From career milestones and new music releases to major announcements and more, Billboard editors highlight the latest news buzz in Latin music every week. Here’s what happened in the Latin music world this week.
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Bad Bunny Makes WWE 2K23 Debut
This week, video game company 2K released a first look at Bad Bunny in WWE 2K23, the newest installment of the WWE video game franchise. From hitting the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania rings in 2021 to becoming a virtual playable character, the Puerto Rican artist is seen flaunting his wrestling skills in a new 40-second trailer. This is the first time the artist has appeared in the game. For more information, visit the official website here.
A New Lele Pons & Guaynaa Collab
Two years after their first collaborative effort in “Se Te Nota,” power couple Lele Pons and Guaynaa release a new track together called “Abajito.” The playful dembow finds the pair promising to always love and take care of each other, but also has witty lyrics about “down there.” The single forms part of the Pons and Guaynaa’s upcoming joint album, which they talked about in-depth in the February Billboard Español cover here. “Abajito” follows 2020’s “Se Te Nota,” which spent 18 weeks on the all-genre Billboard Global 200 (where it peaked at No. 44), 25 weeks on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart (No. 19 peak) and 11 weeks on Hot Latin Songs (No. 25).
Grupo Frontera Day
With a rather young career (a one-year trajectory to be exact), Grupo Frontera already counts with their own official day declared on Feb. 16 as “Grupo Frontera Day” in Edingburg, a city south of Texas. Group members Adelaido Solís, Julian Peña Jr., Alberto Acosta, Carlos Zamora, Carlos Guerrero, and Juan Javier Cantu were present at the event, where they also performed for their fans on site. “This momentous event commemorates the impact the group has had on the south Texas community and the world at large by way of their music,” expressed a press release. The norteño group recently became the only Regional Mexican act to have three titles in the coveted Billboard Hot 100 chart with “No Se Va,” “Que Vuelvas,” and “Bebe Dame.”
A Selena Quintanilla Anniversary
February 28 marked three decades since the late Selena Quintanilla made her debut at the Houston Astrodome in Texas. “Today 30 years ago, Selena y Los Dinos performed for the first time at the Houston Astrodome breaking attendance records. Selena Y Los Dinos would continue to consecutively break that record 3 years in a row!” said a post on the Queen of Tejano’s official Instagram account. A short celebratory video shows Quintanilla performing a bit of “Como La Flor” on that night in 1993.
Billboard Women in Music
The 2023 Billboard Women in Music awards took place this week, where three of the honorees were Spanish-singing acts: Becky G received the Impact Award, Rosalía received the inaugural Producer of the Year Award presented by Bose, and Ivy Queen received the Icon Award. One of the most notable moments of the night was when Bad Bunny made a surprise appearance onstage to give Queen her award. “I don’t have to say much because the career and legacy of Ivy talk for itself,” the Puerto Rican singer said in his Spanish speech. “When they ask me what artists have inspired me, I never know what to say because truthfully, I’ve been a fan of reggaetón since I was a kid, and a lot of artists have inspired me. I’ve always said that my musical DNA has a bit of all the artists, and without a doubt, the strength I’ve had to be myself and be successful, to work double, is part of Ivy that I have in my musical DNA.” WIM was held at the YouTube Theater at Hollywood Park in Los Angeles and honored the most influential powerhouses – including artists, creators, producers and executives — in music today who are contributing to the industry and community.
