With an estimated 33,922,381 monthly listeners on Spotify at the time this article was published, the artist Quevedo, who is closely identified with Canarian culture although he was born in Madrid and lived in Brazil until the age of four, has for the time being become the most listened-to artist both across the islands and on the Iberian Peninsula.
The trap artist has overtaken Rosalía in the rankings (with 26,999,894 streams in the past month, according to the latest estimates) and Rels B (23,439,003). “I always write from the perspective of Las Palmas and the islands,” he said in a recent interview with the regional broadcaster Radio Televisión Canaria. “It makes me feel free, and feeling free makes me feel good”.
His success was cemented four summers ago thanks to a track released during one of the hugely popular sessions with Argentine DJ BZRP, session number 52. The track also earned him a Latin Grammy in 2023 and was nominated in the category of Best Urban Fusion/Performance.
The rearing of baifitos (the endemic Canarian goat, and a term that comes from Guanche, the language of the islands’ original inhabitants before Spanish colonisation) gives its name to Quevedo’s latest album, “El Baifo”. The word is also used in local Canarian expressions such as “se me fue el baifo”, meaning to get distracted or lose one’s bearings.
It is his third studio album, after “Buenas noches” and “Donde quiero estar”, in which the urban trap singer offers a powerful affirmation of Canarian identity, in line with other Spanish-speaking artists such as Bad Bunny and his stance on Puerto Rico. The project includes collaborations with artists such as Elvis Crespo on tracks like “La Graciosa”, which was played at the last football World Cup during Spain’s matches, alongside songs such as Aitana’s “Superestrella”.