Everyone remember Ricky Martin shaking his hips and making love to the camera during his explosive, break-through Grammy Awards performance—his chiseled chin and liquid dance moves almost single-handedly sparked the late-90’s Latin explosion. Following Ricky Martin, pop stars like Enrique Iglesias, Shakira and Christina Aguilera all went multi-platinum while America was smitten with Latin rhythms. But in South America, Latin Pop is huge. Slick stars in fabulous, sequined costumes rise and fall—Latin American chart turnover is generally much faster than in the US—and everyone is clamoring for the next #1 single. Latin Pop is a dismayingly vast category—everything from standard pop tunes sung in Spanish, to any of the continent’s multitude of local musical styles could prove a chart-topping hit. Everything from traditional dance rhythms like salsa, samba and merengue to the passionate, guitar-based flamenco, the Western-influenced Rock en Espanol and Latin rap fall under the broad banner. Currently, the amped-up Latin pop style of reggaeton—reggae/dancehall rhythms, Spanish raps and hip hop production values—is exploding across the country. It’s a two way street, and often international artists will score big with a Latin pop hit. Recently examples have included Madonna’s “La Isla Bonita,” Cher’s “Dov’e L’Amore” and ex-Spice Girl Gerri Halliwell’s “Mi Chico Latino.” Other Western audiences attempt to cater to the Latin pop market with dedicated Spanish remixes—everyone from Will Smith to Jamiroquai to Britney Spears has cut a Latin pop remix. Current Latin pop stars who seem perched on the verge of cross-over superstardom include political firebrand to Juanes and Mexico’s golden princess Paulina Rubio.