Spotify unveiled its Global Song of the Summer on Wednesday, with Peso Pluma and Elsabon Armado’s song Ella Baila Sola taking top honors.
24-year-old Mexican singer Pluma and the vocal and instrumental quartet beat an impressive array of musicians, including megastars Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, Harry Styles and Miley Cyrus, according to Variety.
Although the list has been compiled based on streaming data, it cannot claim to be a definitive ranking of popular summer month music tracks as it has been compiled from Spotify streams only and does not consider streaming data from other services, ignoring digital ones as well and physical music purchases and radio plays.
Only streams recorded between May 29th and August 14th were eligible for ranking.
Peso Pluma has become a Mexican music phenomenon this year after it managed to knock Bad Bunny off the top spot on Mexico’s Spotify.
It’s a hit! Peso Pluma (pictured) and quartet Elsabon Armado scored Spotify’s Global Song of the Summer with their hit song Ella Baila Sola, Variety revealed on Wednesday; seen in April
Incredible success: The Mexican regional single topped the charts and even earned Peso Pluma and Elsabon Armado a chance to appear on The Tonight show in April
According to Spotify, Ella Baila Sola logged 367 million streams during the late spring and summer months.
The release states that the collaboration between Peso Pluma (born Hassan Emilio Kabande Laija) and Eslabon Armado — consisting of vocalist Pedro Tovar, bassist Brian Tovar, 12-string guitarist Damian Pacheco, and acoustic guitarist Ulises González — will be named the first regional Mexican song Making history by climbing into the top 10 on the Billboard All-Genre Songs chart.
Ella Baila Sola is also the first regional Mexican single to be performed on late-night television after The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon invited musicians to perform it in April.
Antonio Vazquez, head of US Latin America at Spotify, told the publication that the success of Ella Baila Sola “is a true testament to how Música Mexicana is dominating the international music scene and becoming one of the fastest growing genres worldwide.”
“Música Mexicana generally offers a rich cultural spectrum that touches on tradition, emotion and modernity, making it relatable and engaging for both Latin American music listeners and non-Spanish speakers alike,” he explained. “The powerful appeal of this song reflects the power of Música Mexicana and proves that her moment in the sun is more than a trend.”
Ella Baila Sola wasn’t even Peso Pluma’s only entry on the list, as he was also featured alongside Yng Lvcas on the La Bebe remix, which peaked at number five on the list.
Bad Bunny’s WHERE SHE GOES came in second on the Spotify Global Songs of the Summer list.
Third place went to Jung Kook’s “Seven” with Latto. The former number one hit was notable for being the only entry to feature an American rapper, although other artists on the list, including Bad Bunny, are also rappers.
TMZ noted complaints from music fans and industry insiders that rap has been sidelined lately, despite the prominent presence of rap-influenced genres.
The publication highlighted Hot 97 DJ and Apple Music executive Ebro Darden’s claim that the music industry and record companies have recently prioritized “African and Latino” music over American rap.
In an Aug. 17 tweet, he attributed the alleged shift in priorities to hip-hop artists making repetitive and derivative music in hopes of going viral on social media. “Rappers better stop being boring and talking about the same shit over and over again to chase TikTok achievements and comment columns,” he tweeted.
Incredible Success: Ella Baila Sola made history as the first regional Mexican song to make the top 10 on the Billboard chart for all genre songs; Still from the video
Hitmaker: Bad Bunny’s WHERE SHE GOES took second place on the Spotify Global Songs of the Summer list; seen in NYC in May
Throwback: At number four on the list was Taylor Swift’s Cruel Summer, which was originally included on her 2019 album Lover but only received a single release in June 2023; seen in March
Fourth on the list was Taylor Swift’s Cruel Summer, originally included on her 2019 album Lover.
Swift said she intended to release the song as one of the singles for the album, but the release fell through at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, so she finally released it as a single in June this year after releasing three more new ones albums and several re-recorded versions of older material.
Bad Bunny was featured a second time in Grupo Fronteras un x100to (number six).
Other notable songs on the list include “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus, “As It Was” by Harry Styles, “Kill Bill” by SZA, “Vampire” by Olivia Rodrigo, Dua Lipa’s Barbie soundtrack “Dance The Night”, “Calm Down” by Rema and Selena Gomez and “I Wanna Be Yours” by Arctic Monkey.