Bad Bunny, Rosalía, Karol G… These artists who made reggaeton break through in France

Even yesterday, reggaeton was unknown in France. Today, this musical style fills stadiums "Arrived five or six years ago in France", this genre has its place in current musical trends, says Angelo Gopee, the general manager of the Lollapalooza Paris festival. “People travel a lot now in South America, and with streaming platforms, we listen to more and more reggaeton, explains the director of the festival. Reggaeton is an art of living, we listen to it, we dance to it, we live with it.”

Reggaeton is this style of music with hip-hop accents originating in the poor neighborhoods of Puerto Rico, which is often wrongly described as "Latino". It was born in the 90s, and is first fought for its sexual character. At issue: explicit lyrics and a provocative dance, the perreo. But reggaeton persists and signs. Worldwide success in the 2000s, it made the small Caribbean island the cradle of this musical style. Today, most of the big reggaeton stars such as Bad Bunny, Rauw Alejandro or Daddy Yankee are from there.

If there was only one name to remember, it would be Bad Bunny. Designated for the third consecutive year as the most listened to artist on the Spotify listening platform, he recorded more than 15.8 billion streams in 2022. He launched in 2016 and quickly achieved success thanks to a clever mix of styles: hip-hop, pop, trap, R

In February, he opened the 65th Grammy Awards with Un Verano Sin Ti, the title of his latest album steeped in mambo and merengue (a musical style originating in the Dominican Republic, Ed). An electric tribute to his native island that made the Grammy hall dance. Named nine times by this academy, he has already won three Grammy Awards. And he, who has already headlined the Parisian festivals Lollapalooza in 2019 and We Love Green in 2021, has been invited to perform at Coachella this year. Proof of real progress for this music and the Spanish language against English.

Rosalía is the other Coachella headliner who will perform on several French stages this summer. Catalan artist revealed in 2016 thanks to Antes de Morirme, she is best known for having brought flamenco back into fashion. Falling in love with this style at 13, she systematically uses traditional rhythms, religious symbols, dance and even the Andalusian accent in her songs.

Rosalía is a special voice that we recognize from the first notes. And in addition to being endowed with real talent, she has a flair for signing good collaborations. In 2020, she released a title with Travis Scott, TKN. Then La Fama with The Weeknd in 2021. She also sings Lo Vas A Olvidar alongside Billie Eilish who appears in the soundtrack of the Euphoria series. She collaborates with English-speaking artists, but she does not forget her native language. The Spaniard enjoys unprecedented success thanks to La Noche de Anoche with a certain... Bad Bunny! She recently released three new titles, including Beso with her fiancé Rauw Alejandro, which shook the Internet. He joined her on the Coachella stage to perform two of their new songs, igniting fans. Rosalía will be present at the Lollapalooza Festival as well as at the Vieilles Charrues.

The Lollapalooza festival was born in the United States in 1991 before expanding to several countries including France in 2017. It is held over a weekend in July at the Longchamp racecourse. “We want to bring people to discover new artists and musical currents, explains Angelo Gopee. For this, we offer a different program and posters. You have to be at the forefront of trends, know how to take risks and offer the best.”

Presenting a fairly eclectic program of 70 artists in 3 days, Lollapalooza represents the current musical diversity well. In 2018, Dua Lipa was invited there, then exploded in the following months in the pop category. Last summer, the Parisian event welcomed the Argentinian artist Bizarrap, completely unknown at the time. A keen music producer, he has carried out numerous collaborations to sublimate the voices of artists. In January, he works with Shakira. This title entitled Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol.53 in which the Colombian takes her revenge on her ex, Gérard Piqué, becomes a worldwide success with 425 million plays on Spotify.

The Lollapalooza festival, which also exists in India, Argentina and Germany, is not the only one to welcome Spanish-speaking artists. In Chicago, Karol G was invited to headline. The Colombian singer who also recently collaborated with Shakira has become "a social phenomenon". Promoting a feminist reggaeton, she is part of the new generation of reggaeton singers. Through her lyrics that overthrow the established order, she speaks to women who identify with her. “For generations, we have identified with songs written by men and we try to conform to their point of view, she explained to the online media Brut in early March. It's clearly an important idea in all my songs, to represent women, so that when they sing, they recognize themselves. That's why I talk about everything, without limits, without taboos, without reservations, without prejudices.

What about French reggaeton? It is struggling to see the light of day according to Angelo Gopee, because of the “obvious language problem”. But artists like Karol G, Bad Bunny, Ozuna, Sech, Daddy Yankee or even Romeo Santos participate in its expansion in France. AND who knows, maybe they will spark vocations?