Prince Royce & Gabito Ballesteros Swig Their Way to No. 1 on Latin Airplay With ‘Cosas De La Peda’
Ten weeks after Prince Royce and Gabito Ballesteros monopolized Billboard’s Tropical Airplay chart with “Cosas De La Peda,” the song slides to the top of the overall Latin Airplay chart (dated April 27), up from No. 3 a week ago. The hit is the seventh single from Royce’s album, Llamada Perdida, the 23-track set that placed the bachata singer back in the top five on Tropical Albums after a four-year pause (No. 2 debut in March).
“Cosas De La Peda,” (loosely translating to ‘drunken matters’), shoots to No. 1 on the overall Latin Airplay chart thanks to a 27% boost in audience impressions, to 10.9 million, logged in the U.S. in the week ending April 18, according to Luminate. With to the almost 2 million additional impressions, the song wins the weekly Greatest Gainer award on the Latin radio ranking for the largest increase in audience among its 50 titles.
Further, thanks to its radio surge, “Cosas De La Peda” debuts at No. 46 on the multi-metric Hot Latin Songs, which ranks the most popular Latin songs of the week by blending streaming, airplay, and sales activity.
Royce and Ballesteros’ first team-up gives the regional Mexican soloist his maiden No. 1 on Latin Airplay. The new achievement arrives 10 weeks after he picked up his first champ on any Billboard radio ranking, as “Cosas De La Peda” rose to the top of Tropical Airplay on the Feb. 24-dated list, where it has held strong since.
“Cosas” is a cause for celebration for Ballesteros, who joins a select group of regional Mexican artists who likewise achieved their premiere No. 1 on Latin Airplay in 2024 among the seven rulers this year including a regional Mexican act (whether through a regional Mexican song or a collab outside the genre). Those new highfliers comprise Xavi, whose “La Diabla” led for two weeks (starting the Feb. 10-dated list) and siblings Leonardo and Angela Aguilar through their Becky G collab, “Por El Contrario,” for one week atop (March 9).
Prince Royce moves ahead with 17 No. 1s on Latin Airplay and breaks from a tie with Carlos Vives for the second-most champs among tropical artists in the survey’s almost 30-year history, where Romeo Santos continues at the lead with 21 No. 1 hits. Here are those chart toppers:
21, Romeo Santos
17, Prince Royce
16, Carlos Vives
14, Marc Anthony
11, Gloria Estefan
6, Juan Luis Guerra
In its 10th consecutive week atop Tropical Airplay, “Cosas” continues to hold the record for the longest-leading song in 2024 thus far.
Pamela Bustios
Billboard