Billboard’s top three “Hot Latin Songs” this week are sung by Puerto Rican men. The songs “Limbo” by Latin Grammy Award-winning Daddy Yankee and “Algo Me Gusta De Ti” (Something About You) by the duo Wisin & Yanel (featuring Chris Brown) are both about men watching – at times ogling – women on the dance floor. “Por Que Les Mientes? (Why Do You Lie to Them?) by Tito El Bambino (featuring Marc Anthony) is about heartbreak and deceit.
Success came early for Daddy Yankee (born Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez). He was named one of the 100 most influential people by Time in 2006, and was the first Latin artist to sign a deal with Reebok (2006), who licenses the DY line of clothing and shoes. Although he was harshly criticized in 2008 for publicly endorsing John McCain for President, he maintains a loyal following of 4.5 million on Twitter today. Last year, after a performance in Chile, Tito El Bambino (born Efraín David Fines Nevares) was criticized by social networks for supporting Republican Rep. Lamar Smith’s Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). While Marc Anthony (born Marco Antonio Muñiz) has made it abundantly clear that he’s a supporter of Obama, during the 2012 election, Anthony made a video to introduce his friend, the Republican Governor of Puerto Rico Luis Fortuño at one of his rallies only to later deny that the video was an endorsement. (Fortuño campaigned for Romney in Florida.) Fortuño lost the election – the margin was less than 1 percent – and asked for a recount but finally conceded to his challenger Alejandro Garcia Padilla who is against Fortuño’s push to make PR a US state.
AP Photo: President Obama with PR Governor Luis Fortuño, right, San Juan’s Mayor Jorge Santini, second left, and Marc Anthony, left, disembarking from the Air Force One, 2011.