Despacito loved by Billions5 min read

Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito” is still out sprinting every other video on the planet.  The Latin mega-hit just racked up a staggering 4 billion views on YouTube, a new benchmark on the giant streaming platform.  “Despacito” means “slowly” in English, but its sales and streaming performance has been anything but that. The video, shot in Spanish and without Justin Bieber’s additional verses, was first posted on January 12 of this year and has raced to the crown as most-watched video on YouTube, beating Wiz Khalifa’s  2015 hit “See You Again” featuring Charlie Puth which is currently at 3.15 billion views and and Psy’s former record-setter “Gangnam Style” from 2012 with 2.97 billion views.

After receiving news of the accomplishment, Fonsi tweeted, “Thank you for supporting family. Thanks Puerto Rico.”   Since its release, “Despacito” has wrecked a long list of records, including one that stood more than two decades. First up, “Despacito” set Vevo records for most views of a Spanish-language video in 24 hours with 5.4 million hits, as well as for the fastest such video to reach 200 million views, 2 billion views and 3 billion views. The track also racked-up 4.6 billion streams in just six months, another record, according to Nielsen Music’s U.S  Mid-Year Report. Just last month, “Despacito” landed a 16th week atop the Billboard Hot 100, the most weeks at No. 1 ever for a single, equaling the reign of Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men’s “One Sweet Day,” which ruled for a long stretch in 1995-96.