A defining moment during Calibash 2016 came when Colombian reggaeton star J Balvin invited pop star Justin Bieber onto the Staples Center stage on Jan. 24. The two performed Bieber’s hit “Sorry” -- which they remixed together last year -- and in unison, the mostly Latin audience of 17,000 fans bellowed thunderous cries for the pair of entertainers who’ve been dominating the airwaves and arenas across globe.
Calibash, now celebrating nine editions, has come a long way since the SBS-produced show first bowed at The Forum in Inglewood, Ca. Back then, the Latin urban movement was still finding momentum and an audience to sustain it.
Flash forward to 2016 and Calibash is brimming with some of the most notable Latin music acts spread across several genres: urban, hip-hop, pop, reggaeton and tropical. In recent years producers have included general market acts such as Chris Brown, who performed in 2013. This year’s lineup also packed major wattage with performers Prince Royce, Becky G, Nicky Jam, Farruko, Yandel, Lil Jon and Snoop Dogg, among others.
Prince Royce, a previous Calibash performer who has also toured with Enrique Iglesias, Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull, gave a highly energetic set as did Snoop Dogg with songs such as “Drop It Like It’s Hot." Lil Jon, Becky G and Yandel also dropped a surprise: they performed the upcoming single “Take It Off.” The song has no release date yet, according to a spokesperson for the show.
The addition of general market artists such as Lil Jon and Snoop Dogg illustrates the Latino audience’s thirst for acts beyond the Latin genre. That Latino demographic is represented through radio listeners aged 18-34, who are part of the core audience for Calibash fans, according to an SBS executive. These are listeners of the Los Angeles-based MEGA 96.3 FM, owned by the Spanish Broadcasting System, producers of Calibash.
“If you don’t reach Latinos you’re out of the business,” says Juan Carlos Hidalgo, SBS’s VP of Programming for the West Coast. “For years I’ve had a vision that we can do radio for Latinos who love more than just one genre.”
Now, Calibash is part of that growth that blends different types of music offerings for a new generation of fans. It’s no coincidence that Bieber and Balvin chose this event to unite and publicly announce that more is on the horizon, hinting at a future collaboration.
Puerto Rican recording artist Farruko, who captivated his fans with his cool raps, gave crowds a bit of a political message by pointing at those who oppose Latinos, who are expected to have major impact during the 2016 elections.
“There are those who try to stop Latinos,” he told cheering fans, who pounded their bright cell phones into the air as a way to show support. “But we are firmly here."
Backstage, Balvin walked to his dressing room feeling elated about his bilingual duet with Bieber, which has been firing up social media in a major way.
“This is history,” he said as he got high fives from those around him after performing with Bieber. “Latinos, arriba (up).”
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