Bad Bunny Top Latin Artist of 2023, Regional Mexican Genre Soars – Billboard

Unsurprisingly, Benito also echoes his past four years of achievements on the albums front: Thanks to Un Verano Sin Ti’s stronghold, the album wraps at No. 1 on the year-end Top Latin Albums chart for a second consecutive year. Adding to his blockbuster year — with seven awards at the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards, including Artist of the Year, Tour of the Year and Global 200 Latin Artist of the Year — Benito also boasts four songs on the year-end Hot Latin Songs rundown, including “Un X100to” with Grupo Frontera at No. 3. His first foray into regional Mexican music became the second regional Mexican track to break the weekly top 10 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Regional Mexican music, however, also fired up the fruitful Latin music narrative. The genre had a sizzling year, unlocking achievements and making notable contributions across Billboard charts with compositions by artists who married the traditional color of the format with unconventional aesthetics. The result is eight regional Mexican acts on the year-end Top Latin Artists chart, with six of them in the top 10.

Peso Pluma, Mexico’s breakout artist, commands the movement. The Zapopan-born singer-songwriter gave a different voice to the underdog format, which has been historically marginalized in the mainstream world. Born Hassan Emilio Kabande Laija, Pluma modernized the culture with a different level of regional diversity, thus crosses the finish line atop the 2023 year-end Top Latin Artist – New survey. When his album Génesis launched at No. 3 on the all-genre Billboard 200 in July, Pluma made history, achieving the highest charting regional Mexican album ever. Plus, it marked the biggest week, by units earned, for a regional Mexican album ever (dating back to when the tally began ranking by units in December of 2014). On the weekly Top Latin Albums chart, it set spent 15 weeks at No. 1, leading to a bronze medal on the year-end Top Latin Albums ranking.

Eslabon Armado also became a strong regional Mexican player on the charts in 2023, tracing its successes to global achievements. The group’s “Ella Baila Sola” with Pluma, which comfortably rests at No. 1 on the year-end Hot Latin Songs chart, became the first regional Mexican song to dominate the Billboard Global 200 chart (for six weeks). Further, as it scored a top 10 entry on the Hot 100, it became the first regional Mexican tune to achieve the feat in the chart’s 65-year-old history. “We didn’t expect for the song to make so much noise!” Pedro Tovar, lead singer for Eslabon, told Billboard. The group can thank TikTok for helping the song gain traction, the track quickly became a viral hit on the app two days after Tovar previewed it on his Instagram account stories.

In the female realm, Karol G repeats as the only woman to make it to the year-end Top Latin Artists ranking, closing the year at No. 3. While her Mañana Será Bonito album takes the runner-up slot on the year-end Top Latin Albums chart.

Karol G Unmatched: Karol G has become a staple of Latin music since she first broke into Billboard charts in 2016. Although her career-spanning trek is somewhat short, her outsized impact makes her the only Latin woman to snatch a spot on the top 25 of the overall year-end Top Artists list, at No. 23 (the only Latin female artist on the all-genre overall survey), while finishing at No. 6 on the Top Artists-Female ranking. Plus, she snags the highest honor for a woman on the year-end Top Latin Artists tally for a fifth consecutive year, restating her 2021 finale, at No. 3. The Colombian has placed 29 songs on the multimetric Hot Latin Songs chart during the year-end eligibility period, including “TQG,” with Shakira: The song’s No. 4 finish is the highest charting title by a female artist on the year-end Hot Latin Songs chart. The team-up, which also earned both Colombians their first Global 200 No. 1, stems from Karol G’s No. 1 album Mañana Será Bonito, the first all-Spanish-language leader by a woman in the history of the Billboard 200, which dates to 1956.

Shakira’s Radio Support: The year-end radio tallies see Shakira return in a big way, thanks to a strong push across stations throughout the year, most notably at the pop format. The Colombian becomes the only artist to place three songs in the top 10 on the year-end Latin Airplay Songs chart, starting with “TQG” with Karol G at No. 1. “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53”, her partnership with Argentinian Bizarrap, caused plenty of social media chatter about its content, enough to take the pair to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to perform the song in March. The track’s radio uptick puts it at No. 2 on the year-end radio ranking, while “Monotonía” with Ozuna closes at No. 4. Both songs ruled Latin Airplay for four weeks in 2023, the second-most after Frontera & Bad Bunny’s “Uno X100to” (six weeks atop).

Fresh Faces, New Rewards: Grupo Frontera: Despite placing the highest charting song for a regional Mexican group on the Hot 100 with Bunny’s push (“Un X100to,” No. 5 high in May), the Edinburgh, Texas-based group buoyed its success on cumbia hits “No Se Va” and “Bebe Dame,” with Fuerza Regida. With the latter the group claims a No. 5 finish on the year-end Hot Latin Songs chart and a No. 16 high on the year-end Latin Airplay Songs. The ensemble has become a heavyweight at the format, taking the No. 2 on both, the year-end Top Latin Artist-New and the year-end Latin Airplay-Artists rundown.

Yng Lvcas: Mexico’s trap and reggaetón interpreter Yng Lvcas made his first appearance on a Billboard albums chart when LPM debuted at No. 8 on Top Latin Albums in April, picking up his first top 10 there. The set’s cut “La Bebe,” with Peso Pluma, flourished swiftly on TikTok reaching global audiences with a No. 2 high on both Global charts in April. The song’s staggering popularity gives the 24-year-old a silver medal on the year-end Hot Latin Songs chart and a No. 3 finish on Top Latin Artists-New.

Bizarrap: Aside from his “Vol. 53” with Shakira taking center stage, the popular Latin producer spins another entry on the year-end Latin Airplay Songs chart: “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 52” with Quevedo at No. 20. The partnership with the Spaniard rapper earned him a first top 10 on Hot Latin Songs in Nov. 2022. Further, Bizarrap unveiled three more “Music Sessions” on the multimetric tally, enough to become the only Argentinian to score an entry on the year-end Hot Latin Songs Artist recap, at No. 13. All in all, Bizarrap’s bona fides speak for themselves, and nabbing the No. 4 slot on the year-end Top Latin Artists-New is proof.

Young Miko: Puerto Rican Young Miko’s career has been rising with enough velocity that she’s scored four entries on Hot Latin Songs since the top 20 “Classy 101” with Feid in July. The Puerto Rican is the only Latin rhythm female newcomer to conquer the year-end Hot Latin Songs, with the collab at No. 19. Further, the song gives her a top 40 finale on year-end Latin Streaming Songs (at No. 37).

‘Here I Am,’ Says Tropical: Despite a slow takeoff in 2023, Tropical music saw a growth during the year, picking up where it left off with its ever-growing audience. Bachata, especially, made a high-water mark across charts, with songs on the format racking up a spot on Tropical Airplay: Manuel Turizo, Rosalía, Shakira, Ozuna, Prince Royce, Tommy Torres, Chayanne, even Justin Timberlake with his Romeo Santos collab, “Sin Fin,” secured a spot on the list. One artist, however, made a significant achievement among the bachata craze: Luis Figueroa, whose song “Bandido” became the first salsa track to crown Tropical Airplay among the five tropical tunes that notched their first weeks at No. 1 in 2023. The Puerto Rican is the only newcomer to secure two entries on the year-end Tropical Airplay Songs: “La Luz,” at No. 15 and “Fiesta Contigo” at No. 17.

Billboard’s year-end music recaps represent aggregated metrics for each artist, title, label and music contributor on the weekly charts from Nov. 19, 2022, through Oct. 21, 2023. Rankings for Luminate-based recaps reflect equivalent album units, airplay, sales or streaming during the weeks that the titles appeared on a respective chart during the tracking year. Any activity registered before or after a title’s chart run isn’t considered in these rankings. That methodology detail, and the November-October time period, account for some of the difference between these lists and the calendar-year recaps that are independently compiled by Luminate.