Non-English-language pop can now top global charts

Evidence

By 2022, Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny had become the world’s biggest pop star, proving that English was no longer a prerequisite for global success. His synth-infused trap and Caribbean beats defied conventional expectations, while his refusal to pander to English-speaking markets signaled a shift in global pop’s center of gravity. “Skeptics and xenophobes take note,” proclaimed Isabelia Herrera for NPR, “English-language music is by no means universal or exceptional.” Once inside the omnivore monoculture, Bad Bunny promptly began an off-and-on relationship with Kendall Jenner. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 683

Categorization

• XREF: Evidence for the reader’s argument that the omnivore monoculture is not hegemonic — ties to the broader question of whether ‘blankness’ is real and to status dynamics he floats in his key idea.