Luis Fonsi at the 18th Latin GRAMMY Awards

Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

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Luis Fonsi: "Despacito" Wins Record Of The Year | 18th Latin GRAMMYs

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Puerto Rican's smash hit with Daddy Yankee wins Record Of The Year at The Biggest Night in Latin Music
Tim McPhate
GRAMMYs
Nov 16, 2017 - 5:33 pm

Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's smash collaboration "Despacito" won Record Of The Year at the 18th Latin GRAMMY Awards.

Nov 16, 2017 – 9:42 pm

Luis Fonsi: "Despacito" Wins Record Of The Year

"Good evening! A very good evening to all. Thank you very much. This award is [about] teamwork. Record Of The Year involves many people. Come, come guys, the producers of "Despacito": Please, this is yours too. Come here, come here. Thank you very much, father God. Thank you very much to the Academy. Thank you very much. Before anything, teamwork. Daddy Yankee, thank you very much for joining "Despacito." You're big Daddy Yankee. Thank you, Erika Ender. Thank you to my producers from Colombia … Andresito Torres, Mauricio — I love him. Thank you to everyone involved — to the engineers, to all the people that get the credit but are part of the success. Thank you Universal Music [and] Jesus Lopez. Thank you to my management, Tony Mojena. Thank you to my family that are watching me from home: my wife, and my two children that I love so much, Mikaela [and] Rocco. I love you so much. This is for Puerto Rico. Long live Puerto Rico." — Luis Fonsi

Arguably the most ubiquitous song of the summer of 2017, "Despacito" topped several charts worldwide, including Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Portugal. The remix version featuring Justin Bieber, which took Best Urban Fusion/Performance honors, topped the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States for 16 consecutive weeks, tying with "One Sweet Day" by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men for the most consecutive weeks at the top in the chart's history. 

"Despacito" also won for Best Short Form Music Video and Song Of The Year.

The other Record Of The Year nominees were "La Flor De La Canela" — Rubén Blades, "El Surco" — Jorge Drexler, "Quiero Que Vuelvas" — Alejandro Fernández, "El Ratico" — Juanes feat. Kali Uchis, "Amárrame" — Mon Laferte feat. Juanes, "Felices Los 4" — Maluma, "Vente Pa' Ca" — Ricky Martin feat. Maluma, "Guerra" — Residente, and "Chantaje" — Shakira feat. Maluma.

 

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Who Are The Record Of The Year Nominees? | 60th GRAMMY Awards

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Spanning Childish Gambino, Luis Fonsi/Daddy Yankee/Justin Bieber, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, and Kendrick Lamar, preview all five tracks that are up for Record Of The Year
Tim McPhate
GRAMMYs
Nov 28, 2017 - 5:35 am

Hip-hop cuts comprise two-fifths of the Record Of The Year nominations for the 60th GRAMMY Awards: Jay-Z's bold "The Story Of O.J." and Kendrick Lamar's edgy "HUMBLE." If one of these win, it would mark the first time a hip-hop track took the award in GRAMMY history. 

Nov 28, 2017 – 5:30 am

Record Of The Year Nominees | 60th GRAMMY Awards

Rounding out the eclectic mix in this year's field are Childish Gambino's soul-inflected "Redbone"; Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber's crossover smash, "Despacito"; and Bruno Mars' golden hit, "24K Magic."

Here's a closer look at this year's Record Of The Year nominees:

 "Redbone," Childish Gambino

With its sturdy groove, funky bass and synth-laden production, "Redbone" bleeds with vintage R&B touches and modern flourishes. On top, Childish Gambino (Donald Glover) turns in a sexy falsetto-based vocal that recalls '80s Prince and screams — literally — with timeless soul.

"I think people hear "Redbone" and are like, 'Oh, he pitched up his vocals,' but there was no vocal pitching on the album — I just sang differently," Glover told Triple J's "Breakfast" radio program. 

"Redbone" was produced by Childish Gambino and collaborator Ludwig Göransson, who plays various instruments on the track, including bass, guitar and synthesizer.

Childish Gambino has five current nominations. His other four are for Album Of The Year and Best Urban Contemporary Album for "Awaken, My Love!" and Best Traditional R&B Performance and Best R&B Song for "Redbone." 

Childish Gambino has two prior GRAMMY nominations to his credit. This marks his first career nod for Record Of The Year.

"Despacito," Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee Featuring Justin Bieber

It's the jam you could not escape this past summer: "Despacito." Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and Bieber's collab spent a record-tying 16 weeks at No. 1. And the song is fresh from winning four Latin GRAMMY Awards, including the remix taking Best Urban Fusion/Performance. 

"'Despacito' started with a melody hook that I had with my guitar only," Fonsi told Billboard. "The beat for this track came after I wrote the lyrics, which I wrote as if I was writing a ballad. I sat with my guitar and started this cumbia pattern with my guitar." 

Co-produced by Josh Gudwin, Mauricio Rengifo & Andrés Torres, "Despacito" — which translates to "Slowly" — flowered into a lush track propelled by an infectious rhythm and augmented by steel drums, classical and acoustic guitars, and multilingual vocal hooks galore.

Fonsi, Yankee and Bieber have three total nominations each for "Despacito": Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.

Fonsi and Yankee have one prior GRAMMY nomination each. Bieber has seven prior GRAMMY nominations and one prior win. "Despacito" marks the first Record Of The Year nomination for each artist. 

"The Story Of O.J.," Jay-Z

Jay-Z's provocative "The Story Of O.J." tackles hard-hitting topics such as civil rights, socioeconomics, stereotypes, and business acumen. Its potent commentary on African-Americans in America is definitely a case of an artist intent on making a profound statement.

"We tend as black people — because we never had anything, which is understandable — we get to a place and we just think we separate ourselves from the culture," Jay-Z said about the song via Tidal. "Like where O.J. will get to a space where he's like, 'I'm not black, I'm O.J.'"

"'The Story of O.J.' is really a song about we as a culture, having a plan, how we're gonna push this forward," Jay-Z told iHeartRadio. "We all make money, and then we all lose money, as artists especially. But how, when you have some type of success, to transform that into something bigger," a sentiment underlined by the lyric "Financial freedom our only hope/F*** living rich and dying broke."

Produced by Jay-Z and No I.D., "The Story Of O.J." masterfully incorporates a sparse driving beat and piano embellishments with samples of Nina Simone's "Four Women" and Kool & The Gang's "Kool's Back Again."

Jay-Z has eight nominations to lead the 60th GRAMMY Awards field: Record Of The Year, Best Rap Song and Best Music Video for "The Story Of O.J."; Album Of The Year and Best Rap Album for 4:44; Song Of The Year and Best Rap Performance for "4:44"; and Best Rap/Sung Performance for "Family Feud" featuring Beyoncé. 

One of the top GRAMMY winners of all time, Jay Z has 21 prior GRAMMY wins and 66 prior nominations. He has three prior nods for Record Of The Year: "Crazy In Love" with Beyoncé (46th GRAMMY Awards), "Umbrella" with Rihanna (50th GRAMMY Awards) and "Empire State Of Mind" with Alicia Keys (53rd GRAMMY Awards). 

"HUMBLE.," Kendrick Lamar

On "HUMBLE.," Kendrick Lamar lays his cards on the table in the form of a dare to his peers: "B***, sit down/Be humble."

But it's also a cautionary reminder to Lamar himself. 

"It's [about] the ego," Lamar told Rolling Stone. "That's why I did a song like that, where I just don't give a f***, or I'm telling the listener, 'You can't f*** with me.' But ultimately, I'm looking in the mirror. ...

"That beat feels like my generation, right now. The first thing that came to my head was, 'Be humble.'"

Produced by Mike Will Made It, Lamar spits his verses on "HUMBLE." over an 808-constructed drum groove, throbbing bass and a menacing piano riff. Mike Will has described the urgent track as having "an N.W.A./Dr. Dre feel [and] an Eminem kind of feel."

Including Record Of The Year, the rapper has seven nominations this year: Album Of The Year and Best Rap Album for DAMN.; Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song and Best Music Video for "HUMBLE."; and Best Rap/Sung Performance for "LOYALTY." featuring Rihanna.

The Compton, Calif., rapper has seven prior GRAMMY wins and 21 prior nominations. "HUMBLE." marks his first Record Of The Year nomination.

"24K Magic," Bruno Mars

"Guess who's back again?" It's party-meister Mars and this time he's "a dangerous man with some money in my pocket." 

"24K Magic"'s infectious foundation is built upon funky disco-meets-R&B elements as well as a prominent synth riff reminiscent of "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash. It's exactly the upbeat brand of pop that has become synonymous with the Hawaiian-born singer/songwriter. 

"We wrote '24K Magic' when 'Uptown Funk' was No. 1," Mars told NME. "So if you hear the same spirit in that song, that's why."

Produced by Shampoo Press & Curl, "24K Magic" has a smooth lead vocal and glittery hooks at every turn, including layers of synths, jangly guitars, bouncy rhythmic hooks, and a juicy talk-box-laced intro.

Including Record Of The Year, Mars has six current nominations: Album Of The Year and Best R&B Album for 24K Magic; Song Of The Year, Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song for "That's What I Like."

Mars has five prior GRAMMY wins and 21 prior nominations. With five prior Record Of The Year nominations, he is the lone artist in the field with a previous win in the category: "Uptown Funk" with Mark Ronson at the 58th GRAMMY Awards.

The 60th GRAMMY Awards will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York on Jan. 28, 2018, airing live on CBS from 7:30–11 p.m. ET/4:30–8 p.m. PT. 

Justin Bieber at the 58th GRAMMY Awards

Photo: John Shearer/WireImage.com

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Justin Bieber Wins First Latin GRAMMY For "Despacito" Remix

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The Canadian earns a Latin GRAMMY for Best Urban Fusion/Performance alongside Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee
Tim McPhate
GRAMMYs
Nov 16, 2017 - 7:33 pm

Justin Bieber has one GRAMMY to his credit thus far in his career. And now he has joined an exclusive club of artists who have won a GRAMMY and a Latin GRAMMY.

The smash remix for "Despacito" featuring Bieber, which spent 16 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 this past summer, earned Best Urban Fusion/Performance honors at the 18th Latin GRAMMY Awards. Bieber shared the award with Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee.

The other nominees for Best Urban Fusion/Performance were "Si Tu Novio Te Deja Sola" — J. Balvin feat. Bad Bunny, "El Amante" — Nicky Jam, "Dagombas En Tamale" — Residente, and "Chantaje" — Shakira feat. Maluma.

Luis Fonsi

Luis Fonsi

Photo: John Shearer/Getty Images

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Luis Fonsi To Drop First Album Since "Despacito"

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The Latin GRAMMY winner will drop 'Vida' on Feb. 1, his first studio album in five years. It will feature the smash hit, along with plenty of long-awaited new music
Ana Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Jan 11, 2019 - 6:00 pm

Latin GRAMMY winner and past GRAMMY nominee Luis Fonsi, who became a household name following the smash success of "Despacito" in 2017, will be releasing his long-anticipated follow-up studio album on Feb. 1. Vida is his first LP since 8 in 2014, and will give the world some new Fonsi music, as well an album home for his biggest hits.

The album's track list reveals 15 songs, including the Puerto Rican singer's hot collabs of recent memory: both versions of "Despacito," the original featuring Latin GRAMMY winner and past GRAMMY nominee Daddy Yankee and the insanely viral remix featuring Yankee plus Latin GRAMMY and GRAMMY winner Justin Bieber. Some of the other previously released collabs are "Échame La Culpa" featuring past GRAMMY nominee Demi Lovato, "Imposible" with Colombian reggaeton singer and Latin GRAMMY nominee Ozuna and "Calypso (Remix)" featuring Latin GRAMMY winner and one of the leading ladies of reggaeton Karol G.

The new album will not only let listeners catch up on all of Fonsi's collabs but will also share new solo songs. As Billboard reports (and the tracklist hints), the majority of the lyrics are sung in Spanish, yet two versions of "Sola," bookend the album with a Spanish-language version to open and the English version to close.

Billboard describes the opening track as "a mid-tempo, sultry R&B tinged jam over sparse arrangements that highlight Fonsi's fine voice from the get-go." They also highlight the diversity of sounds a on the new album, with some more upbeat, urbano-style tracks in the vein of "Despacito," and some romantic baladas, more in the style of Fonsi's earlier recordings.

While to some music fans, especially those who predominantly listen to English-language music, Fonsi may have appeared to ascend to the spotlight out of nowhere with the release of "Despacito (Remix)" in April 2017. In reality, the Puerto Rican singer has been releasing music in Spanish since 1998 when he released his debut album, Comenzare.

His eight albums released-to-date saw success in the Latin music market, with several songs topping Billboard's Hot Latin Songs chart and several making it to the all-genre Hot 100, including "Nada Es Para Siempre" back in 2005 and "No Me Doy Por Vencido" in 2008, both of which hit No. 1 on the Latin chart.

He released his fourth studio album, Fight The Feeling, and only English-language one, in 2002, following the crossover success of other Latin music artists releasing music in English, such as GRAMMY/Latin GRAMMY winners Ricky Martin with "Livin' La Vida Loca" in 1999 and Shakira with "Whenever, Wherever" in 2001. 

When Fonsi released "Despacito" with reggaeton legend Daddy Yankee, followed by the remix version with Bieber, the trio had a runaway hit. The song spent 16 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 and 52 weeks total on the chart and was the most streamed song of 2017 with 1.3 billion streams.

The song earned Fonsi his first Latin GRAMMY wins at the 18th Latin GRAMMY Awards, where the original version won: Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year,and Best Short Form Music Video, and the remix won Best Urban Fusion/Performance, also giving Bieber his first Latin GRAMMY win.

Nov 16, 2017 – 9:42 pm

Luis Fonsi: "Despacito" Wins Record Of The Year

At the 60th GRAMMY Awards the "Despacito (Remix)" earned the Fonsi, Bieber and Yankee three nominations, for Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Following the night of the show, for which Fonsi and Yankee performed their original song on stage, it saw a huge spike in downloads, a 263 percent climb from the prior day. The remix also saw a rise in sales at that time in January 2018, following its huge 2017 end-of-year streaming numbers.

While Fonsi may not have been able to ride the Latin music crossover wave in the early 00's, he is often credited for the renewed and widened interest in Latin music across markets following the success of "Despactio." It feels like the world is ready to step into Fonsi's new Vida.

How Bad Bunny Is Putting Latin Trap On The Map

Luis Fonsi, Li Saumet at the 18th Latin GRAMMY Awards

Luis Fonsi and Bomba Estéreo's Li Saumet

Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

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"Despacito," Vicente García, Rubén Blades Win Big | 18th Latin GRAMMYs

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Alongside a night of lit performances, Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's hit collaboration earns four awards while Dominican singer/songwriter García captured three awards
Tim McPhate
GRAMMYs
Nov 16, 2017 - 9:10 pm

"Despacito," Vicente García and Rubén Blades emerged as the big winners at the 18th Latin GRAMMY Awards on Nov. 16 in Las Vegas.

Nov 16, 2017 – 10:51 pm

Rubén Blades Album Of The Year | Acceptance Speech

Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito," the 2017 smash that just won't slow down, took home four awards: Song Of The Year, Record Of The Year, Best Short Form Music Video, and Best Urban Fusion/Performance. The song's remix earned the latter award, which netted Justin Bieber his first career Latin GRAMMY win.

Newcomer Dominican singer/songwriter García won his first three career Latin awards: Best New Artist, Best Singer-Songwriter Album for A La Mar and Best Tropical Song for "Bachata En Kingston."

Nov 16, 2017 – 9:53 pm

Vicente García Best New Artist | Acceptance Speech

The Panamanian Blades took home Album Of The Year and Best Salsa Album honors for Salsa Big Band — Rubén Blades Con Roberto Delgado & Orquesta. He was previously nominated for Album Of The Year three times.

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Though they didn't work as a pair this time around, Calle 13 — Residente and Eduardo Cabra (Visitante) — made their presence known.

Residente earned Best Urban Album honors for Residente and Best Urban Song for "Somos Anormales."

Meanwhile, Cabra took home Producer Of The Year honors.

Camila Cabello at the 18th Latin GRAMMY Awards
18th Latin GRAMMY Awards | Red Carpet

GRAMMY winner Lin-Manuel Miranda of "Hamilton" fame was feted with special recognition in the form of a President's Merit Award. "No one gets here alone," said Miranda, who referred to himself as the "weird theater kid."

The 18th Latin GRAMMY Awards was all about dazzling performances as well.

Following a moment of silence for Puerto Rico and Mexico and the people affected by the recent natural disasters, Residente opened the show on a poignant note with his "Hijos Del Cañaveral."

Alejandro Sanz, the 2017 Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year, was honored by fellow Latin GRAMMY winner Juan Luis Guerra. After dedicating the award to his family, Sanz performed a medley of his hits, including "Corazón Partío."

Residente at the 18th Latin GRAMMY Awards
18th Latin GRAMMY Awards | Winners Backstage

Colombia's Juanes, who won Best Pop/Rock Album for Planes Son Amarte, joined Alessia Cara and Logic for a moving performance of the Spanish version of the latter's suicide prevention anthem, "1-800-273-8255."

May 19, 2017 – 6:47 pm

Logic talks about 'Everybody'

Making an impressive Latin GRAMMY stage debut, Miami-based boy band collective — and Best New Artist nominees — Cnco performed their hit "Reggaetton Lento."

Colombian reggaeton singer/songwriter Maluma commanded the stage with verve during a reading of his "Felicies Los 4."

Fresh from winning her first Latin GRAMMY for Best Alternative Song, Chile's Mon Laferte energetically performed her winning song: "Amárrame."

Nov 16, 2017 – 5:06 pm

Watch Mon Laferte Win First Career Latin GRAMMY

In a raucous finale, Fonsi served up a knock-out punch of "Despacito" alongside special guests Bomba Estéreo, Víctor Manuelle and Diplo. Fittingly, the biggest song in Latin music in 2017 served as an unforgettable coda to The Biggest Night in Latin Music.