“Despacito (Remix)” by Daddy Yankee & Luis Fonsi (ft. Justin Bieber)
“Despacito” is a love song – or even more accurately a lovemaking song. What the artists are fundamentally telling the addressee(s), i.e. a romantic interest, is the things they want to do to her in an erotic sense. And speaking of which, the title of this track translates from Spanish into English to the word “slowly”. So basically, what they vocalists are relaying is that they want to romance their respective interests, physically, in a slow fashion.
And from a lyrically-interpretative standpoint, that’s pretty much all there is to this super-mega hit. It can be deduced that the boys are by and large infatuated with their lady friends. So for the most part, they are either celebrating their physical interactions or fantasizing about them.
Justin Bieber’s Involvement in “Despacito”
The original writers of “Despacito” are Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and Erika Ender. The remix features additional co-writers Marty James, Poo Bear and of course Justin Bieber.
It was Justin Bieber’s own idea to do such a remix to this song. The notion came to him upon a visit to a Colombian nightclub. And witnessing how the crowd reacted to “Despacito” led to him prompting his team to setup a remix. Moreover it was later revealed that Ed Sheeran also wanted to do his own remix to, but Justin beat him to the punch.
This track marks the first time Bieber dropped lyrics in Spanish, although he does sing in English also. Meanwhile, the original “Despacito” is entirely in Spanish.
A Smash Hit!
“Despacito” was a hit even before Bieber got involved, though not necessarily in the US, UK and other (non-Latin) countries. Afterwards it went on to become one of the most-successful songs in the history of the music industry. For example, it actually reached number 1 in nearly 50 countries. This includes the UK Singles Chart as well as the Billboard Hot 100. And of course the tune proved comparably-popular in Latin America.
Moreover it has gone multi-Platinum in a host of countries. This includes selling 3,000,000 copies in the UK, 13,000,000 in the US. In addition to this, it has received Diamond (or better) certification in 6 other nations.
Prior to the “Despacito” remix topping the iconic Hot 100, another song, “I’m the One”, was holding down the number 1 position. That particular track is headlined by DJ Khaled and features Bieber. Thus the Biebs became the first artist in history to have two consecutive, new singles top the Hot 100.
“Despacito” is banned in Malaysia
However this is not to give the impression that “Despacito” was well-received by everyone. For instance, the government of Malaysia banned the song from being played on state radio. Yet and still, the remix reached number one in that country.
Release Date
This remix came out, via the Universal Music Group and Universal Music Latino, on 17 April 2017. Ultimately it served as the second single from Luis Fonsi’s 2019 album entitled “Vida”.
Notable Awards
“Despacito (Remix)” went on to earn a plethora of music accolades. For instance it was nominated for three Grammys. And it did take home five 2018 Billboard Music Awards including the following:
- “Top Selling Song“
- “Top Collaboration“
It also received six 2018 Billboard Latin Music Awards. In doing so, it helped Bieber earn the individual distinction of “Crossover Artist of the Year“.
Even more Accolades grabbed by “Despacito”
Moreover the official audio attracted 20,000,000 streams within the first 24 hours of being posted onto YouTube. At the time that marked one of the top-five highest debuts for an audio track in the streaming platform’s history.
Also, perhaps its greatest singular achievement (as far as Americans are concerned at least) is that it actually tied the Billboard Hot 100 all-time record by spending 16 weeks at the top position. And it went on to break the record for most weeks at number one on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart. Here, it spent 56 weeks on top of the list.
It was also reported in mid-2018 that this track was in fact “the most streamed song of all time”. In doing so, it replaced another Justin Bieber track, 2015’s “Sorry“.
Ultimately the success of this tune overall (original and remix combined) is such that it cannot be completely put into words. Indeed it contributed greatly to the upliftment of the entire Latin music genre as a whole. Moreover it even helped boost tourism to Puerto Rico, where both Daddy Yankee and Luis Fonsi originate from.
Live Performance Issues
On a less-favorable note, it has been pointed out that the Biebs has had issues performing this song live. And as of late 2020, the only time he had done so alongside Luis Fonsi was in April of 2017.
Yet despite whatever challenges Justin may have reciting Spanish lyrics on a live stage, Luis himself is impressed with his contributions to the song. For example, he went on to state that the lyrics of the hook are even ‘tough for him to sing’. And this is despite the fact that he is a native Spanish speaker.
Production Credits of “Despacito”
The original producers of “Despacito” are Mauricio Rengifo and Andrés Torres. And the remix was buttressed by the contributions of Josh Gudwin.
