This past week I have been trying to immerse myself in the Spanish language though media in hopes of developing better conversational Spanish-speaking skills. I have been watching shows in Spanish and listening to as much Latin American music as I can. While scrolling through the top 50 charts in many Latin American countries on Spotify, I saw that a remix of the song "Despacito" featuring Justin Bieber was at the top of the charts in many different countries. I was instantly confused. Why would the new version of the song be more popular? And then I realized that it was because it had Justin Bieber in it.
It is interesting to me that people in Latin America know who Justin Bieber is. If they had not known who he is, he would not be on the top of the charts. I don't know many Latin American celebrities so seeing that enough Latin Americans like Justin Bieber to put his song on top of the charts was surprising. It shows how much influence the U.S. has on the world and what people like. With his deceptively perfect accent, Justin Bieber managed to establish himself on Latin American charts without even singing his own song.
I find it ironic that Justin Bieber, a white male who does not even speak fluent Spanish could beat out actual Spanish-speaking Latin American artists in Latin American music charts. The fact that his song could accomplish such a feat reveals the advertising power of celebrities in the United States. The song also gave his obnoxious teenage fans a reason to believe that he is cultured or "exotic" is some way. I am disappointed that Justin Bieber beat out Latin American artists. He probably only did so because listeners recognized his name and were wooed by the few phrases he sung in Spanish. 

 

Comments

  1. UnknownMay 9, 2017 at 9:25 PM

    This is really interesting, since I first listened to the song because everyone was crazy about Justin's Spanish voice and I just had to hear for myself, and never listened to the original before. I agree that the U.S. have a wide impact on the world, because I know all over the world, people know of Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince, Justin, Rihanna, and etc. yet I don't know of any other countries pop stars or music that is really popular. I know that the US music billboard is a big thing to all the countries. If your music make a place on it, it shows true popularity, and it is something to be proud of.

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