J.Balvin Surpasses Drake’s Record

Latin reggaeton stakes its claim as one of the biggest genres in music.

If it wasn’t already apparent by now, Latin reggaeton and Latin rappers have been taking over the music industry lately. “Despacito” was obviously the biggest hit in the world not that long ago, and it’s not uncommon for American rappers to do songs with their Latin counterparts, or just do a straight up “Latin Remix.”

Now, it seems that their conquest is finally complete, as our biggest artist has had his crown taken from him.

According to Billboard, Colombian reggaeton star, J. Balvin, has taken Drake’s spot as the most streamed artist across the world on Spotify. Thanks to the successes of his latest album Vibras, and his single “Mi Gente” becoming the first fully-Spanish song to ever top Spotify’s Global Top 50 Chart, J. Balvin has taken the lead. While Drake was dominating recently with 48,039,355 followers at time of writing, Balvin just beats him out with 48,158,683.

“All I can say is thank you, thank you,” J. Balvin wrote in a statement. “I’m so grateful and proud to be the most heard artist in the world on Spotify. It’s bigger than J Balvin, it’s the movement and it’s in Spanish.

We are proving that Latinos have the power to connect with an audience on a global level without having to leave our identity behind. This is an achievement for the entire Latino community. I’m so grateful to Spotify for the enormous support to the reggaeton movement.”

While Drake is poised to take his crown back with the release of Scorpion this Friday, rap’s position as the top music genre on earth might be in danger.