BAD BUNNY, TOP DOG
The Most Streamed Artist of 2020
It’s the most wonderful time of the year –– Spotify and Apple Music have released year-end stats. In addition to surprising and delighting individual account holders with data on its most-played songs, artists, and podcasts of the year, Spotify also released information on global streaming trends.
Spotify’s most-streamed artist globally in 2020 was none other than Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny.
Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, better known as Bad Bunny, had his breakthrough just three years ago in 2017. His sexy blend of Latin and hip-hop went viral that year when his breakthrough singles “Soy Peor” and “Krippy Kush” racked up millions of views on YouTube and started climbing the Latin and U.S. charts.
The following year, Ocasio became a global phenomenon after being featured on Cardi B’s “I Like It.” His debut album reached number 1 on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and number 11 on the U.S. album chart. More collaborations with Jennifer Lopez, J Balvin, and Drake further solidified Ocasio’s place at the top of the Latin and hip-hop genres in the following months.
Bad Bunny kicked off 2020 by joining J-Lo and Shakira on stage during the 2020 Superbowl halftime performance. On February 29, 2020, Bad Bunny released his sophomore album YHLQMDLG. The acronym stands for “Yo hago lo que me da la gana” –– Spanish for “I do what I want.”
Spotify users all over the world streamed Bad Bunny tracks more than 8.3 billion times this year. A few favorites were “DÁKITI” and “UN DIA (feat. Tainy),” both of which have currently been streamed more than 250 million times on the platform.
The album YHLQMDLG was also Spotify’s most-streamed album of the year in 2020. The 16 tracks on the album included other modern Latin icons, including Daddy Yankee and Anuel AA. It’s been named one of the best albums of the year by several prominent music publications, including Rolling Stone and Billboard.
