Olga Tañón, Grupo 5 & More Discuss the Impact of Tropical Music Across Generations at Latin Music Week 2025

Tropical euphony stars from antithetic styles and countries came unneurotic connected Wednesday (Oct. 22) astatine Billboard Latin Music Week 2025 to sermon the taste interaction their respective genres person had connected caller generations and however they person embraced it. The sheet included iconic Puerto Rican merengue vocalist Olga Tañón; legendary Peruvian cumbia and merengue set Grupo 5; Puerto Rican vocalist Guaynaa, who has experimented with municipality music, salsa and more; emerging Cuban reparto instrumentalist Bebeshito; and Argentine cuarteto prima Luck Ra.

In the sheet “The Cumbia and Tropical Music Explosion,” presented by Andrea Ramírez PR and moderated by Jessica Roiz of Billboard, Tañón and the members of Grupo 5 recounted their archetypal experiences successful music; Tañón successful the 1990s, erstwhile she thought an audition she attended was to beryllium a Spanish-language stone singer; and the South American radical successful the 1970s, erstwhile they began with ballads and aboriginal adopted cumbia arsenic their dependable to liven up section parties.

“I didn’t privation to beryllium a merengue singer; I’m a merengue snob,” said the creator nicknamed “Woman of Fire.” “I started retired doing ballads, Spanish rock, and you utilized merengue astatine location to sing and dance, but erstwhile they auditioned me, I thought it was for a Spanish stone band.” She recalled that the band’s person told her that anyone who sings good tin sing anything, truthful she prepared, auditioned, and was chosen, opening her emotion matter with the Dominican genre.

In a fluid dialogue, the artists shared with the assemblage their opinions connected however caller Latin stars person reinvented salsa, specified arsenic Bad Bunny connected his acclaimed medium Debí Tirar Más Fotos, a philharmonic genre that had its heyday successful the precocious 1960s, marked by legends similar Celia Cruz and Willie Colón.

Below are immoderate of the champion quotes from the discussion:

Olga Tañón, connected the expiration day of a genre: “The philharmonic DNA of a country, which is the civilization of a country, volition ne'er die. Never. Not merengue, not salsa, not cumbia.”

Christian Yaipén (Grupo 5), connected however to marque euphony transcend fads: “We’re ever focused connected making euphony successful the champion mode imaginable to bring it to the audience’s hearts, not conscionable reasoning astir trends and passing things. My member Elmer taught maine that songs don&...