SANTA MONICA, SEPTEMBER 10, 2020 — Universal Music Group (UMG), the world leader in music-based entertainment, and Daddy Yankee, global superstar, music entrepreneur and Reggaeton icon, today announced a strategic global partnership that includes the release of new music and film projects.
Daddy Yankee is widely recognized for leading and elevating Reggaeton into a global cultural and musical phenomenon, which has fueled an explosion in popularity for Latin music around the world. With a career that transcends language, geography and demographics, Daddy Yankee is one of the most popular and followed artists in the world today, with more than 60 million followers across social media and more than 7 billion streams in the last 12 months alone on YouTube, where he is among the Top 20 Global Artists. He has additionally sold more than 17 million albums, charted 50 hit songs on Billboard charts and he is the only Latin Artist with four Spanish-language songs to reach the Top 20 of Billboard’s Hot 100.
At UMG, Daddy Yankee has a partner with the expertise and resources to maximize his impact and enduring cultural legacy across numerous forms of entertainment, with new album and music projects released through Ingrooves Music Group and the ability to develop new film and television projects with Polygram Entertainment. Daddy Yankee commented, “I’ve worked hard to build a career that transcends cultures, borders and languages, and I created new business models that helped bring our music to the world. By making one of the biggest commitments to an artist in the history of Latin music, Universal Music and Sir Lucian are partners who value my legacy, my music and my contributions. This new single is just the beginning of the new projects we have planned and I’m excited to get started.”
Sir Lucian Grainge, Chairman & CEO of Universal Music Group, said, “Daddy Yankee is both an iconic artist and entrepreneur whose extraordinary creativity influences culture on a global scale. We’re thrilled to welcome Daddy Yankee to the UMG family and we’re looking forward to working together to maximize the worldwide impact of his amazing talent.” Anuel AA and Kendo Kaponi join Daddy Yankee on ‘Don Don,’ a new single that will be released globally across all major streaming and digital services starting Friday, September 11. Daddy Yankee’s new music projects under the UMG Global Partnership will be distributed and supported by UMG’s Ingrooves Music Group.
About Daddy Yankee
DADDY YANKEE remains one of the most recognized and influential names in urban music and Latin dance. He was named one of the most influential Hispanics in the world by both CNN and Time Magazine. He has sold over 17 million albums and over 60 million fans combined on his social networks. Daddy Yankee is considered the King of Reggaeton and one of the founders of the global movement. He continues to reign with the global success of “Despacito,” which was named the most streamed song and the most watched video of all time. In 2018, his single “Dura” was the 2nd Most Watched Video in 2018 and in 2019, “Con Calma” marked the number “Most Watched” video globally on YouTube. He was also named Billboard Magazine’s Top Latin Artist of 2017. Other global hits by Daddy Yankee are “Gasolina,” “Rompe,” “Limbo,” and most recently “Que Tire Pa’Lante.”
Yankee’s philanthropic work through “Daddy’s House” has been recognized by Billboard with the Spirit of Hope Award. Among his many accomplishments, Yankee has also received over 100 awards including Latin Music Billboard Awards, Latin Grammys, American Music Awards, Latin American Music Awards, among others. In 2014 Daddy Yankee was also honored with the ASCAP “Voice of Music Award.”
About Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group (UMG) is the world leader in music-based entertainment, with a broad array of businesses engaged in recorded music, music publishing, merchandising and audiovisual content in more than 60 countries. Featuring the most comprehensive catalog of recordings and songs across every musical genre, UMG identifies and develops artists and produces and distributes the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful music in the world. Committed to artistry, innovation and entrepreneurship, UMG fosters the development of services, platforms and business models in order to broaden artistic and commercial opportunities for our artists and create new experiences for fans. Universal Music Group is a Vivendi company.