Despacito
"Despacito" is a Spanish-language song recorded by Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi, featuring Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee. On January 13, 2017, it was released as lead single for Vida, Fonsi's tenth studio album. Written by Fonsi and Panamanian-American and Brazilian singer-songwriter Erika Ender in collaboration with Yankee between 2015 and 2016, it was produced by Colombian record producers Mauricio Rengifo and Andrés Torres in 2016. An English-language remix featuring Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber was released on April 17, 2017, with added lyrics by Bieber, and American singer-songwriters Poo Bear and Marty James.
Topping the charts in 47 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, and reaching the top 10 of six others, "Despacito" has been listed among the best Latin songs ever by various publications, with some referring to it as one of the most successful Spanish-language tracks in pop music history. It has been credited by music journalists as being the most instrumental song to in spreading the popularity of Spanish-language music in the mainstream global market since "La Bamba" by Los Lobos in 1987 and "Macarena" by Los Del Rio featuring the Backside Boys in 1995.
In the United States, it became the first Spanish-language song to top the Billboard Hot 100 since "Macarena" in 1996, subsequently tying as the longest-reigning number one on the Billboard Hot 100 at the time with 16 weeks, as well as becoming the longest-running number one on the Hot Latin Songs chart with 56 weeks. It became the second Spanish-language song to be nominated for the Grammy Awards, earning nominations for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, and surpassing the first Spanish-language song nominated for the awards, "La Bamba", which received a nomination in the last two categories in 1988. It was the first Latin song to receive a digital Diamond certification by the Recording Industry Association of America, selling over 13 million units, while also earning more than 141 digital Latin Platinum certifications with over 8 millions units sold, becoming the best-selling and highest certified Latin single in US history. In 2025, Billboard magazine named it the most successful Latin song of the 21st century.
The music video shows both Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee performing the song in the La Perla neighborhood of Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, and local bar La Factoría. It held the record for most-viewed YouTube video between August 2017 and November 2020, when it was overtaken by Pinkfong's Baby Shark. It became the first video on the site to reach the milestones of three, four, five, six, seven, and eight billion views. It also held the record for most-liked YouTube video between July 2017 and January 2025, when it was overtaken by MrBeast's Would You Fly to Paris for a Baguette? It became the first video on the site to reach 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 55 million likes.
Background
Original version
The lyrics of "Despacito" were written in late 2015 in Luis Fonsi's house in Miami because he wanted to record a "swinging song" for his new album after two years without releasing new music. He said that he woke up mulling about "a song called 'Despacito, and invited Brazilian-Panamanian singer and songwriter Erika Ender to a songwriting session. Fonsi co-wrote the song on a Gibson Emmylou Harris guitar. He originally composed it as a cumbia and pop song with lyrics written as a ballad, but decided to give it an "urban injection" and sent a demo to reggaeton artist Daddy Yankee. They recorded the song at Noisematch Studios in Miami in late 2016. Daddy Yankee improvised his verse in a corner of the studio's control room, later saying that he was thinking about his father playing bongos, and also wrote the post-chorus. It was produced by Mauricio Rengifo and Andrés Torres; the former is known as a member of Colombian pop duo Cali y El Dandee and the latter is known for previously working with David Bisbal, Thalía, and Ricky Martin. It was mixed by American engineer Jaycen Joshua at Larrabee Sound Studios in North Hollywood, Los Angeles.Luis Fonsi says that he does not consider it a reggaeton song, but that "it does have a reggaeton energy and an subtle urban beat". Ender stated that the track "went through several arrangements" until Fonsi got "exactly the arrangement he wanted". Fonsi described "Despacito" as a very melodic song that can adapt well to many other music genres. Due to the sensual nature of the song, they "needed to be responsible with a good lyric" and Ender's approach to writing for Fonsi was "to take care of how to say things with a good taste ". American singer and songwriter Nicky Jam has recorded the original version of "Despacito" rather Daddy Yankee, but had to withdraw from the song due to its release conflicting with an album of his own.
Justin Bieber remix
Three months after the release of "Despacito", Canadian singer Justin Bieber wanted to record a remix version after hearing the song in a Colombian nightclub during a tour in South America. The following day, Fonsi received a phone call from Universal Latin about the intentions for remix and authorized the label to send the track to Bieber. Bieber's manager, Scooter Braun, contacted his vocal producer Josh Gudwin to work on the song, who flew to Bogotá and recorded Justin Bieber's vocals at Estudios Audiovisión.Bieber sang in Spanish for the first time in his career with the help of Colombian musician Juan Felipe Samper, who noted that what was most difficult for Justin Bieber was the 'ere' sound in words like "laberinto", "paredes" and "manuscrito". Samper wrote the Spanish-language lyrics phonetically to ease Bieber's pronunciation, which was "perfectly" achieved in two hours. After a four-hour recording session, Gudwin sent Bieber's vocal tracks to Australian sound engineer Chris O'Ryan for vocal tuning. Gudwin concluded the remix's production in Parrot Cay, Turks and Caicos Islands with the mixing of Luis Fonsi's English-language vocals, whose lyrics were written by American songwriter Marty James. The entire process until the release date took six days. In June 2017, English musician Ed Sheeran revealed that he wanted to record a remix version of the song, but lost out to Justin Bieber.
Composition
"Despacito" is a reggaeton and Latin pop song composed in common time, with a length of three minutes and forty-seven seconds, and written in the key of B minor with a tempo of 89 beats per minute and a common chord progression of Bm—G—D—A. The vocals span from F3 to B4. Its implicit lyrics are about having a sexual relationship in a smooth and romantic way, making heavy use of allegories. However, Luis Fonsi expressed that some lines are free for interpretation.Mauricio Rengifo and Andrés Torres produced "Despacito" using Pro Tools and the final mix consisted of 47 tracks. The song begins with a Puerto Rican cuatro played by Christian Nieves, which is accompanied by an acoustic guitar played by Torres when Luis Fonsi starts performing. Rengifo stated that the guitar "was actually played, but then chopped it and made it really digital." The producers decided to record a cuatro because they wanted "to feel very Puerto Rican and ethnic" and that it "gives the song a really unique character". Nieves played salsa-influenced melodies during the chorus and the hook, which contains "old school pop" effects based on American producer Dr. Luke. Percussion instruments guache and güira were synchronized with a hi hat in order to highlight the track's cumbia influences.
The song uses the side-chaining production technique in order to make the chorus "more prominent", silencing the music as the kick drum hits. It also makes heavy use of text painting when the music is slowed down as the word "despacito" is performed at the beginning of every chorus. Its percussion consists of guache, cowbell, timbales, güira, and sequenced drum patterns. The remix featuring Justin Bieber maintained the original rhythms, and Luis Fonsi translated some lines to English, singing a verse in Spanglish, while Daddy Yankee's verses were kept from the original version.
Release and reception
"Despacito" was made available for digital download on January 13, 2017, by Universal Music Latin. Some music publications believed the single's success was influenced by a trend of combining Latin pop and urban music. Fonsi referred to it as "the new pop" and Ender said that "everyone is making this type of fusions ". Luis Fonsi also stated that two weeks after the release of the song and its music video, he started receiving calls from "people who normally don't call, people who only call when something different is going on." He says that he got calls from Ricky Martin, Juan Luis Guerra, Marc Anthony and other artists telling him that the track was a "home run".Sebastian Wernke-Schmiesing of Dance-Charts journal stated that "a simple 4/4 time, Spanish guitar sounds, a crisp bass, and the excellent vocals by Luis Fonsi and were enough to get a hit single from the start." Leila Cobo of Billboard praised its "undeniable immediate catchiness", and wrote that the song "is a clever blend of romantic Latin pop with a reggaeton beat and subtly naughty lyrics". Robert Joffred of Medium's culture blog That Good You Need highlighted the use of a steel-string guitar to play flamenco-style melodies instead of a nylon-string guitar, as well as the presence of "swung rhythms" when the word "Despacito" is sung at the beginning of the chorus. He referred to the text painting as "pretty genius". Raisa Bruner of Time magazine described the single as "an infectious Latin melody amped up with reggaeton grooves and an irresistible dance tune".
Spanish record producer Nahúm García stated that "the way the rhythm breaks before the chorus is genius", and that this "trick" in particular is not common in pop music. Joshua Barrie of Irish Mirror gave a negative opinion about the lyrics, referring to them as "quite rude and a bit creepy", and stating that "some people might find them offensive". On the other hand, an editor of Spanish music website Jenesaispop stated that "the melody is very good, the lyrics are sexy without being vulgar and above all its structure is interesting." Felix Contreras of National Public Radio praised the writing, arrangement and performances.
The remix version featuring Justin Bieber was released on April 17, 2017, by Universal Music Latin, Republic Records, Def Jam Recordings, RBMG and Schoolboy Records. Its official audio video garnered 20 million views on YouTube in its first 24 hours, the third most for a music-related video in between January and September 2017. Caroline Soriano of Ernstars magazine stated that Bieber's voice "sounds appealing with the song", whose remix version make it sound "a little bit better". Mike Senior of Sound on Sound gave a negative review of the remix's mixing by criticizing its polarity inversion regarding the original version, and Justin Bieber's louder vocal track than Daddy Yankee's. As to the original version, Senior referred to the first appearance of the "Despacito" hook line as a "masterstroke".
In July 2017, officials from the Government of Malaysia reported that "Despacito" was being banned from airing on government-owned broadcast stations as a result of public complaints. Government ministers said that the song was considered un-Islamic and that its lyrics were "not suitable to be heard".