Dan's Worldwide Chart Watch: Bad Bunny Gets Latin America Hopping (Except For Brazil)

In my last post - also the first in this series - I looked at Olivia Rodrigo's "drivers license" and how it was spreading around the world. And I'll provide a little update at the bottom of this post.

Today we are looking at the second biggest hit in the world at the moment; "Dakiti" by Bad Bunny, a song you probably have not heard unless you live in a Spanish speaking country.

Bad Bunny is a reggaeton artist from Puerto Rico. Or maybe he's Latin trap. There's a lot of overlap between these two genres. At this point in 2021 we can pretty much say that reggaeton is synonymous with Latino dance pop music. The tops of the charts of most Latin American countries are packed with nothing but reggaeton jams, most of them using a variation on the same "dembow" rhythm beat; a beat that is very insistent about you dancing to it.

"Dakiti" is a fairly light and house-y variation of this beat, managing to both be quieter that your typical reggaeton track, but also quite a bit faster; perfect for a beach party apparently.

The world probably reached peak-"Dakiti" a few weeks ago when it held the Number One position across virtually the whole of Latin America.

Here's the thing about the Latin American charts; although they include several different countries, they all seem to move as one. Bad Bunny was Number One virtually everywhere that week, whilst "Bichota" by Karol G (a song about the awesomeness of being hot and guys who can't handle her pum-pum, her pum-pum) was almost everywhere at No.2. In Peru, the order was flipped.

And across the whole of Latin America, there is the reggaeton beat.

The whole of Latin America? No, one small country still holds out against reggaeton. Except it's not small at all, it's the biggest market in Latin America and the second biggest in the world. It's Brazil and it does not care a jot about Bad Bunny. Nor about Karol G. Or any of the reggaeton superstars. Because of course it's all in Spanish and in Brazil they speak Portuguese.

Bad Bunny might have the second biggest song in the world but it's popularity is largely limited to the Spanish speaking world. A bit in the the United States sure, but mostly in areas with a strong Latino community. Also the more summery parts of Europe. But that's it! Certainly not Brazil.

Compare this to "drivers license" which whilst more popular in some countries than others, has at least make the Top 100 of every single country.

So what are they listening to in Brazil?

Brazil is currently obsessed with Wesley Safadao - and has apparently been obsessed with him for least five years - and although his new Number One "Ele É Ele, Eu Sou Eu" (or "He Is Him, I Am Me") has a catchy hook, I'm going to go with the far more intriguing "Meia Noite (Você tem meu Whatsapp)" by Tarcísio do Acordeon; intriguing because (a) it's about having an affair a married woman who booty-calls him via Whatsapp, a scenario which feels unlikely since (b) as you might suspect by his name, the man plays an accordion.

Bad Bunny's reggaeton empire expands the Atlantic and has taken over Spain where "Dakiti" is No.2. The Number One spot in Spain goes to fellow Puerto Rican Myke Towers and his hit "Bandido," a song about falling in love with a girl upset over a break-up, whose chorus translates roughly to "What did that bandit do to you? Tell me why you're crying / Tell me so I can put him on the floor and bury him now"

"Bandido" first reached Number One in Spain, but has since begun to take over South America (sans Brazil of course), starting from the South; first reaching Number One in Uruguay, then Argentina, then crossing the Andes to Chile, then slowly making its way up the west coast. By last week he had made it as far as Peru. Bad Bunny better look out!

But whilst Spain and Spanish-speaking Latin America share the same pop universe, quite separate from the English-speaking pop universe, a similar relationship does not exist between Portugal and Brazil. Despite sharing a language, Portugal could not care less about Brazil's accordion playing lover boys. And fair enough really. Neither does the rest of the world.

The feeling appears to be mutual. Apart from a handful of Westerners - Olivia, the Weeknd, Dua Lipa - Brazilians only seem to listen to themselves.

Olivia Update!

"drivers license" global take-over had one major win last week, going Number One in India. It was a close thing though, only 30,000 streams in it. Which given that we are talking about 1.3 million streams is about as close as an election in Georgia.

Olivia has lost Austria however, to the German-language rasp-rap juggernaut "Ohne Dich" by KASIMIR1441 and badmomjay, brought to you by an awful lot of Smirnoff. It's also Number One in Germany and might go Number One in Switzerland next week.

She's also lost Lithuania to a song that will most likely be that country's entry in Eurovision 2021 (assuming that it goes ahead). Their entry will be officially announced later this week.

There will probably be a few more Eurovision related Number Ones in the months ahead, so stay tuned.

Next week we shall look at two Australian rappers who have taken over the world; one via a possibly surprising route.

#badbunny #karolg #myketowers #oliviarodrigo #spotify #spotifycharts #popmusic #popculture