Calibash gives Latin urban music momentum


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Justin Bieber took the stage at the Staples Center Sunday Night for Calibash 2016. But it was not to kick off his highly anticipated new tour. Rather, the 21-year-old Canadian hit-maker joined Colombian singer J Balvin to perform a Latin version of his chart topper “Sorry,” which they remixed together last year. The mostly Latin audience of 17,000 fans screamed and cried for the pair of entertainers who have been dominating charts and arenas across the globe.

Bieber looked relaxed as he took the stage to belt out “Sorry,” which recently passed Adele’s “Hello” on the Billboard music charts. The Purpose singer looked as if he had just left a late-night skateboarding session, wearing a camp parka over a black hoodie over a red shirt over a white shirt.  Bright red jeans and sneakers added to the pop singer’s outfit. Co-star J Balvin looked ready for the disco with a shiny baseball jacket. A plaid shirt and ripped jeans completed his grunge ’90s look.

Calibash has become the leading Latin urban music concert in Los Angeles with more than 135,000 tickets sold since its inception. Celebrating nine editions, Calibash has come a long way since its first show at The Forum in Inglewood, California. Back then, the Latin urban music movement was still finding momentum.

Flash forward to 2016 and Calibash featured performances from some of the most notable Latin music acts spread across various genres: urban, hip-hop, rap, reggaeton, pop and bachata. Huge market acts such as Chris Brown have previously been featured. He performed in 2013.  This year’s packed lineup included headliner Snoop Dogg, J Balvin, Prince Royce, Nicky Jam, Plan B, Yandel, Farruko, Becky G, J Alvarez, Zion & Lennox, among others.

Prince Royce, a previous and current Calibash performer, who has toured with acts such as Enrique Iglesias, Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull, pumped up the crowd with an energetic set. The highlight was his performance of “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” featuring Snoop Dogg. Becky G, Lil Jon and Yandel were not left behind, the trio performed for the first time the upcoming single, “Take It Off.”

The presence of hip-hop and rap acts like Lil Jon and Snoop Dogg represents the Latino audience’s interest for acts beyond the Latin genre. The Latino demographic is represented through listeners of the Los Angeles-based radio station MEGA 96.3 FM, owned by the Spanish Broadcasting System, also producers of Calibash.

“If you don’t reach Latinos you’re out of business,” said 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,” Hidalgo said.

Now, MEGA 96.3 FM and Calibash are part of that idea that allows different types of music to blend in together to offer for a new generation of fans. It was no coincidence Bieber and Balvin chose this event to perform together.

Balvin walked back to his dressing room receiving various high-fives from his team after his bilingual duet with Bieber, which has become extremely popular in social media.

“This is history,” he said. “Latinos, arriba.”