If someone gives you the two keywords
pop music and Colombia, chances are that you will return Shakira. But if you are more
up to date and follow the songs that have gathered tens of millions of views on
YouTube, you might rather say Maluma. The views counter of his new song Sobrio,
released last July, is at 23 million.
اضافة اعلان
The young Colombian singer, now 27,
already claims a successful career that started 10 years ago. It is, however,
in the last couple of years that his global scale stardom has been confirmed
and continues to rise exponentially.
The voice is compelling, and the music
superbly produced. The singing is essentially done in Spanish, but this does
not seem to deter those listeners who do not understand the language. In the
artist’s own words: “So yes, I want to release some music in English, but I
will try to keep the balance — songs in
Spanish and English.”
Maluma, with his powerful tenor voice,
good looks, and stage presence, does bring a fresh image and sound to the Latin
scope. The music in itself, however, is not much different from what other
artists have already brought us, like Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, Ricky Martin,
or Luis Fonsi, artists that Maluma admits have influenced him. He also cites
Justin Timberlake and
Michael Jackson.
The production consists of the same old
mix of mainstream pop drumming and guitar patterns, sometimes mixed with salsa,
calypso, rumba, or mambo beats. The melodies too, however catchy and pleasant
they may be, are nothing new. The instrumental arrangements are also very
similar to most Latin music that has been generated since 2010.
The producers have become very clever doing
this kind of mix, often coming up with rhythms that are attractive new hybrids,
and that end up becoming fashion. In the overwhelming number of cases, they
target dance crowds. Which, of course, does not prevent “listeners-only” too to
enjoy the songs.
A proof of it: Hawái, a song released by
Maluma one year ago, has 100 million views on YouTube and 800 million on the
Sweden-based Spotify audio streaming platform. An average 30 million regularly
listen to Maluma on the music channel every month. As other examples, Ed
Sheeran and Billie Eilish are doing better, and are in third and 14th position,
with 70 and 52 million monthly listeners, respectively.
Mentioning Maluma, American Billboard
music magazine said “Maluma's brand of reggaeton syncs nicely with his image,
managing to be both romantic and raw. His sound represents an evolution of the genre.”
Not everybody would necessarily agree with the word “evolution”!
Latin music from South America remains an
unabated popular trend. From megastar Colombian Shakira to Puerto-Rican Luis
Fonsi or Panamanian Erika Ender, to name only a few, the attractive Latin
rhythms and exotic flavor keep competing with the more rock-based American-English
stream. It is a global phenomenon. The large Hispanic community living abroad,
and mainly present in the USA, certainly plays an important role in the trend.
Read more Opinion & Analysis
.jpg)
.jpg)
