In October 1994, '' Billboard'' magazine established

Tropical Airplay The Tropical Airplay chart (formerly known as Tropical/Salsa and Tropical Songs) is a record chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine introduced in 1994. The first number-one song on the chart was " Quien Eres Tu" by Luis Enrique. Originally, ra ...

, a chart that ranks the top-performing songs played on

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

radio stations in the United States based on weekly

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

data compiled by Nielsen's

Broadcast Data Systems Broadcast Data Systems (also known as BDS or Luminate BDS), is a service that tracks radio, television and internet airplay of songs. The service, which is a unit of MRC Data, is a contributing factor to North American charts published by co-owned ...

(BDS). It is a subchart of Hot Latin Songs, which lists the best-performing Spanish-language songs in the country. According to an 1985 article by ''Billboard'', tropical music is the "sound of the Spanish-speaking Caribbean – though it extends beyond it". It usually encompasses dance genres such as

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: ...

, merengue, bachata,

vallenato Vallenato () or "Szlager" in Wayuu language (from the German "Schlager"), is a popular folk music genre from Colombia. It primarily comes from its Caribbean region. ''Vallenato'' literally means "born in the valley". The valley influencing t ...

, and the Colombian cumbia and tropical music in Mexico. Five songs topped the chart in 1994 and 12 tracks did the same in 1995. Until November 5, 1994, BDS ran test charts which only listed the number one song of the week on ''Billboard''s electronic database. The first song to reach number one on the Tropical Airplay chart was " Quién Eres Tú" by

Luis Enrique Luis Enrique Martínez García (; born 8 May 1970), known as Luis Enrique, is a Spanish football manager and former player. A versatile player with good technique, he was capable of playing in several different positions, but usually played as ...

which remained in the top spot for three weeks. It was replaced by

La India Linda Viera Caballero (born March 9, 1969), better known as La India, is a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter of salsa, house music and Latin pop. La India has been nominated for both Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards, winning the Latin Grammy ...

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

of "

Nunca Voy a Olvidarte "Nunca Voy a Olvidarte" (English: "I Am Never Going to Forget You") is a song written by Roberto Belester and first recorded by Mexican grupero band Bronco for their album ''Salvaje y Tierno'' (1991). In the song, the protagonist is leaving a ...

", making her the first female artist to reach the top of the chart. Both artists were the only acts to have more than one chart-topper in 1994. La India had the final number one song of the year with her rendition of " Ese Hombre" which was also the first at the start of 1995. La India and Gloria Estefan were the only female acts to reach number one in 1995. Marc Anthony was the artist with the most songs at number one in 1995 with " Te Conozco Bien", " Se Me Sigue Olvidando", and " Nadie Como Ella". "Te Conozco Bien" held this position for the longest with eight weeks and was named the best-performing tropical song of the year by ''Billboard''. Marc Anthony also had the final chart-topper of the year with "Nadie Como Ella". Cuban pianist

Paquito Hechavarría Paquito Hechavarría (21 February 1939 – 27 September 2012) was a Cuban pianist. Hechavarría built his career in Cuba by playing in some of the most popular orchestras, including Conjunto Casino, Orquesta Riverside and Los Armónicos. However, ...

collaborated with fellow Cuban artist

Rey Ruiz Rey Ruiz (Reinerio Ruiz born June 21, 1966 in La Lisa, Havana, Cuba) is a salsa singer from Cuba. Ruiz reached international fame across Latin America, Europe and among Hispanic music fans in the United States. Biography Rey Ruiz demonstrated a ...

on the track "Piano" for the 1995 album of the same name (although Ruiz was not credited for this release on ''Billboards'' chart database) and spent six weeks on top of the chart. Ruiz himself achieved his first number one with " Estamos Solos". Edgar Joel and

Johnny Rivera Johnny Rivera is an American salsa singer of Puerto Rican descent. Rivera was born in the Bronx, NY, and attended high school at Benjamin Franklin High School. He moved briefly to Puerto Rico before returning to New York City to begin a car ...

obtained their only chart-toppers in 1994 and 1995, respectively.

Chart history

References

{{featured list United States Tropical Airplay United States Tropical Airplay 1994 and 1995 1994 in Latin music 1995 in Latin music 1994 in American music 1995 in American music

Chart history

See also

References