“Slowly” It was the cherry on the cake of all the work of Latinos who for decades, step by step, struggled to position their music in the first places, he says. Erika Ender; Thanks to this song, Latin music broke down all border walls worldwide.
“I feel like I also came with a mission, well several, and I think one of them was to be the cherry on the cake of that path that was carved out by many Latinos, who made a difference throughout the history of music, such as Gloria Estefan; Emerging in a digital age, ‘Despacito’ surpassed everything and allowed us to tear down the walls of Latinos with music, I think it is very nice that Spanish was heard throughout the world “, says Erika Ender to THE UNIVERSAL.
Four years ago the composer, Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, made their musical creation known to the world, without imagining, even in their best dreams, the global reach it would have.
Also read: “Luis Fonsi puts” “Despacito” “in Formula 1
Erika Ender received the Latin Grammy for being her song recognized as the best of the year in 2017. Photo: AP
During the first weeks of its release, the song charted at number one on all charts in more than 80 countries.
On the platform YouTube, for the first time in its history, broke three Guinness records in 2018: Highest number of views for an online music video, Highest number of views for an online video, and Highest number of views for a music video by a duo.
It also broke a record by reaching 5 billion views on YouTube; at present it exceeds 7 billion and every day the figure grows.
“We never really imagined that such extensive lyrics, phrasing and everything in Spanish would go around the world, something had the essence of this song that people liked,” says Erika.
Justin Bieber joined the success
After the song rose like foam and monopolized everything worldwide, the participation of the Canadian made the madness unleash and the world turned to see what was happening in Latin America; greatly increased the interest in speaking Spanish, knowing what the reggaeton, how it was danced and what other urban exponents existed.
Also read: How “” Baby Shark “”, the addictive nursery rhyme that displaced “” Despacito “”, became popular
“It was all a team effort, this song was made by Fonsi and I, then Yanqui came in, who put his ‘little step by little, suave suave’, and then Bieber came in; Before him the song was number one, in I don’t know how many countries in the world, but Bieber puts his touch on it and leads it to break all previous records in the world and in Spanish, we never saw it coming, we knew we had something important in the hands because it was contagious, ”he recalls.
It also set the record for being # 1 for 16 weeks on the US charts in 2017, and was the most popular song on streaming, with 4.6 billion views. In February 2018 he broke the record on the charts Hot Latin Songs for staying 42 weeks in the first place.
During 2020 “Despacito” was recognized as the most certified song in history in United Statess.
The RIAA (The Recording Industry Association of America) awarded him the Platinum Record number 13, for the sale of more than 13 million units.
Luis Fonsi was multi-awarded at the Billboard Awards. Photo: AP
A reggaeton that takes care of women
According to the composer, from the beginning the song, which won four Latin Grammy, was conceived taking care of the lyrics and above all it sought to give a place to women full of respect and thereby break the stereotype of reggaeton about gender attacks.
“We take care of every detail, I take care of women very personally in everything we do musically, because today there are certain songs that you suddenly dance to, but if a man recites them to you and he is not singing it to you, like this as the artist, as you are listening to it, how would you take it? We must take care that we ourselves are not applauding harassment or that we are not praising something that denigrates us, ”she explains.
Also read: Bad Bunny and Daddy Yankee’s reggaeton prevail at the 2020 Billboard Latin Music Awards
“What I tried with Fonsi, who is an extremely intelligent person and who cares for women, was to maintain his essence as an artist, transforming him a little more to what was happening and making him more modern, urban, he brought it to the table and we take care the lyrics very much, it is a sensual, erotic song, but one that cares for us, that tells us how we want to be conquered to a certain extent ”, he deepens.
Ender says that he took the responsibility in his hands to make people aware that music can reach unimaginable limits, especially when dealing with sensitive topics such as women.
Bieber was a great strategy for the topic to go international fast. Photo: Video capture
“I think we must be very aware, music is a powerful tool and we mark generations with what we do, we have to be responsible and I don’t think that someone should be more responsible than a woman herself. Not only in music, I also say it for television with misogynistic programs, such as soap operas, spectacular ones, in the cinema, radio, there must be a change in everything and what I propose is that it be regulated in the communications law “, aim.
Although Fonsi did not continue down the reggaeton path, what “Despacito” left him, he says, is something he will be eternally grateful for, especially for being part of the history of music and marking a change in it.
“I am very grateful to all the affection of the public that drove this song to become a global phenomenon, at the end of the day it is born in the same way as all songs are born, with great humility and with great affection and it is a song that mixes genres and fuses them and I took a risk, I come and I am still part of the pop genre but I wanted a little to celebrate that Latin part that I carry in me, that tropical part and I surrounded myself with people whom I respect to carry that message of Latin sensuality but always with a lot of positivism; how nice to do things like that ”, he says.
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