Perreo, Perreo, Perreo! Santiago, Chile Is Spotify’s Streaming Capital Of Reggaetón

Puerto Rico and Panama might be the birthplaces of the genre—and Colombia a current production powerhouse—but with over 400 million plays per month, Santiago, Chile is the indisputable capital of

reggaetón streaming, as reported by Spotify.

According to the music streaming service, when the Colombian

reggaetón star J Balvin and Puerto Rican trap artist Bad Bunny dropped their collaborative album, OASIS, every single song made it into Chile’s Top 50 on the first day of its release.

“What we are seeing with

reggaetón in Chile is a great testimony to the absolute powerhouse that is Latin America

when it comes to building and delivering audiences for Latin artists,” said Mia Nygren, Managing Director for Spotify in Latin America.

The platform also informed that of all the

reggaetón streams in the world, the people of Santiago are responsible for 10% of them, meaning that the average

reggaetón fan plays 126 songs a month.

The list of artists whose music gets the most streams in Santiago reads like a

reggaetón hall of fame: Bad Bunny,

Anuel AA, J Balvin, Ozuna, Daddy Yankee, Nicky Jam, Karol G, Don Omar. They’re joined by newer acts Sech

, Lunay,

Myke Towers, Rauw Alejandro,

Jhay Cortez, Tainy, Zion & Lennox, and

Dalex.

This city nestled at the foot of the Andes, far away from the genre’s coastal origins, has been home

to many fervent

reggaetón fans since the genre got started in the late

’90s and early

2000’s. What’s now referred to as “old school

reggaetón,” — the sound’s earliest in-studio iteration after it emerged from its Afro-Latinx roots of reggae, dancehall, and hip-hop to become reggae en

español—was popular from the start among Chilean youths, specifically a subculture of working and middle-class teenagers known as the

Pokemónes.

Named for the way they wore their hair long, spiky, and swept to the side like the characters of the anime franchise, the

Pokemónes combined their unique sense of style with idiosyncratic music choices.

In Chile, the choice was

reggaetón, and on any

given weekend in the early aughts you could head out in Santiago and find teenagers playing Jowell & Randy, Wisin & Yandel, and Arcangel at parties of around 4,000 people brought together through the genre’s signature liberating rhythms of

dembow.

In Santiago specifically, the love for old-school classics amplifies excitement for new songs, artists, and iterations of the genre

as well. The city is a hub for people who want to take risks — whether that means collaborating with artists from other genres or pushing the limits of

reggaetón musically.

Source: Spotify