The Number One Song In The Country Is Mostly in Spanish and Has Italian Millionaire-Approved Dance Moves
Billboard also reports that this is the first mostly Spanish-language Hot 100 No. 1 in more than 20 years. (The last time a mostly Spanish song was on top of the charts was 1996: Remember “Macarena”?)
“Despacito” roughly translates as “slowly/gently/softly,” in a deeply sexual context (lyrics here), and the breathy, drawn-out way Bieber voices the word has even the likes of Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Mirando shook:
Meanwhile, Italian millionaire playboy Gianluca Vacchi can teach you some sexy “Despacito” choreography, should you care to learn:
This isn’t the first time Canada’s own Justin Bieber has made a play for the Latin music market. In 2015, he released a “Latino remix” version of “Sorry” that included Colombian singer/songwriter J Balvin.
But while that was a Bieber song that got new life by throwing in a Spanish-language verse (plus the exclamiation “JB and JB!”), and “Despacito” marks a major moment in American music history, the first and ONLY all-Spanish track to hit No. 1 remains Los Lobos’ remake of Ritchie Valens’ “La Bamba.”Still. Coming off a xenophobic, anti-immigrant election season in which “taco trucks on every corner” was a warning and a threat; in a time where our president wants to build a wall between the United States and Mexico (although one already exists), it’s nice to feel some international, cross-cultural exchange in the air. Perhaps a change is coming… despacito.