How Spanish song Despacito topped the charts with the help of Justin Bieber in a politically divided United States

In a time when there’s a focus on the American President’s immigration stance, the Spanish-language remix stayed atop of the US singles chart for a record tieing 16 weeks

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Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's Despacito remix, featuring Justin Bieber, topped the US music singles chart for 16 weeks. Photo: AP

Published: 1:17pm, 8 Sep 2017Updated: 1:17pm, 8 Sep 2017

The opening flourish of guitar-like cuatro is instantly recognisable, a gentle but effective means of telling you that you’re about to hear the remix of Despacito.

Again.

Despacito writer Luis Fonsi’s 19-year journey to musical immortality

Unavoidable during the past few months on both the internet and the radio, this sleek – and surprising – collaboration between Justin Bieber and two of Puerto Rico’s biggest stars, Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, is without question the song of the summer.

It’s sold more than 2 million downloads. It’s been streamed on Spotify nearly 800 million times. It spent 16 weeks at No 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 – matching the record for the most weeks spent atop of the US music singles chart with Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men’s One Sweet Day (1995-1996).

“If you’d told me a few months ago that the song was still going to be No 1 in August, I would’ve been like, ‘There’s no way – people are going to be sick of it’,” Fonsi says with a laugh. “But here we are.”

The success of Despacito, whose title translates to “slowly”, is to some extent an artistic triumph. A seamless blend of pop and reggaeton, the expertly crafted song about a sexual encounter zeros in on an emotional and aesthetic sweet spot; it strikes an ideal balance of melody and rhythm, romance and lust.

Justin Bieber enabled the song to break into the US music market. Photo: AFP