Latin Pop Airplay is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks the top-performing songs (regardless of genre or language) on Latin pop radio stations in the United States, based on weekly airplay data compiled by Nielsen's Broadcast Data Systems. ^[1] It is a subchart of Hot Latin Songs, which lists the best-performing Spanish-language songs in the country. ^[2] In 1999, 15 songs topped the chart, in 52 issues of the magazine.

The first number one of the year was " Dejaría Todo" by Chayanne, which had been in the top spot since the issue dated December 12, 1998; ^[3] it spent a final total of seven weeks at this position and was named the best-performing Latin pop song of the year". ^[4] 1999 was named the year of the "Latin Pop Explosion" due to the crossover appeal of Latin artists to the American public. ^[5] Ricky Martin's performance of " The Cup of Life" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards on February 24, 1999, was said to be a "game-changer for Latin music worldwide" according to Billboard's Leila Cobo. ^[6] The popularity of Martin's performance was followed by the release of his song, " Livin' la Vida Loca", which became an international success by reaching number one in more than 20 countries. ^[7] The Spanish-language rendition of the song was released to Latin radio stations in the US, ^[8] and was the longest-running number one of the year with ten weeks. ^[9] Martin also achieved his fourth chart-topper with "Bella", the Spanish-language version of " She's All I Ever Had". ^[9]

Aside from Martin, Enrique Iglesias and Marc Anthony also contributed to Latin pop's popularity with " Bailamos" and " I Need to Know", respectively. ^[5] "Bailamos", a Spanglish song, simultaneously topped both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Latin Pop Airplay charts, ^[10] spending six weeks at number one on the latter chart. ^[11] Iglesias also had the most chart-toppers in 1999, also reaching number one with two other songs, " Nunca Te Olvidaré" and "Ritmo Total". The latter song, a Spanish-language version of " Rhythm Divine", was the final number one of the year. ^[11] "I Need to Know" was recorded in Spanish as "Dímelo", ^[12] and became Marc Anthony's first chart-topper. ^[13]

Other acts to reach number one for the first time include MDO, ^[14] Millie Corretjer (credited as Millie), ^[15] and Jaci Velasquez. ^[16] Corretjer was the only female artist to have more than one chart-topper with "Una Voz en el Alma" and "De Hoy en Adelante". Velasquez had previously established herself as a popular Contemporary Christian music singer before crossing over to the Spanish-language market with her studio album, Llegar a Ti (1999). ^[17]

Chart history

References