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Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, Justin Bieber Set To Tie Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men’s ‘One Sweet Day’ Chart Record

By Page Mackinley
Published on: 21:22 PST, Aug 26, 2017

Prepare the books.

Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, and Justin Bieber’s megahit “Despacito” remix is on track to make yet more music history on Monday, August 28.

That’s when Billboard is expected to announce that the Bieber-featuring remix has tied Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men’s “One Sweet Day” record of reigning for 16 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.

Inevitably, Taylor Swift’s comeback single “Look What You Made Me Do” is going to stop the “Despacito” remix from beating that 16-weeks record. It is reported Swift’s “Burn Book” missive will debut on the Hot 100 with somewhere between 500,000-550,000 sales the week after next.

However, “Despacito” is set to tie the record (which Carey and Boyz II Men earned from 1995-96) this on Monday.

This would be a feat for any song. But, the original and Biebs-remix of “Despacito” have already been huge talking points throughout 2017.

The remix’s run atop the Hot 100 marks the first time that a predominantly Spanish language song has commanded the Hot 100 since Los del Río’s “Macarena” remix spent 14 weeks at No. 1 in 1996.

The remix has surpassed that milestone and is now the second song ever to rule the U.S. Hot 100 for 15 weeks. It also keeps its No. 1 spot on the Streaming Songs chart for a 15th week with 46.4 million U.S. streams, as per Nielsen Music.

“Despacito” is now the longest running Hot 100 No.1 of the 21st Century and also the longest running foreign language Hot 100 No.1 of all time. It’s also the undisputed song of the summer.

Adding to these prizes, the “Despacito” official music video is the most viewed YouTube video in history with over 3.4 billion views as of August 25, 2017.

However, in terms of the most prestigious accolade, it is a toss up between the single’s title of Most Streamed Song Of All Time, and its reportedly upcoming record tying with Carey and Boyz II Men for 16 weeks spent atop the Hot 100.

As any pop culture watcher knows, the original version of “Despacito” was released on January 13, 2017. Despite the irony of its title (“Slowly”), it quickly became a massive hit.

Within hours of Fonsi and Yankee’s Latin collaboration dropping, the reggaeton jam set a new record on Vevo by becoming the Spanish language video with the most views in 24 hours (then 5.4 million views).

“Despacito” subsequently went on to pick up another Vevo record when it became the fastest Spanish language video to reach 200 million views, which it managed in 22 days.

The official music video is also the fastest ever music video to reach 2 billion views (it achieved this in 154 days) and has since exceeded that to over 3 billion.

It’s worth stating that of all the official versions of “Despacito” on the market (which include a Salsa edit, a Portuguese variation, and a Major Lazer and MOSKA remix), it is the Justin Bieber-featuring remix which powered the single further on Billboard’s Hot 100 when it exploded on that chart following its release on April 17, 2017.

That doesn’t diminish the reality that main plaudits for the “Despacito” phenomenon go to Fonsi, co-writer Erika Ender, and Yankee.

But it also cannot (and should not) be forgotten Bieber is part of many of the record-breaking successes of the song — except for the official music video and original song version of “Despacito,” which do not feature the Canadian superstar.

While the original “Despacito” pulled in gigantic streams on YouTube and on Spotify, the Biebs-featuring remix actually outstreamed the original on the streaming platform just three months after its release.

On July 3, global streams of the original version of the song on Spotify were recorded as 529,695,692. At the time, the remix’s worldwide streams were 539,040,456.

It’s also important to note that even back in July, the remix’s streams would have been even higher were it not for the brief combining of the streams on Spotify from May 28-31.

Notably, May 28 was also the first time the remix rose to the No. 1 position on the U.S. Spotify chart.

The Bieber-remix didn’t just outstream the original version of “Despacito” on Spotify globally, it stormed to No. 1 on Spotify in 36 more markets than the original.

On national singles charts around the world, the original “Despacito” (with Fonsi and Yankee) smashed to No. 1 throughout Latin America.

It also peaked in the top spot on official singles charts in Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg, and Italy.

However, it was the Biebs-featuring remix that ruled atop every other official singles chart around the world. This included Russia, India, Australia, Canada, Sweden, Norway, other European countries, multiple markets throughout Asia, United Arab Emirates, Africa, the U.K., and of course, the U.S.

On Billboard’s Hot 100, the original version of the single was at No. 48 when the remix arrived in April. It had slipped from No. 44.

The Bieber-featuring remix debuted on the Hit 100 chart at No. 9 one week after it dropped. From there, it soared to No. 3, then dominated for its now 15th week at No. 1.

Streams from the Bieber-featuring remix counted towards “Despacito’s Most Steamed Song Of All Time record, and are part of the whopping 4.6 billion combined plays the song generated across multiple leading streaming platforms by July.

“Despacito” dethroned Bieber’s “Sorry” when it swept the Most Streamed Song of All Time title. But that was made possible by combining streams of the original song with its official remixes.

With the exception of the official music video and original version of the song, Bieber is clearly part of the monumental achievements of “Despacito.” Any denial of that would be akin to a churlish — and inaccurate — erasure of Boyz II Men’s role on Carey’s “One Sweet Day,” or any featured artist on a stratospherically successful remix.

Recognizing this does not downplay Fonsi, Ender and Yankee’s efforts. It simply also acknowledges Bieber’s contribution to a global overview of “Despacito’s” ascension, particularly in markets which previously weren’t routinely welcoming to Latin music.

As of now, it’s all eyes on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart on Monday. Then, it will be revealed whether or not “Despacito” has tied Carey and Boyz II Men’s 16 weeks at No. 1 record.

Whatever happens, history has already been made.

[Featured Image by Lynne Sladky/AP Images]

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