Latin Pop is a music genre very similar to the pop music that we all know, just that it comes with a Latin American influence. Latino Pop, as it is called in Spanish or Portuguese, can refer to anything from pop music produced or sung by Latin Americans to Latin Europe which includes songs and singers from Spain, Portugal and even Italian. Apart from the rhythm, the main characteristic of this type of music is that it is mostly sung in Spanish or a Romantic language. Some famous songwriters that have excelled in this type of music are Juanes and Estefano.
This genre comprises two main variations of pop music. One is obviously the regular pop music sang mainly in Spanish, Spanglish, Portuguese or English. The latter is intended for international audiences predominantly but it is also successful in Spanish speaking countries. The other type of such pop is a combination of the regular pop and typical Latin American rhythms such as samba, salsa, tex-mex, flamenco, tango, reggae, vallenato, or merengue.
Latin music pop has become popular and internationally recognized by the middle of the 20th century. In this period Ritchie Valens, a vocalist, had become famous by incorporating Latin rhythms and instrumental music into tracks. Later on, this type of music has succeeded to keep increasing in popularity through the work of the well known Julio Iglesias, Gloria Estefan and even Thalia.
The last decade of the 1900s was perhaps the period when this type of music achieved mainstream success in many parts of the world. One of the representative figures of this era of the pop Latin music is Ricky Martin, whose Livin’ la vida loca is still vibrating discos all over the world. Ricky Martin is worldwide recognized for a variety of collaborations with other popular artists such as Christina Aguilera. Ricky is a Puerto Rican singer who rose to fame after quitting the boy band Menudo and starting his own solo career in 1990.
Enrique Iglesias is another famous singer who has produced songs in both English and Spanish. He comes from Spain and performs as a singer, actor and songwriter. He is by far one of the most popular Latin singers in both Latin America and the United States, and also in a great part of Europe. Enrique Iglesias has been criticized for his vocal talent with various opportunities and yet he sold over 60 million records worldwide and is the winner of a Grammy Award and many other such musical awards.
Shakira is perhaps the most popular Latin singer at this moment. She comes from Colombia and is one of the Latin American singers who has won two Grammy Awards and is by far the most successful Latin American performer as she is the first Latin singer to reach no. 1 in the US tops. To conclude, Latin music is definitely popular and various names are now well known over the world and their music will continue to be in the top charts worldwide.