It’s been over a year since Bad Bunny released his fourth solo album, “Un Verano Sin Ti,” an album dedicated to summer that features Caribbean sounds and breezy beach vibes, and yet it has continued to break records. Not only was it the first Spanish-language album to ever receive a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year – though it lost to Harry Styles’s “Harry’s House” – it’s also broken numerous streaming records. Last year, it generated more than 4 billion US streams across several platforms, and it recently became the most streamed album in Spotify history.
While Bad Bunny, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, was already playing a significant role in pushing reggaetón and Latin trap forward, the success of “Un Verano Sin Ti” really speaks to the dominance Latin music is having in the mainstream. Spanish-language urbano music has gone global and it’s not going away anytime soon.
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The album, which was released last May, not only includes a variety of songs that hit different genres but it includes collaborators with big artists like Chenco Corleone, Rauw Alejandro, Bomba Estéro, Jhay Cortez, The Marías, and more. Singles from the album including “Tití Me Pregunto,” and “Me Porto Bonito,” not only became summertime anthems but placed No.1 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs last year. It also broke Spotify’s all-time record for most streams within its first month. In as little as a month, “Un Verano Sin Ti” hit two billion streams on Spotify, making it the first and only album to reach that record. So, it’s no surprise to anyone that the album would make history as the streaming platform’s most streamed album ever.
Bad Bunny’s mainstream success has only continued to skyrocket since the release of “Un Verano Sin Ti.” Last year, he kicked off his “World’s Hottest Tour,” which quickly sold out and took him to some of the biggest stadiums and venues across the globe including Yankee Stadium. He was Billboard’s top artist of 2022 – the first Latin music artist to receive that honor – and took home a number of wins at last year’s Billboard Latin Music Awards – including Artist of the Year. This spring, he became the first Latine solo act and first Spanish-language artist to headline Coachella, in the festival’s entire 30-year history.
“Un Verano Sin Ti” has clearly become a legendary release that hasn’t just broken records but in many ways has shifted culture. Here’s another one for the history books!
