With bilingual remixes soaring, meet the emergency language coaches being called in at the last minute to help artists roll their R’s.
In 2017, 19 predominantly Spanish-language tracks landed on the Billboard Hot 100, up from four in 2016, and on the Jan. 27 chart, there are an unprecedented five songs on the tally featuring mainstream acts singing in Spanish. The phenomenon has managers and A&R teams scrambling to find impromptu Spanish coaches to help artists sound authentic.
It’s not easy: Beyoncé battled to correctly pronounce the Spanish word for queen (reina) as she added her fast-paced vocals to J Balvin’s “Mi Gente,” says her teacher, while Justin Bieber struggled to hear the a between pasito a pasito and the a in acuerdes in Daddy Yankee & Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito.” But in the end, Bieber’s Spanish delivery on the recording was flawless.
For the full story, visit Billboard.com/Latin.
