2021 in Bachata Music

The beautiful music that survived a pandemic and kept us dancing all year long.

I've pulled together everything I felt about bachata in 2021 — a year of sharing music in the Bachata Musica room and dancing to it. This is a story about beautiful music that stubbornly survived and grew through an ongoing pandemic, and kept us dancing.

· The heavyweights who'd already hit their peak in bachata crossed over into Latin pop chasing a bigger market, widening their reach,

· Bachata remix DJs multiplied, rapidly ferrying popular pop/Latin pop into bachata, and the top DJs evolved from remixing into producing,

· Mainstream artists showed up in the bachata scene with commercially polished original bachatas.

A simple 8-count rhythm in 4/4, high sync compatibility with today's music, and a musical layout that's perfect for collabs. What used to get dismissed as "cheesy" sentiment has been sublimated into pure lyricism, and powered by that simplicity and rawness, bachata's insane hybridizing force is cross-breeding across eras and genres, expanding its musical horizons.

Beyond the in-genre debates like Dominican vs. sensual, bachata music went through a period of growth and confusion by meeting a much bigger world. Hoping this is just the prologue to an even bigger drama, here's a look back at the year in bachata music.

Prince Royce — Beyond Bachata and Reggaeton, into a Genre Called "Royce"

Prince Royce, who's never failed to deliver sweet bachata, had honestly already conquered bachata and had long been exploring an expansion into Latin pop. But his fans weren't thrilled about that shift. Every time he dropped a reggaeton track, fans cried out for him to sing bachata.

So Royce went ahead and packaged two CDs — bachata and reggaeton, kept separate — into one release. That's the <Alter Ego> album, out in February 2020. CD 1 holds the bachata, CD 2 the Latin pop reggaeton. "Here's both at once — help yourself to whatever you're in the mood for!"

Having gone through all that, Prince Royce finally delivered his answer this year, in 2021. Lao' a Lao' feels like a synthesis born out of some serious wrestling.

Loaded with the retro colors and denim-on-denim, mixtape, disco-era feeling that's everywhere right now, packaged in Royce's signature bright energy. It's reggaeton and bachata at the same time — he created a genre called Prince Royce, one that no longer distinguishes between the two. And that's how he pulled bachata up into the mainstream.

But because of that very quality, the song has stretches that get awkward when you're social dancing to it. It IS bachata, sure, but it was this strange track that only really felt like bachata once you heard it remixed back into bachata.

And then, right before Christmas, a gift arrived from Prince Royce for all of us: he released a bachata version of Lao' a Lao', which was already out as bachata. The bachata version of a bachata. It's a song we'd already heard and danced to plenty this year, but this unexpected gift is more than welcome.

Romeo Santos — Expanding Territory Toward King of Latin

Romeo Santos didn't release a single new bachata this year. Nuestro Amor, out last year, is the most recent one. On top of that, on this year's Volvi, even a fully reunited Aventura — arguably the origin of the modern bachata group — is out there dancing goofily and belting reggaeton. As a bachata fan, this is a moment that feels almost like betrayal (?!). :)

But we don't feel like he's left bachata. His legendary bachatas kept pouring out at socials and in demos, and his new reggaeton tracks stayed with us in remix form.

Meanwhile, he set out on the road to becoming king of a much bigger world. And he pulled it off beautifully. Volvi racked up a massive 200 million YouTube views and placed bachata in a far larger musical context. Honestly, even Volvi kind of sounds like bachata. Sure, what we listen and dance to is just the remix version — but if Romeo's voice is in it, nothing can NOT be bachata.

Romeo Santos, expanding his territory from King of Bachata to King of Latin. Rooting for the journey, but hoping he comes home now and then in 2022 to sing us a song from the old country.

Dani J, the Voice of Sensual Bachata, and His Endless Challenges

This year Dani J quietly kept his reputation going with five singles and no full album. Entre Tú Y Mil Mares in particular left a deep mark, arriving with a long-awaited Chávez/Silvia demo and the scenery of an Andalusian beach. Just like the title says: "between you and a thousand seas."

Amid the endless stream of new music and new sounds, we've been listening to Dani J's voice for a long time now. But Dani J doesn't let us get bored.

He unearthed a track by an Italian singer released 20 years ago, brought an unfamiliar rapper in on a feature (Vente) — he hasn't stopped experimenting. For his last release of 2021, he collaborated with salsa group La Maxima 79 on the salsa track Inolvidable. That's got to be the product of real thought and effort to avoid just copying himself.

Is there anything even newer Dani J can show us from here? I'll cast my vote for Yes without hesitating. Because everything he's shown us so far tells me his challenges aren't stopping anytime soon.

From Remixing to Producing — On the Shoulders of Giants

Remixes are the number one reason bachata got where it is today. The appeal: being able to enjoy a social to music that's easy to hear, familiar, and blazing hot right now. It can slip into being a knockoff that loses its own color, but it's also the catalyst that can appeal broadly to far more people — and bachata has grown by walking that razor's edge. Along the way, some remixes were born that surpassed the originals.

Now bachata remixes are heading down yet another new road.

First: the realm of producing, which goes beyond remixing to complete an independent piece of music. Instead of grabbing an already-released track, tweaking it, layering a bachata bass on top and uploading it, DJs are now collaborating directly with labels and artists to release originals as bachata. The secondary processing of remixing is turning into the creative territory of producing.

Most of the major DJs — DJ Tony Pecino, DJ Khalid, DJ Tronky, DJ Alejandro — now rebirth tracks as high-quality original bachatas alongside the singers who become their muses, instead of remixing an original as-is. Vini Rivera, Johnny Evidence, Mr. Don and the other standout bachata vocals of the year served as the bridge between Latin pop and bachata with their own voices.

But this is still only half creation, half independence. Because so many of these tracks are lifted from reggaeton/Latin pop hits. Songs like these end up going head to head in the market with remix versions that just put a bachata bass on the original, splitting people's tastes.

As bachata remix DJs multiplied, popular Latin pop tracks got remixed instantly, with that perfect chemistry that comes from sharing the same Latin DNA. DJ C, DJ Selphi and plenty of others were putting out several remixes of popular/newly released songs a week, lightning fast.

The arrangements are all pretty middle-of-the-road, but the original's popularity is what draws people to these original remixes. In bachata now, you can dance to the latest trending track with almost no lag. And these polished, easy-listening songs with a light bachata bass laid on top became the mainstream at socials.

This is making bachata an even more appealing genre. A genre where a man and a woman sync up and radiate charm to the trendiest current hit you're hearing everywhere, every day.

Bachata, having learned how to survive on the shoulders of the giant that is Latin pop. It's a moment that brings to mind Charles Darwin's line — that the species that survives to the end isn't the strongest or the smartest, but the one that adapts best to a changing environment.

The New Standard for Bachata Sound — EQS

EQS (Earthquake Sound) is a Latin music/management label founded in 1998 by DerekVinch, a former DJ and audio engineer. They put out DJ originals too, but their main line of work is taking commercially polished Latin pop and bachata-fying it through collabs between bachata specialist singers and remix DJs.

They layer electronic sound over a traditional bass, and apply effects to the voices of their various collaborating singers, stacking them in layers to maximize sonic polish. That faint, far-off megaphone sound is their trademark. A good number of the singers bachata lovers adore — Vini Rivera, Johnny Evidence, Mr. Don — are on the EQS roster.

Their sound strips out the corniness and coats everything in polish, which fits sensual bachata perfectly. EQS, which has been shifting the standard for bachata sound for the past several years, hit its peak in 2021 with a run of hits: the Vini Rivera x DJ Tony Pecino series of Ponte Pá Mi, Hecha Pá Mi, Encima De Mi; Si Me Dices Que Sí featuring Johnny Evidence; the album <Reloaded Bachata> made with DJ Khalid; and Mr. Don's Bypass and Nadie.

As we get used to this music — blurring the line between remix and original, one step closer to pop — traditional bachata sound can start to sound even more old-fashioned. Then again, you can also get a little tired of the similar sound across so many tracks and find yourself craving that traditional sound the way you crave kimchi. Buoyed by dance and music changing in step with the times like this, bachata fans are enjoying an unprecedented abundance.

The Mainstream Invasion, the Rise into the Mainstream

In 2021, mainstream artists put the exclamation point on that abundance. Non-bachata, world-class singers sang original bachatas and swept the charts.

Here are the bachata songs with the most YouTube views this year. Release dates vary, but you can see the rough trend. (View counts as of late December.)

· ROSALÍA — LA FAMA ft. The Weeknd — 46.7M views

· Ozuna, Anthony Santos — Señor Juez — 34.7M views

· C. Tangana, Nathy Peluso — Ateo — 26.4M views

· Fabbio X Omar Montes X Lennis Rodriguez — Diablita Remix — 10M views

· Prince Royce — Lao' a Lao' — 10M views

· Helene Fischer feat. Luis Fonsi — Vamos a Marte — 8.7M views

Apart from Prince Royce, not one of these singers had ever sung bachata before. La Fama, the most recently released of the bunch, is the overwhelming No. 1 in bachata YouTube views this year. A bachata sung in Spanish by The Weeknd — an English-language, non-Latino artist — took the top spot in bachata this year. Of course, these numbers rest on global fandoms, so they don't correspond proportionally to popularity inside the bachata scene.

By contrast, here's how the traditional bachata singers who were popular this year did on YouTube.

· Leslie Grace — Bachatica — 3.8M views

· GRUPO EXTRA, ATACA, LA ALEMANA, EL TIGUERE — SOLO MIA — 1.6M views

· Mr. Don — Bypass — 940K views

· Dani J — Entre Tú Y Mil Mares — 800K views

The bachatas sung by these global superstars gave us plenty to talk about, buzz-wise, too.

Ateo swept the bachata scene the moment it dropped and hit No. 1 on Spotify Spain. This blockbuster-scale bachata music video, choreographed by Marco Sara and filmed inside Toledo Cathedral, went past mere provocation into full-blown social controversy with its outrageous setup.

It caused enormous conflict and backlash within the Catholic Church, eventually reaching the point where the archdiocese issued an official apology. "We permitted it in the spirit of embracing cultural diversity, but we will not allow anything like this again." Ateo now looks likely to be the first and last bachata music video ever shot in Toledo Cathedral — or in any Catholic church.

♡Ateo lyric highlights♡Love is like a religion.I was an atheist, but now I believe. Because a miracle like you came down from heaven.Let them talk, make them die of envy.While they run their mouths, you and I are alone dancing bachata~ with a bottle of something …

Meanwhile, reggaeton emperor Ozuna sang Señor Juez with Anthony Santos at the 2021 Latin Grammys. He put bachata live on the Latin Grammy stage, watched by people all over the world.

La Fama's Rosalía is a Spanish singer. A bachata sung by a Spanish singer who had never sung bachata before, in collaboration with the Canadian Weeknd, sparked an authenticity debate all on its own. The musical style, too, hovers on the line of maybe-bachata-maybe-not. It was the appearance of a new species with no Dominican roots.

Simply put, I'm angry that bachata — a genre it took far too long for Dominicans to receive global respect and recognition for — is now being profited from by a white Spanish woman who hasn't used her platform to amplify Black Dominican women artists.

Rosalía's New Bachata Video, "La Fama," Highlights the White-Washing Issue Overwhelming Black…

But Rosalía then made a surprise featured appearance on the legendary bachata track Obsesión at the Aventura concert in Santo Domingo, capital of bachata's holy land, the Dominican Republic — receiving a hand kiss from Romeo Santos and walking straight into the center of bachata. A legitimate objection and a gorgeous counterpunch — for bachata fans, all of this is the kind of thrilling event that has you reaching for popcorn.

The Weeknd and Rosalía, Ozuna and Luis Fonsi… why did these huge artists suddenly start singing bachata? What is it about bachata that pulled them in? Will that reason still hold in 2022? What changes will this bring to the bachata scene as a whole?

That's exactly why 2022's bachata has me even more excited.

Loose Ends — Where Does Bachata Belong?

Grupo Extra built out an even more solid South American united front alongside Ataca/La Alemana. They went all in and formed Grupo Extra Touch (Grupo Extra + Island Touch) with Ataca/La Alemana, released the hit of the year Solo Mia, and held live concerts together. The <Bachata Union> album, made with a range of bachata artists, feels almost like a declaration of that identity.

Dominican kept reaching our ears as either an alternative to the sensual style or a partner to it. Dominican master Héctor Acosta's Pa' Que Me Perdones was loved for delivering an irreplaceably strong Dominican vibe — a bowl of cold dongchimi cutting through all the sweet, polished bachata around it — and Anthony Santos collaborated with Ozuna while Elvis Martínez collaborated with Prince Royce, lending their music Dominican style and authenticity.

Ozuna's comment about Señor Juez stuck with me.

"Collaborating with Anthony Santos, the bachata maestro who gave us music, inspired us and influenced us, gave me a joy beyond satisfaction.Without a doubt it's one of the most important collaborations of my entire career, one that represents the musical roots I grew up with."

The bachata singers we already loved — Dama, Dustin Leach, Efrem J and others — kept putting out new tracks and albums, but didn't draw the kind of attention they used to. Is polarization starting in this genre with the arrival of big mainstream artists? Or will everyone get to enjoy a little more abundance inside the wider market they've opened up?

It makes me want to ask: in this ironic situation where every boundary is dissolving and identity is fading — and the base keeps expanding precisely because of that — where does original bachata belong? Bachata has kept mutating and growing right at that boundary line, and plenty of the bachata artists we love will keep giving us new answers to that in 2022, through music.

That's how 2021's bachata changed hard, right along with the times, and we danced hard and tirelessly despite COVID's assault. Waiting for the morning that will burst out at the end of the dark, the dance and music we love will keep evolving in 2022 without stopping. Bachata is taking over!!