Warner Music Latina has inked an exclusive partnership with Street Mob Records, the indie label founded by Fuerza Regida’s frontman Jesús Ortiz Paz (a.k.a. JOP).

Through the alliance, Street Mob Records’ artists Armenta, Clave Especial and Calle 24 will join the Warner Music Latina roster to “elevate these trailblazing acts to global stardom, while accelerating the evolution of Mexican and Latin music, ensuring its lasting impact,” according to a press release.

“Partnering with Warner Music is a powerful validation of what we’ve been building at Street Mob Records,” Ortiz Paz said in a statement. “It’s a testament to our artists, our team, and the culture we represent. We’re not just signing a deal; we’re creating a legacy that will inspire future generations of artists and entrepreneurs.”

The Mexican-American hitmaker launched the West Coast-based Street Mob Records in 2018, which has served as an incubator of new regional Mexican music talent, and the three acts that are part of the deal represent some of Street Mob’s most promising talent.

Calle 24, led by Diego Millán from Chihuahua, Mexico is known for songs like “Qué Onda” in collaboration with Fuerza Regida and Chino Pacas, as well as “Apaga El Cel” and “Juré Venganza.” Hailing from Salinas, Calif., Clave Especial stands out for the group’s unique blend of traditional and modern sounds in songs like “Rápido Soy” and “No Son Doritos.” Meanwhile, Armenta from Sinaloa, Mexico, is a renowned producer and songwriter who has contributed to hits by Fuerza Regida like “Bebe Dame,” “Ch y la Pizza” and “Harley Quinn.”

“This collaboration with Street Mob Records is a monumental step forward in our mission to strengthen our Música Mexicana Division,” added Roberto Andrade Dirak, managing director of Warner Music Latina. “Street Mob Records has proven to be a key player in this vibrant industry, and we are excited to amplify the voices of their incredible artists on a global scale.”

“We are proud to welcome them to the Warner Music family and are committed to providing the support and resources they need to reach new heights,” said Tomás Rodríguez, president of Warner Music México & Mexican music.

 Street Mob Records was represented in the deal by Walter Mosley of Mosley & Associates.

Jesús Ortiz Paz is set speak at the 35th anniversary Billboard Latin Music Week, which will feature exclusive panels, conversations and performances by Latin music’s biggest stars. Tickets are available now at BillboardLatinMusicWeek.com.

With the first quarter of the 21st century coming to a close, Billboard is spending the next few months counting down our staff picks for the 25 greatest pop stars of the last 25 years. We’ve already named our Honorable Mentions and our No. 25, No. 24, No. 23, No. 22, No. 21, No. 20, No. 19, and No. 18 stars, and now we remember the century in Shakira — who transformed Latin pop with her groundbreaking early-’00s crossover, soared to global fame with hits like “Hips Don’t Lie” and “Waka Waka” and influenced a new generation of artists across multiple genres.

At the dawn of the 21st century, Shakira not only emerged as a global musical force, but reshaped how Latin artists crossed into the mainstream, and thrived there. As the millennium turned, the concept of a Latin pop artist dominating worldwide charts in two languages was more aspirational than realistic. This was despite some crossover successes seen in the late ’90s — artists like Jennifer Lopez sang primarily in English, and only a few, such as Selena and Ricky Martin, made significant impacts while performing extensively in Spanish. Yet, Shakira artfully bridged this gap, turning it into a cultural spectacle in 2001. Blending her Colombian roots with a sharp pop sensibility, she not only broke through linguistic barriers, but also set the stage for the breakthroughs enjoyed by non-English speaking artists to follow. 

Today, the 15-time Latin Grammy winner is widely considered the most successful female Latin artist of all time, with 95 million records sold over her three-­decade career. Many of her songs have become more than hits, but rather pivotal cultural moments that showcase her as a multidimensional superstar. From the Hot 100 No. 1 juggernaut “Hips Don’t Lie” to the FIFA World Cup banger “Waka Waka” and the unapologetic diss track “Shakira: BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53” with Bizarrap – released, respectively, across the first three decades of the 21st century – her tracks have become staples at global gatherings, turning sports anthems into pop phenomena and solidifying her status as an international music ambassador.

Fresh off conquering Latin America with her wildly successful third and fourth studio albums — 1995’s Pies Descalzos and 1998’s Dónde Están Los Ladrones? — Shakira, a belly-dancing, guitar-playing, drum-pounding singer/songwriter, transformed her image and sound to kick off the new millennium. Trading her rockera brunette locks for a sexy blonde look, she set her eyes on the English-language market and released the groundbreaking Laundry Service in November 2001. Propelled by timeless hits like “Whenever, Wherever” and “Underneath Your Clothes,” which climbed to No. 6 and No. 9 on the Hot 100, respectively — the album reached a No. 3 peak on the Billboard 200. The LP was both a commercial triumph and a cultural milestone for Latin pop. 

In the peak teen-pop era of TRL, Shakira distinctively carved out her niche as an alternative-leaning pop artist — complete with dirty blonde hair with occasional black streaks and braids, and a hippie-rocker look. An exceptional dancer and multi-instrumentalist with a genuine rock edge, she also stood out as a songwriter who uniquely adapted her lyrical style to English — a language she had only recently learned. Her instantly recognizable voice carried a deep, powerful tone laden with emotional cries, reminiscent of Mercedes Sosa’s depth and Alanis Morissette’s raw energy. Yet, it was entirely her own, and her combination of talents and novel approach made Shakira a unique presence in early 2000s pop, challenging conventional norms and paving a new path towards stardom.

As Shakira’s presence on the world stage expanded, she continued to break new ground. Released in June 2005, Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 marked her sixth studio album, and first while on top of the world. Despite her major pop success singing in English on Laundry Service, she still decided to return to singing in Spanish for its follow-up — a risky move that nonetheless paid off both artistically and commercially. Co-produced by luminaries like Gustavo Cerati, Lester Méndez, Luis Fernando Ochoa and José “Gocho” Torres, singles like “No”, “Días de Enero”, “Las de la Intuición” and “La Tortura” with Alejandro Sanz gained wide recognition. Particularly notable was her team-up with the Spanish superstar Sanz, one of the first examples of a major collaboration in Latin music, at a time when such partnerships were rare. Largely praised as one of the best duets of the 2000s, the pop-reggaetón track helped set a precedent for future collaborations across the industry. The latter song became the biggest hit of the set, and the only one that entered the Hot 100. 

The album debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200, the first all-Spanish set to break to the chart’s top 5. Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 also spent 17 weeks at No. 1 on Top Latin Albums, the most for the Colombian star at the top of the ranking. She quickly followed that set with Oral Fixation, Vol. 2, the English-language counterpart to the Spanish-sung Vol. 1, released that November. Here, Shakira continued to explore new musical territories, venturing more into mainstream pop and rock, marking a noticeable shift from her Latin pop roots and Middle Eastern influences. This album saw her collaborating with iconic musicians such as Carlos Santana on “Illegal” and Gustavo Cerati on “The Day and the Time,” though these tracks, despite the star-studded lineup, didn’t achieve the impact expected. 

However, “Hips Don’t Lie,” featuring Wyclef Jean, was added the following year to Shakira’s Vol. 2 in a reissue aimed at boosting the album’s sales, after lead single “Don’t Bother” had underwhelming commercial success. This move helped the album experience a significant revival, boosting it from No. 98 all the way to the top 10 that May. Blending salsa and reggaetón with a Jerry Rivera sample, the song also catapulted to the top of the Hot 100, becoming Shakira’s only No. 1 to date on the all-genre chart and remaining there for two weeks. Despite the album’s rocky start, the LP was ultimately redeemed by the massive success of “Hips,” which has endured as one of the best-remembered pop songs of that entire era (and one of our staff’s  top 500 pop songs of all time).

The Colombian superstar continued to pour out more records, and released She Wolf in October 9, 2009 — which snarling electropop title track ended up becoming her moniker up to this day, and reached No. 11 on Hot 100 and No. 1 on Dance Club Songs. The album was followed by the more back-to-basics Sale el Sol on 2010, which returned Shakira to the Billboard 200’s top 10, peaking at No. 7. Prior to these, in 2007, she also united with superstar Beyoncé on “Beautiful Liar,” marking an unprecedented collaboration of its time, an American pop icon and a Latin sensation. The song reached No. 3 on the Hot 100. 

While she continued to prove her trendsetting and hit-making prowess as a singles and albums artist, she also established herself as a powerhouse in the live performance arena. Her electrifying performance at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, where she sang the tournament’s official trilingual anthem “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa),” featuring Freshlyground, became a global call to unity, reflecting the spirit of the tournament and further establishing Shakira as a beloved global icon. (It was also there where she met her former partner, soccer star Gerard Piqué, who she would have two children with and be with for over a decade.) This wasn’t Shakira’s first World Cup performance; she debuted in 2006 with “Hips Don’t Lie” at the closing ceremony in Germany, returned for South Africa, and again in 2014 in Brazil, where she released “La La La” featuring Carlinhos Brown.

Shakira’s musical journey saw continued success with the release of her eponymous 2014 album and 2017’s El Dorado. The former became her highest-peaking album on the Billboard 200, reaching No. 2, and the latter soared to the No. 1 position on Top Latin Albums for five weeks, also dominating the Latin Pop Albums chart for an impressive 63 weeks. Although these achievements maintained her relevance, they couldn’t quite match the explosive impact of her early 21st-century successes. However, notable hits from these albums, like the Shakira-Rihanna collaboration “Can’t Remember To Forget You” and “Chantaje” featuring the then-rising Colombian pop star Maluma, made significant inroads on the Hot 100.

Yet, there was perhaps no greater proof that Latin music cemented its place in American pop culture in the 2020 Super Bowl LIV halftime show, when Shakira and Jennifer Lopez took the world’s biggest stage together on February 2. Shak’s set was thoroughly Latin, featuring a lineup of her Spanish-language hits and dance styles that highlighted her Colombian (and Lebanese) heritage, including champeta and mapalé, an Afro-Colombian dance. This made her performance distinct compared to other Super Bowl halftime shows, aside from Gloria Estefan who performed three times in the ‘90s. The set also featured then-rising global stars Bad Bunny and J Balvin, bringing their own tropical-urbano flair. In contrast, J.Lo delivered more of a razzle-dazzle, high-energy set, reminiscent of a Las Vegas show.

Two years later, Shakira found herself making big headlines again – this time not for her musical achievements or jaw-dropping performances, but for her widely publicized breakup (and tax issues). In early 2022, rumors had swirled that Shakira was ending her 11-year relationship with Gerard Piqué. That June, they confirmed their split, igniting a flurry of tabloid speculation about the soccer player’s infidelity with a younger, 23-year-old woman he reportedly started dating soon after. This personal turmoil attracted intense media scrutiny, with paparazzi besieging Shakira’s home and her children’s school in Barcelona, transforming a private family ordeal into a full-blown media circus.

As much public embarrassment as the relationship fallout caused Shakira, it also helped inspire her most commercially successful period in at least a decade. At the start of 2023, she released the explosive electropop diss track, “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” with Argentine hitmaker Bizarrap. Her explicit finger-pointing and unapologetic storytelling marked a significant departure from the usual veiled references in breakup songs, as she provided intimate details of her breakup, leaving no room for ambiguity by naming names and addressing personal drama head-on. With bars like “Las mujeres ya no lloran, las mujeres facturan” (“Women don’t cry anymore, women cash in”), the self-proclaimed She Wolf penned a new manifesto of female empowerment, challenging the double standards imposed on Latin women in society. The song became the most viewed clip on YouTube for a Latin track in its first 24 hours, with 63 million views, and marked multiple Billboard milestones, including making Shakira the first female vocalist to debut in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 with a Spanish-language track; it also won song of the year and best pop song at the 2023 Latin Grammys.

The hits kept rolling in, as Shakira scored another Hot 100 top 10 with Karol G on their much-anticipated teamup “TQG.” Together, the two biggest Colombian female pop stars one generation apart delivered the ultimate tabloid-pop hit; Karol G also addressed her tumultuous breakup with Puerto Rican trap star Anuel AA. Both “Vol. 53” and “TKG” reached the Hot 100’s top 10, and “TQG” topped the Billboard Global 200. The song became Karol’s first top 10 hit, and still her only top 10 hit to date. 

Shakira essentially spent the rest of the year collecting accolades for her spectacular comeback and overall legacy. In May 2023, Billboard honored Shakira as its first ever Latin Woman of the Year; in July, Premios Juventud gave her its Agent of Change Award. In September, she received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the MTV Video Music Awards — the first South American artist to receive it — where she also performed a dazzling, 10-minute medley of hits.

Nonetheless, in her 2023 cover story with Billboard, Shakira revealed that for the past seven years, she had been sidetracked by family matters and life in Barcelona, far from music industry action. Her focus shifted following her romantic split, when she cathartically began pouring her heart into her music. Further hits followed: “Te Felicito,” with Rauw Alejandro, climbed to No. 10 on Hot Latin Songs and No. 67 on the Hot 100 in May and June of 2022, respectively; in November, “Monotonía,” with Ozuna (its video shows Shakira’s heart being ripped out and crushed by a shoe), climbed to No. 3 on Hot Latin Songs.

With a gap of seven years since El Dorado — due to Piqué “dragging” her down, in her words — Shak triumphantly released Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran in March 22, 2024. The album, her 12th studio effort, showcased a hodgepodge of sounds, from infectious Afrobeats to soulful bachata, Tex-Mex rhythms and even a return to her rock roots. It quickly garnered critical acclaim, also debuting at No. 1 on both the Top Latin Albums and Top Latin Pop Albums charts. This milestone marked Shakira as the first woman to top these charts across four decades. Continuing her journey as a monumental force, Shakira is set to return to the stage with Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour, kicking off November 2, on her first tour since 2018 with El Dorado World Tour.

Shakira’s early foresight in blending Spanish and English within her music paved the way for today’s artists, who now benefit from the doors she helped to open. Reflecting on the music industry today, superstars like Bad Bunny, J Balvin and Karol G navigate high-profile careers entirely in Spanish, a testament to how far the industry has evolved from the days when bilingual or English-language offerings were deemed necessary for true crossover success.

With the tremendous and more recent success of superstars like Bunny, Balvin, Karol, and also música mexicana stars like Fuerza Regida and Grupo Frontera — both collaborators on her latest album — their momentum has also helped legacy Latin artists like Shakira maintain their relevance and influence amid the surge of Latin music, currently the fastest-growing genre in the U.S. With the 2024 Latin Grammy nominations announced on Tuesday (Sept. 17), Shakira continues to garner recognition: She is currently nominated for three awards, including album of the year for Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, song of the year for the Tex-Mex-leaning “(Entre Paréntesis)” with Grupo Frontera, and best Latin electronic music performance for “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53 (Tiësto Remix).”

Shakira’s saga, marked by groundbreaking successes and personal challenges, epitomizes the journey of a true pop titan in the 21st century. Charting a path that brought Latin rhythms into mainstream global consciousness, her countless hits and charismatic stage presence have not only defined her career but also substantially influenced the current musical landscape. Moreover, her resilience and adaptability exhibit a model of empowerment and artistic authenticity. By weaving through personal hardships and consistently emerging on top, Shakira has not merely navigated the complex terrains of global pop music but has left an indelible mark on it. As we celebrate her as one of the greatest pop stars of this era, Shakira remains a pillar of innovation and resilience. After all, her hits don’t lie. 

Read more about the Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century here — and be sure to check back on Thursday when our No. 16 artist is revealed!

Years after Dave Petrelli worked in the Nashville music business, he experienced a moment in the city’s Shelby Park that eclipsed any expectations he had had for his career.

A former peermusic creative assistant and Nashville Songwriters Association International director of events, Petrelli purposely segued into music education, and one step in the journey included teaching general education to fourth graders. Drawing on his innate skills, he frequently rewrote existing songs to teach students, and when a full solar eclipse occurred in the city in 2017, Petrelli prepared his classes by reworking the Bonnie Tyler/Celine Dion hit “Total Eclipse of the Heart” as “Total Eclipse of the Sun.”

When the big day arrived, Petrelli and his wife, songwriter Victoria Banks (“Come On Over,” “Saints & Angels”), joined thousands in the park to watch the afternoon sky turn dark. Around a dozen kids saw “Mr. Petrelli” and ran to him to sing “Total Eclipse of the Sun.”

“I didn’t even expect this to be a moment,” he says now, “and it was a moment.”

Petrelli is one of 30 instructors from eight states who will have another personal moment tonight (Sept. 17) when the Country Music Association recognizes them as CMA Music Teachers of Excellence at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. CMA has turned music education into a mission, funneling revenue from the annual CMA Fest into programs that are vital to the development of future generations.

The program is so appreciated that the teacher awards will be attended by as many artists as instructors, including Walker Hayes, Jordan Davis, Riley Green, Terri Clark and Gretchen Wilson.

The teaching jobs may not be as glamorous as the touring gigs those artists pursue, but they’re “way more important,” CMA senior vp of industry relations Tiffany Kerns says. “We have the best gigs in the world, don’t get me wrong. But by far, what they do is way more impressive. And I mean, talk about having deep impact in communities.”

That impact is far-reaching. Music develops collaboration skills, learning to play an instrument builds discipline, and studying music rewires the brain, strengthening the connectivity between different cortexes and providing more paths for thoughts to follow. Schools with music education, according to Kerns, have lower rates of absenteeism. And since music teachers typically spend more one-on-one time with individual students as they learn their instruments, they are often the instructors whom students feel most comfortable with in revealing hunger or mental health issues.

In Petrelli’s case, students likely relate to him in part because he’s one of them in spirit. Growing up in Connecticut, his mother — who taught Spanish — died when he was 10, and he had to take care of himself sooner than his peers. 

“I grew up too fast, and because of that, there’s still a lot of kid in me,” he says. 

Petrelli leaned toward music early, and after graduating from Boston College, he taught the subject at a private Catholic elementary school for a year. He subsequently earned a songwriting degree at the Berklee College of Music, then moved to Nashville and worked his way into the music community. Once they got married, he and Banks decided at least one of them should have a job with greater security, and he shifted into education.

The “Total Eclipse of the Sun” moment grew out of his approach, which mixes music with other parts of the school’s curriculum. A few years ago, when Lockeland Elementary was operating under the schoolwide theme “Lockeland is out of this world,” he would have classes explore the details in songs with galactic lyrics — such as David Bowie‘s “Space Oddity,” Europe‘s”The Final Countdown” or Elton John‘s “Rocket Man” — to better understand space and enhance the school experience.

“What I have found is that that gets the kids really, really, really interested in what they’re going to learn today,” Petrelli says. “My lesson springboards off that.”

Other courses, such as math or science, have more cut-and-dried material — two plus two will always equal four — and Kerns suggests that those classes feel more “black and white” to students.

“When you walk into that music room, I really believe that Dave’s students immediately feel and see color,” she says. “There is something that is so vibrant about his personality and the way that he teaches, and that’s a gift.”

The CMA doesn’t restrict its Teachers of Excellence awards to instructors who use country music in their classes. Pop, jazz, R&B and mariachi have all been used extensively by various honorees, though Petrelli does, in fact, incorporate country in his work, with songs by Garth Brooks, Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings and Shania Twain among the material he has used.

“The storytelling aspect is huge,” he says.

While teaching music may not be as glamorous as the careers of the artists that Petrelli’s classes draw from, it still scratches his own artistic itch.

“I teach six classes a day, and it’s six one-hour performances,” he says. “It is a song-and-dance show for one hour, six times in a row. I’ve worked physically demanding jobs, mentally demanding jobs. I have never been as exhausted at the end of a day as when I come home from a particularly hard day of teaching.”

It’s usually a thankless job, though the Teachers of Excellence event extends a bit of appreciation. And the students do provide feedback, whether they know it or not, at moments like the 2017 eclipse. At times like that, Petrelli is reminded that the job really is an opportunity to inspire the next generation, even if it looks a little different than what he originally envisioned.

“I always dreamed of girls screaming my name,” Petrelli says. “I didn’t think they’d be 9 years old and waving in their car, [yelling], ‘Mr. Petrelli!’”

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Eve was intent on proving the doubters wrong with her Let There Be Eve…Ruff Ryders’ First Lady debut album back in September 1999. As told in her new Who’s That Girl? memoir, which was released on Tuesday (Sept. 17), Eve recalled a phone call from Jay-Z where he tried to temper the Ruff Ryders rapper’s expectations when it came to her debut LP’s commercial performance.

Jay allegedly told Eve that female rappers “don’t really do that well” on the day her ’99 project arrived. However, Let There Be Eve…Ruff Ryders’ First Lady went on to top the Billboard 200 with more than 200,000 total album units sold in the first week. With assists from Swizz Beatz, DMX, Missy Elliott, The Lox, Faith Evans, Beanie Sigel and more, Let There Be Eve has sold more than two million copies to date.

Eve appeared on The Breakfast Club on Tuesday (Sept. 17) in support of her memoir, and she provided context on the phone call with Hov, which was not intended to come off as malicious at all, but put a battery in her back.

“That was one of those things we were like, ‘Do we put that in?’ Because you know how people get,” she explained. “It was nothing bad about that. It was one of those things where it was a very amazing phone call that I needed.”

Even continued: “That was one of those I always felt like I was the underdog anyway. He wasn’t saying it out of malice or mean. It was facts, really. But I was like, eh, OK, let me see. I’ma show you. It’s all good. And it went on to be fine. Like I say in the book, we all have that person.”

Billboard has reached out to Jay-Z for comment.

Throughout the book, Eve disclosed she had to deal with plenty of doubters when it came to executives who continually disrespected her. “The audacity that these men had,” she wrote in the book. “Now I have age and experience on my side, nobody’s coming at me like that.”

Let There Be Eve…Ruff Ryders’ First Lady spawned a pair of hits with the Swizz Beatz-produced “Gotta Man,” which reached No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the “What Ya’ll Want (Remix)” featuring Dru Hill’s Nokio, which was added as a bonus track and topped the Hot Rap Songs chart.

Watch her interview with The Breakfast Club below:

This year, Billie Eilish and Finneas are voting the color of the final track on their May album, Hit Me Hard and Soft: blue. In honor of National Voter Registration Day, the sister-brother musical duo endorsed Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign and urged fans to get to the polls this November to help stop what they called an “extremist” agenda from Republicans.

In a clip posted to Eilish’s social media accounts Tuesday (Sept. 17), the 22-year-old pop star and her collaborator look into the camera while addressing fans directly. “We are voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz because they are fighting to protect our reproductive freedom, our planet and our democracy,” the “Bad Guy” singer says.

“We can’t let extremists control our lives, our freedoms and our future,” Finneas continues. “The only way to stop them and the dangerous Project 2025 agenda is to vote and elect Kamala Harris.”

The pair also shared a link where fans can check their registration status ahead of election day on Nov. 5. “Vote like your life depends on it,” Eilish adds in the clip. “Because it does.”

With their endorsement, the two-time Oscar winners join a long list of A-list musicians championing the Harris-Walz cause this year. Megan Thee Stallion, Ariana Grande, John Legend, Lizzo, Quavo, Lil Jon, Bon Iver, Barbra Streisand, Katy Perry and many more have all previously lent their support to the VP, while Taylor Swift finally broke her silence on the election Sept. 10 by sharing her highly anticipated endorsement of Harris just moments after the presidential debate concluded.

“I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them,” the “Anti-Hero” singer wrote in a message signed “Childless Cat Lady.” “I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos.”

Eilish has long used her voice to speak out about political issues she’s passionate about, most notably sustainability. She’s also encouraged fans to hit the polls on numerous occasions, creating her own voting initiative in 2020 and partnering with HeadCount ahead of the 2022 midterms.

In 2020, the “Lunch” artist performed and slammed Trump in a speech at the Democratic National Convention. Two years later, she and her family paid President Joe Biden a visit at the White House.

Watch Eilish and Finneas endorse Kamala Harris below.

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