From career milestones and new music releases to major announcements and more, Billboard editors highlight the latest news buzz in Latin music every week. Here’s what happened in the Latin music world this week.
Lights, camera, action!
Sebastián Yatra is set to make his television series acting debut on Netflix’s forthcoming series Érase Una Vez … Pero Ya No. Yatra will join castmates Rossy de Palma, Asier Etxeandia, Daniela Vega, Mariana Treviño and more in an upcoming musical series that will present a fairy-tale reinvention through the classic sounds of Spanish and Latin pop. The series will be directed by Manolo Caro and will begin filming next year.
Daddy Yankee’s “DY2K20″
Daddy Yankee kicked off the holiday season by gifting his fans the release of DY2K20, a three-part series of his 12 sold-out Con Calma Pal’ Choli shows. The concert series took place in Puerto Rico’s Coliseo in San Juan spanned between Dec. 5 – 29, 2019. DY2K20 is now available on YouTube and all audio streaming platforms, featuring never-before-seen footage from his last concert series before the pandemic. The first part of the series is now available here with the second and third part becoming available on Dec. 14 and 21, respectively.
Selena: The Series
The highly awaited Selena: The Series finally made its way to Netflix on Friday (Dec. 4). Starring Christian Serratos as the late Mexican-American singer, the series was developed and executive produced by the Quintanilla family alongside Netflix. Part one of the two-part series comes 23 years after the release of the Golden Globe-nominated biographical movie Selena, directed by Gregory Nava and starring Jennifer Lopez.
Billboard chatted with the leading actress, who opened up about the series, challenges, Selena’s legacy and more. Read the Q&A here.
Por esto Te Amo in Sign Language
Singer-songwriter Gerard Flores released his most recent single “Por Eso Te Amo” (That’s Why I Love You), a romantic ballad complemented by the classical sounds of the piano and the guitar, and a story of a pure love that transcends the barriers of time, distance, culture and language. The music video expanded its parameters to include those with hearing loss. “Gerard felt it was important that his new song be all inclusive. With 3.6% of the U.S. population, roughly 11 million individuals, considering themselves deaf or hard of hearing, Gerard’s goal was to share his art with all, and thus incorporated the written lyrics and sign language to his music video,” according to a statement.
Year-End Latin Artists
Eight of the top 10 acts on Billboard’s 2020 year-end Top Latin Artists chart reside in the reggaetón sphere. And for a second straight year, Bad Bunny crosses the finish line as the Top Latin Artist and top male artist; Karol G leads the female flock closing as the top female artist for a second year in a row (and the only woman in the year-end top 10); Eslabon Armado is the top duo/group; and Natanael Cano is top new artist.
Read all about our Year in Latin Charts 2020 here.