Everything you need to know about this song which is dominating Nigerian airwaves

For three out of the past 5 weeks, a foreign song has been played the most on Nigerian radio.

This is almost unheard of, since Playdata began to publicly track the music played by radio stations across the country. The title of the record is ‘Despacito’ (remix), and it has successfully kicked off top local hits such as Davido’s ‘Fall’, and Ycee’s ‘Juice’.

The song has become so popular, penetrating urban radio stations due to incessant requests for it by Nigerians who can’t have enough of the record.

Origins

‘Despacito’ is a single by Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi featuring Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee from the former's upcoming studio album. On January 13, 2017, Universal Music Latin released ‘Despacito’ and its music video,. The song was written by Luis Fonsi, Erika Ender and Daddy Yankee, and was produced by Andrés Torres and Mauricio Rengifo.

It is a reggaeton-pop song composed in common time with lyrics about having a sexual relationship, performed in a smooth and romantic way. Commercially, the song topped the charts of 45 countries and reached the top 10 of 9 others, making it both Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's most successful single to date.

It became the first song primarily in Spanish to top the Billboard Hot 100 since "Macarena" (Bayside Boys Mix) in 1996. The official video for "Despacito" on YouTube received its one billionth view on April 20, 2017 after 97 days, becoming the second-fastest video on the site to reach the milestone behind Adele's "Hello".

It received its two billionth view on June 16 after 154 days, making it the fastest video on the site to reach the milestone. With its 3.3 million certified sales plus track-equivalent streams, "Despacito" is one of the best-selling Latin singles in the United States.

The original "Despacito" and its version with Bieber have combined for 4.6 billion streams across all platforms since the song's release in January, making it the most streamed song of all time.

Justin Bieber Remix

On April 17, 2017 a remix version featuring vocals by Canadian singer Justin Bieber was released, who sang in Spanish for the first time in his career. The song maintained the original rhythms and Luis Fonsi translated some lines to English, singing a verse in Spanglish, while Daddy Yankee's verses were kept from the original version.

It was the first collaboration between Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee with Bieber. The remix's official audio video garnered 20 million views on YouTube on its first 24 hours, making it the highest debut for a music-related video in 2017 as of April.

According to Fonsi, Bieber wanted to record the remix version after seeing how people reacted to "Despacito" in a Colombian club. Justin Bieber was not able to sing the song during live performances, and was caught replacing portions of the lyrics with the word "blah" during one performance, in a much publicized incident. Fonsi has defended him for not knowing the lyrics, saying he has to be given "a little bit of a pass" because Spanish is not Bieber's main language.

Bieber's collaboration helped the song to reach number one of the US Billboard Hot 100, the first for a primarily Spanish-language song since "Macarena" by Los del Río in 1996. It also helped make it the most streamed record of all time. The remix alone topped the charts of Finland, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Poland and Sweden, and reached the top ten in Mexico and Spain. It was certified in the UK, and Australia, and platinum New Zealand and Brazil. The song also received a gold certification in Germany.

Why does it resonate strongly in Nigeria?

It is primarily because of its reggaeton rhythm, which is a universal genre utilised by Nigerians to make music. Reggaeton which became popular in Nigeria due to the explosion of Latino and Caribbean music in the 90s, have had numerous Nigerians adapt its drums and rhythms to make local hit records. Artists such as Daddy Fresh, Baba Fryo and others have hit records with reggaeton influences.

Contemporary hit records created by Nigerians include Wizkid’s ‘Daddy Yo’, Flavour’s ‘Ashawo’, Psquare and Weird MC’s ‘Bizzy body’ remix, and most interestingly, Faze’s ‘Kolomental’.

Another reason is the marketing. The song has become a hit in the US and UK, and via its marketing and the Internet, it has travelled through the continent to Nigeria, where there’s a healthy consumption of foreign records.