaz-Reixa
(El Guincho) and Frank Dukes, a Canadian, entered a studio in Miami
with the express mission of making a homage to old-school reggaeton,
the resurgent Caribbean and Latin American rap style pioneered by
artists like DJ Playero and Daddy Yankee.
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After beginning with a simple, hypnotic vocal loop and the integral,
slightly dirty boom-pa-dum-pa reggaeton drums, Rosalía scoured
YouTube for a magic spark. There she came across a clip of dialogue
from the Dominican radio and television personality Mariachi Budda —
a catchphrase that translates literally to “with altitude,” and would go on
to give the song its name and attitude.

For Rosalía, 26, who was trained as a flamenco musician before

updating that traditional sound on her breakthrough 2018 album “El
Mal Querer,” releasing a reggaeton single was not exactly the next logical
step. But in the latest episode of “Diary of a Song,” she and her
collaborators discuss their processes and motivations, reveal the
reggaeton legend they initially wanted on the song’s hook and explain
why this current moment is so special for music en español.
Watch All of Our ‘Diary of a Song’ Episodes

May 10, 2019

April 23, 2019

 April 1, 2019

Oct. 24,

2018
 Sept. 4,

2018

April 22, 2018

Charo Henríquez contributed reporting.

“Diary of a Song” provides an up-close, behind-the-scenes look at how

pop music is made today, using archival material — voice memos,
demo versions, text messages, emails, interviews and more — to tell the
story behind the track. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

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and motivations, reveal the reggaeton legend they initially wanted on

the song’s hook and explain why this current moment is so special for
music en español.
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Spanish-Language Music Has Gone Global.
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July 8
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