With the year coming to an end, Spotify has revealed its Most-Streamed Artist Globally of 2021. For the second year in a row, that artist is none other than rapper Bad Bunny.
This year, Bad Bunny racked up over 9.1 billion streams, making him the first Latine artist to hold the title for two consecutive years. His second solo studio album, 2020’s YHLQMDLG, was the most-streamed album last year and stayed in the Top 20 Albums for 2021 globally.
Bad Bunny took the news humbly when he was told about his No. 1 ranking. “I don’t go into it to be the No. 1 most-streamed artist,” he said. “I just make music. I just enjoy my work. I hope 2022 is going to be great.”
Along with Bad Bunny, an additional 12 Latine artists ranked in the Top 50 most-streamed artists for 2021. They are J Balvin (No. 7); Rauw Alejandro (No. 12); Myke Towers (No. 18); Ozuna (No. 25); Anuel AA (No. 32); Maluma (No. 33); Jhay Cortez (No. 37); Daddy Yankee (No. 39); Farruko (No. 41); Sech (No. 44); and Karol G (No. 48).
At No. 48, Karol G earned a back-to-back title as Spotify’s top Latina artist. Rounding out the Top 5 Latina artists is Selena Gomez; Shakira; Camila Cabello; and Maria Becerra.
Overall, the Latin music industry did well in genre rankings. Eight Latin music genres made it into the Top 50 most-streamed genres globally. They are Latin (No. 11), Trap Latino (No. 16), Reggaeton (No. 19), Latin Pop (No. 22), Latin Hip-Hop (No. 26), Reggaeton Flow (No. 28), Regional Mexican (No. 36), and Corrido (No. 42).
With a dozen Latine artists in the Top 50 and other musicians representing their respective categories, there’s no denying that the Latin music industry is growing every year. Next up, world domination.