Daddy Yankee has made a career of breaking down barriers for Spanish language music, single handedly smashing global chart records with a barrage of international hits starting with 2005’s “Gasolina”. Calling all stans — he’s about to knock down another first-ever. On Wednesday, the Puerto Rican reggaeton pioneer will become the first-ever Spanish language musical artist to appear on CBS’ The Late Late Show with James Cordon.
The appearance comes in the midst of general period of reflection on Daddy’s enduring urbano legacy. Last month, he was honored with a lifetime achievement award from the 2019 Premio Lo Nuestro ceremony.
Lest you think we’re speaking in past tense when it comes to the Daddy effect, know that his most recent single “Con Calma” is also notching up the milestones. The six week old collaboration with comeback Canadian emcee Snow of 1992 single “Informer” fame has been at #1 on Billboard’s “Latin Airplay” and “Latin Digital Songs” charts for two weeks, in addition to being the #1 most streamed song on Spotify’s Global chart.
And “Con Calma” isn’t even the only song spreading the El Cangri’s gospel at the moment. The megalith that is “Despacito” refuses to die in our collective consciousness, having hit a record six million YouTube views at the end of last month.