Best Pop Singers of 21st Century (No. 23)

With the primary quarter of the twenty first century coming to an in depth, Billboard is spending the following few months counting down our employees picks for the 25 best pop stars of the final 25 years. We’ve already named our Honorable Mentions and our No. 25 and No. 24 stars, and now we keep in mind the century in Dangerous Bunny — who grew from Latin lure phenom to globe-conquering superpower and reworked what it means to be a pop star within the U.S. and past.

It’s straightforward to neglect in 2024 how uncommon the idea of a foreign-language U.S. pop star was as not too long ago as final decade. Whilst Latin pop loved a large crossover second on the flip of the century, and reggaetón turned a world drive within the mid-’00s, the one artists in a position to often dominate the U.S. mainstream had been those that carried out in English (or collaborated with English-language hitmakers). Daddy Yankee was as legendary a twenty first century reggaetón artist as they arrive – his 2022 sendoff album was known as Legendaddy – however his signature hit, the all-Spanish  “Gasolina,” nonetheless topped out at No. 32 on the Billboard Scorching 100 in 2005. Even his historic, chart-conquering Luis Fonsi teamup “Despacito” wanted a Justin Bieber remix to recover from the Scorching 100’s high in 2017, and neither Fonsi nor Yankee has made the chart’s high 20 once more since. 

After which got here Dangerous Bunny. The Puerto Rican artist born Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio didn’t rework international pop music in a single day, however over the course of his six-year rise to dominance, he infiltrated the mainstream in a manner no different Spanish-language artist – no foreign-language artist of any variety, actually – ever fairly has. That’s as a result of not solely did Dangerous Bunny set up himself as one of the dependable hitmakers on the planet (and within the U.S. particularly) whereas additionally changing into one of the recognizable faces and personalities in popular culture at giant, however he did all of it whereas seemingly making no creative concessions to anybody – to not radio, to not developments, and definitely to not the English-speaking world.

Dangerous Bunny first made his presence recognized in 2016, after his single “Diles” – launched on SoundCloud, whereas Ocasio was nonetheless working as a grocery store bagger – attracted sufficient viral consideration to each get him a label cope with Hear This Music and Rimas Leisure and earn a remix that includes established reggaetón hitmakers Farruko, Arcángel and Ñengo Circulate (and a fellow rising star in Ozuna). The tune didn’t make a lot chart impression, however turned a slow-burning streaming success – and later that 12 months, Dangerous Bunny launched “Soy Peor,” which might change into his first fully solo hit when it peaked at No. 19 on the Scorching Latin Songs chart in September 2017, establishing him as a number one voice within the burgeoning Latin lure scene. 

Over the following 12 months, Dangerous Bunny would additionally change into a fixture on the Scorching 100, showing on hits alongside Becky G (“Mayores”) and Enrique Iglesias (“El Bano”), whereas additionally contributing his rising star energy to All-Star cuts like “Krippy Kush” and “Te Boté,” the latter his first high 40 entry on the chart. Whereas Dangerous Bunny was only one artist of many on the latter two songs – with a mixed 10 complete credited names between them – he stood out for each his distinctive voice, a congested-but-buttery croon which additionally made his trademark artist tag (“Dangerous Bunny bay-beh!!”) immediately unforgettable, and for his impeccable vogue type, an unconventional mixture of the flamboyant and the fundamental that all the time appeared to land inside the realm of timeless cool.

All of it led as much as his 2018 function look on American rap famous person Cardi B’s “I Like It,” considered one of pop’s nice star-making moments of the twenty first century. Whereas Dangerous Bunny didn’t but have the family identify recognition of both Cardi or fellow visitor reggaetonero J Balvin – who’d not too long ago scored a large U.S. crossover second of his personal with the Willy William collab “Mi Gente,” even touchdown Beyoncé for the tune’s remix – his verse nonetheless kinda stole the present, from its opening “chambea, chambea” chant. Sporting cat-eye sun shades and a Puerto Rico World Baseball Basic jersey within the tune’s vastly well-liked music video, Ocasio already appeared like an icon within the making. The tune reached No. 1 on the Billboard Scorching 100, and ensured that every one eyes in all places had been now on Dangerous Bunny. 

The warmth from “I Like It” didn’t take lengthy to translate to Dangerous Bunny’s profession as a number one man. Only a few months later, he returned with “MIA,” which landed a visitor verse from maybe the one hitmaker with much more juice than Cardi B in 2018: Drake, within the midst of a 12 months the place he’d spend a mixed 29 weeks atop the Scorching 100 with Scorpion singles “God’s Plan,” “Good for What” and “In My Emotions.” Not solely did the Canadian-born famous person play the hook man for Dangerous Bunny’s new single, he really sang in Spanish for it – exhibiting that this early in his rise, Benito already had the clout to get the English-speaking pop world to come back to his turf. “MIA” was one other monumental success for Dangerous Bunny, reaching No. 5 on the Scorching 100 and enduring for lengthy sufficient to finish up the No. 1 year-end single on the 2019 12 months-Finish Scorching Latin Songs chart.

Amazingly, Dangerous Bunny’s whole rise to stardom transpired earlier than he even launched his debut album. That got here on the tail finish of 2018, nonetheless, with X 100pre. Somewhat than money in on his two years of hits and big-name collabs to that time, Dangerous Bunny’s debut album featured solely a few his beforehand launched singles and just some company, with “MIA” caught on the finish like a bonus monitor. The album drew rave critiques and reached No. 11 on the Billboard 200, hanging across the chart properly into the following decade and finally spending 177 weeks on the itemizing, confirming that Dangerous Bunny was already way more than only a singles artist. 

In June 2019, whereas Dangerous Bunny was nonetheless spinning off X 100pre hits, having additional success with singles alongside hitmakers Tainy (“Callaíta”), Lunay (“Soltera”) and Jhayco (“No Me Conoces”) and taking a break in between legs of his first area tour, Dangerous Bunny would additional electrify his now-global viewers by reteaming together with his “I Like It” collaborator J Balvin for the Oasis EP. Regardless of having simply eight tracks, the set made each the highest 10 on the Billboard 200 and the highest 10 of Billboard’s year-end employees albums checklist for 2019. Maybe most significantly, whereas Dangerous Bunny was unquestionably the little brother of the 2 from a star perspective on “I Like It” only a 12 months earlier, by the point of Oasis he and Balvin had been clearly on even footing as the 2 main hitmakers in reggaetón and Latin lure. 

However whereas Balvin’s stateside star would fade considerably as the last decade turned to the 2020s, Dangerous Bunny’s would solely get brighter. In 2020 alone he would launch a trio of albums – YHLQMDLG (brief for Yo Hago Lo Que Me Da La Gana, “I Do No matter I Need” in English) in February, castoffs compilation Las Que No Iban a Salir (The Ones That Had been Not Coming Out) in Could and El Último Tour del Mundo (The Final Tour within the World) in November – that continued to increase his sound and his international profile, attracting rave critiques (even from many listeners and publications who had not historically proven curiosity in Latin pop or reggaetón). His albums turned occasion releases – doubly so as a result of he began scheduling them round main calendar occasions (X 100pre on Christmas Eve, YHLQMDLG on Leap Day, El Último on Thanksgiving, and so forth.) What’s extra, in December, Último made historical past by debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, marking not solely Dangerous Bunny’s first look atop the chart, however the first fully Spanish-language No. 1 album within the chart’s then-64-year existence.

In 2021, Dangerous Bunny made the soar from pop hitmaker to unavoidable superstar. He scored a short cameo in F9, the most recent installment of the blockbuster Quick & Livid franchise, and began showing in commercials for Cheetos and Corona, the latter that includes his bilingual bantering with American rap icon Snoop Dogg. Extra unexpectedly, he launched a wrestling profession – at first simply performing his wrestling-themed “Booker T” on the Royal Rumble, then getting within the ring himself, each on his personal and as a part of a tag group with fellow Puerto Rican Damien Priest. He additionally used his newfound business affect to assist facilitate comeback moments for a few of his hitmaking favorites of yore – enlisting Aventura for his hit “Volvi” and each co-writing and co-producing El Playlist de Anoche with Tommy Torres, giving every their largest highlight second in years, if not many years. 

However as a lot as Dangerous Bunny completed within the first 5 years of his profession, it turned out to all be the prelude to 2022. That Could, he dropped Un Verano Sin Ti (A Summer season With out You) – 23 tracks, once more fully in Spanish, with no main English-language company, and with solely nearer “Callaíta” having been beforehand launched. Like Último, it debuted atop the Billboard 200 – however not like Último, it stayed there, spending 13 weeks at No. 1 on the itemizing, with at the very least 8-10 of its tracks additionally populating the Scorching 100 throughout any given week that summer season. Although nobody single from it was actually large enough to carry Verano to bigger consciousness by itself, the album was so diverse in sound –  with tracks starting from the chic “Neverita” to the booming “Titi Me Pregunto” to the party-starting “Después de la Playa” – however so coherent in general feeling, that totally different songs from it popped off at totally different instances (and with totally different audiences). It ended 2022 because the No. 1 album on each the 12 months-Finish Billboard 200 and the Billboard employees’s Albums of the 12 months checklist, and in addition earned Dangerous Bunny his first Grammy nomination for album of the 12 months.

Between 2022 and 2023, his stateside visibility took one more step up, as he co-starred (and had an enormous combat scene) with Brad Pitt within the motion flick Bullet Practice, pulled double responsibility internet hosting and acting on Saturday Night time Stay, and dominated the 2022 VMAs remotely from his headlining gig at Yankee Stadium – a part of his globetrotting World’s Hottest Tour – the place he gained the artist of the 12 months moonperson. (He additionally made headlines for kissing a male backup dancer throughout that efficiency, additional demonstrating an allyship that has made him an icon for the LGBTQ neighborhood, a rarity for lure or reggaetón artists.) He additionally started courting American superinfluencer Kendall Jenner, information of which was met with some trepidation from his core fanbase, however which cemented him as a tabloid fixture, and half of 1 of popular culture’s preeminent 2020s energy {couples}. Earlier than 2023’s finish, he even launched one other album: Nadie Saber Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana, which additionally debuted atop the Billboard 200, albeit with out fairly the rapturous acclaim or endurance of Verano. 

In 2024, Dangerous Bunny stands as merely one of many largest culture-movers in music. The checklist of accolades and accomplishments he’s racked up in his profession so far is staggering, however his truest legacy could merely be proving that you would be able to be the best pop star on the earth – and he was ours for 2022 – with out compromising your music, your picture or your language for the American market. When Dangerous Bunny will get up at an award present this decade and accepts fully in Spanish, he does it with out apology or hesitation, and no one even blinks at it. Now, it’s straightforward to see an artist like Karol G or Peso Pluma following their manner by a number of the doorways he’s opened. And that’s the facility of Dangerous Bunny: to be such an apparent, all-encompassing famous person that you simply neglect simply how lengthy – and till how not too long ago – these doorways had been closed within the first place. 

Learn extra concerning the Biggest Pop Stars of the twenty first Century right here and examine again on Thursday when our No. 22 artist is revealed!