The Meteoric Rise Of Latin Urban Explained
We follow Latin Urban's trail from Panama to Puerto Rico to the world stage, including international superstar Bad Bunny. Steven Ferdman/Getty Images hide caption
We follow Latin Urban's trail from Panama to Puerto Rico to the world stage, including international superstar Bad Bunny.
Steven Ferdman/Getty ImagesAs we wrap up Black History Month, we take a close look at the genre that has become known as Latin Urban, which, for the past decade, has become the dominant influence in Latin pop music.
It's heavy lift, so I had to call in the experts. I'm joined this week by Leila Cobo, (VP of Latin Music for Billboard), Maria Elena Cepeda (Chair and Professor of Latino and Latina Studies at Williams College) and Ivy Queen, a Puerto Rican reggaeton pioneer who continues to chart.
The story of Latin America has always been reflected in music and Latin Urban is no exception. Here, we follow the trail from Panama to Puerto Rico to the world stage. But we also look at how a marginalized Afro-Latin community was adopted — some say commandeered — by Latinx performers far from the shores of Puerto Rico.