Bad Bunny’s ‘Un Verano Sin Ti’ is Only Latin Album on Apple Music’s 100 Best Albums

Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti, his critically acclaimed fourth solo studio album, continues to make strides following its 2022 release. As he continues his “Most Wanted Tour” in support of his latest album, Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana, Un Verano Sin Ti was listed as number 76 on Apple Music’s 100 Best Albums—the only Latin artist and album featured. Apple Music’s 100 Best Albums includes 22 hip-hop albums—the most represented genre—19 R&B and soul albums, rock and alternative with 15 albums each, and Reggae, country and Latin albums with just one album each. Some of the records featured on the list include Beyoncé’s Lemonade, Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black, and Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill—which took the top stop on the list. While a tremendous feat for the 30-year-old reggaetonero, this list is also a stark reminder of the lack of recognition of Latin music in mainstream entertainment.

Just this past December, Un Verano Sin Ti  was once again announced as Spotify’s most-streamed album of the year—a title he has held for three consecutive years and was the first non-English speaker to earn—with 4.5 billion streams garnered in 2023 alone on top of becoming the most-streamed album of all time. The Puerto Rican reggaetonero’s mega-successful 23-track all-Spanish album became his most-successful album to date even making history as the first Spanish-language album nominated for the Grammy for Album Of The Year. It earned the Grammy for Best Música Urbana Album and the IFPI Global Chart Award, the organization that represents the recorded music industry worldwide, making him the first Latin artist to win.

While Bad Bunny’s feature is noteworthy and deserving for the tremendous success of Un Verano Sin Ti, the Latinx community and culture has seen numerous icons in music across genres from reggaeton to salsa to rock music. Many have taken to social media highlighting the severe lack of Latin representation in Apple Music’s list highlighting artists like Shakira, Celia Cruz and Selena, some of the most prevalent female Latin artists and global icons. Some of the best-selling Latin albums of all time include Café Tacvba, Ré (1994), Daddy Yankee, Barrio Fino (2004), Celia Cruz and Johnny Pacheco, Celia & Johnny (1974), Shakira, Pies Descalzos (1995), and Selena, Amor Prohibido (1994).

The list has been criticized for genre tokenism considering 65 years of Latin music with only Benito’s album getting recognition. Apple describes it as “his most expansive and evocative musical vision to date: Gone was the streetwise trap of his past, supplanted by potent and uniquely genre-bent takes on reggaetón, pop, indie, and tropical forms. Its release signaled a clear and kaleidoscopic shift in global pop, emphatically sweeping away any misconception that Latin American music (and its many fans) was just a regional phenomenon.”