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The popularity of K-pop has been steadily increasing around the world due to its spectacular choreography, stages, video production, sound and music videos. But at the same time, the seductive style of Latin music has had audiences dancing for decades.
It was only a matter of time before the inevitable combination of these two musical phenomena would produce a unique musical sound that created new possibilities for cooperation between Korea and Latin America in the future. Here are some collabs that will make you want to hear more of this fascinating musical fusion.
The first K-pop and Latin music collaboration belongs to one of the most popular K-pop boy groups in Latin America, Super Junior, who collaborated with Latin-pop, Bachata, and Reggaeton singer Leslie Grace and music producers Play-N-Skillz on the track ‘Lo siento’.
The song is filled with Latin rhythms like Reggaeton, Denbow and hints of Tango, as well as the characteristic pop sound which is present in Super Junior's songs; the Spanish verses were written by Grace and other renowned Latin songwriters. Additionally, the song has a tropical-themed MV and choreography that includes Latin dance elements.
Similarly, Super Junior shows their love for their Latin fans by collaborating with the Mexican band Reik and releasing ‘One More Time (Otra Vez),’ a song that fuses Korean and Latin pop elements. The track is about regaining the love of that special person.
One of the most popular K-pop collaborations, BTS’ j-hope and Mexican-American artist Becky G worked together to produce the trilingual remix of the song ‘Chicken Noodle Soup’ by DJ Webstar and rapper Young B, which was one of the first songs j-hope learned to dance to, and Becky G recalled it from her youth as one of her favorite tunes. Therefore, this remake is filled with meaningful raps and energetic choreography as it retells the youths of the two artists.
Chung Ha is known to be a huge fan of Latin music, which is evident in her first full-length album ‘Querencia’. Along with having a lot of Latin undertones throughout the album, she worked on the song ‘Demente’ with Puerto Rican urban artist Guaynaa, marking the first time a Korean female artist and a Latin singer collaborated.
Chung Ha actually took lessons for the song's full Spanish version, and she received assistance with her pronunciation from a friend who speaks the language fluently, which made her sound flawless. The song is about a push-and-pull love dynamic that makes everyone involved unhappy and confused.
Monsta X is another artist with a few Latin collaborations under their belt. One of these being their collaboration with Colombian singer Sebastián Yatra on ‘Magnetic,’ where the characteristic rhythm of Reggaeton and tropical sounds meets EDM to create a sound that’ll effortlessly have you dancing along.
The song is about the magnetic feeling of being drawn to someone by their beauty and energy, and the animated MV illustrates this feeling by portraying the story of two people who travel around the world before finally finding each other. The Spanish verses of the song are primarily handled by Yatra, while the English section is done by Monsta X. However, one of the members' raps includes some Spanish lyrics.
Because once is not enough, Monsta X also collaborated with another famous Latin artist, a very worldwide one at that! As part of the first Monsta X’s and K-pop’s first full English album 'All About Luv’, Pitbull comes to the scene and adds a little bit of Latin flavor with the song 'Beside U’. “From Miami to South Korea,” this song is ready to go directly into your playlist.
The English track 'Yummy Yummy Love’ by the girl group MOMOLAND and Dominican singer-songwriter Natti Natasha expresses the intense, sweet, and even seductive emotion of love. The song's groovy and vibrant rhythm perfectly captures MOMOLAND's energy, as well as Natti's funky and sensual Latin flavor.
Natti contributed to the song's production and the music video, which takes us back to the retro 1980s with its neon lighting and lively choreography. We hope you are "ready for a love like this" and fall in love and dance along with this catchy song.
Because we always need a little more. ‘Give me more’ is a love song with Reggaeton base beats and tropical tones, made in collaboration between the boy band VAV and two major personalities in the Latin urban genre, De La Ghetto and Play N Skillz. There are also elements of sensual Latin dance incorporated into the choreography.
Jay Park and Mozart la Para worked together on the song ‘Son Malas’ which was inspired by the distinctive sound of the music genre Denbow. The song invites us to dance and party all night, regardless of who we are, since everyone deserves to have fun.
Blackpink Lisa surprised fans with her participation in ‘SG’ aka ‘SXY GRL’, a song by DJ Snake, who brought together three artists from the most popular genres of the moment, Ozuna (Reggaeton), Megan Thee Stallion (Hip-hop) and Lisa (K-Pop).
Last on our list is an often forgotten collaboration where Wendy of Red Velvet was chosen to represent K-pop in the remix of ‘Vente Pa' Ca’ by one of the greatest Latin artists of all time, Ricky Martin.
As you can see, when artists from popular genres come together, they can create a whole new sound and style by taking the best aspects of each of their styles. Hopefully we’ll see many more K-Pop and Latin artists coming together to prove once again that music knows no boundaries.
What were your favorite songs on this list, and what other collabs would you like to hear in future? Let us know in the comments!
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Writer: Valeria Vilez
Editor: Han (O.L)