Latin Pop (Pop Latino, in Spanish) generally refers to pop music that has what may be perceived a "Latin" influence. The definition of "Latin" varies, however. Linguistically, pop music sung in Spanish, or other languages derived from Latin, may be considered Latin pop. Geographically, it could refer to pop music from Latin America or sung by Latin Americans, generally regarded as Hispanics (although this classification does not include the Portuguese). Pop music which has a significant Latin pop influence, no matter sung by who or in what language, may also be considered Latin pop.
There are two main variants. The first one is regular pop performed in the Spanish, Spanglish, Portuguese or English for international audiences. The second one mixes pop with a wide variety of Latin American or Iberian rhythms such as salsa, samba, cumbia, norteña, merengue, banda, tex-mex, flamenco, tango, reggaeton, vallenato, and reggae. More recently, Latin Pop has also included hip hop contributions such as the UK label Heavenly Records old school hip-hop inluenced latin pop artist Espiritu aka Vanessa Quinones with her cut-up hip-hop inflected top 50 releases like Los Americanos, Conquistador and Bonita Manana which also featured remixes from US hip-hop master Guru.
Latin Pop is usually marked by polished productions while incorporating unobtrusive Latin rhythms and instrumentation into tracks. Latin Pop first reached a global audience through the work of vocalist Ritchie Valens in the late 1950s; in later decades, Julio Iglesias, the versatile Gloria Estefan, and the revolving-door teen idol group Menudo carried the style forward. Since the late 90s, Latin pop and songs with significant Latin pop influences have achieved mainstream success in the United States and worldwide. Some of the most successful artists are Selena, Enrique Iglesias, Luis Miguel, Ricky Martin, Shakira, Thalía, Paulina Rubio, Jennifer Lopez,and Ivete Sangalo. Julio Iglesias is to date the worlds best selling Latin artist selling 250-300 million albums worldwide.[1][2]
Major Latin Pop songwriters include Richard Daniel Roman, Estefano and Emilio Estefan.
Best-selling Latin pop artists
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* = Carlos Santana's success is from albums of Rock and Blues, this is why Santana is not listed on most of the Latin pop rankings.
Latin Grammy Awards
Latin References
Many international singers have a few Latin Pop hits in their repertoire, without necessarily being known for having a Hispanic or Latin background: For example, Beyoncé's "Irremplazable", Madonna's "La Isla Bonita", The Spice Girls' "Spice up Your Life", Latvian Marie N's (also known as Marija Naumova, and was the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest winner) "I Wanna", Cher's "Dov'è L'Amore", or France's Lorie with "Sur un Air Latino", and finally Geri Halliwell's (has Hispanic heritage) "Mi Chico Latino."
Some artists usually include Latin remixes in their singles, which also could be classified as Latin Pop. These songs are usually mixed by DJ's with a Hispanic background, like David Morales, Junior Vazquez, or Pablo Flores, among others. Some singers who have released such remixes, besides the ones already mentioned, include Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, Whitney Houston, Will Smith, Alexia, Jamiroquai, and Jennifer Paige.
Regional Scenes
References
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