By Leila Cobo
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Billboard Magazine
“We’re in a spiritual moment in humanity. People are looking for a message - something to hang onto. Something bigger than us.” - MARCOS WITT
On Sept. 10, radio station KOTK (1420 AM) in Omaha, Neb., converted.
The Salem Communications station, whose format was news/talk, became the network’s sixth outlet in less than a year to switch to Radio Luz (Radio Light), a Spanish Christian talk format that plays a good dose of music.
The change underscores just one piece of a growing Latin Christian movement that, in recent months, has begun to permeate sales and airwaves.
“The whole Hispanic Christian evangelical movement is growing at a rate that almost nobody knows about,” Salem Español national director Tony Calatayud says. “It is an underground machine.”
In the past three months, several Latin Christian acts, including Daniel Calveti, Alex Campos and Grupo Nueva Vida, have appeared on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart, an uncommon place to be for Christian acts. And Christian reggaetón act Funky placed a live set on the Latin Rhythm Albums tally.
Univision Radio launched a Spanish-language high-definition contemporary Christian station, Amor Celestial, on 107.5-HD2 in Los Angeles. And entries for the Latin Grammy Awards’ best Christian album category have risen steadily in the past two years.
This is the most recent surge in popularity for Latin Christian music, which has seen sparks of interest from major labels through the years. Most remarkably, in 2005, bachata star Juan Luis Guerra released an album of Christian music, “Para Ti” on indie VeneMusic, which is distributed by Universal and has TV support through a deal with Univision.
Now, VeneMusic has signed Marcos Witt, possibly the best-known Latin Christian artist, and has a licensing deal with Witt’s label, Canzión, to release and market Canzión acts like Calveti, Funky and Campos.
“We’re a fantastic complement for these Christian acts. They work the albums in the Christian market, and we work the secular market,” says Venevision International VP of Music Jorge Pino, who worked as VP for Sony Discos in 1999 when the label released Christian star Jaci Velasquez in Spanish.
These days, however, the focus seems to be less on turning Christian acts into Latin pop stars and more on making Latin Christian music available to everyone.
That impetus can be traced in part to the growing population of Latin evangelical Christians in the United States. According to a 2007 Pew Institute study, 68% of U.S. Latins are Catholics and 20% are born again or evangelical Protestants. Half of all Hispanic evangelicals — 51% — are converts.
“We know how to get to our people,” Witt says of the longstanding process of promoting and marketing Christian music on the Christian station and bookstore circuit. But, he adds, “what really opens up the world to us are those alliances that allow us to get into Target and Best Buy. The Christian world niche is already in Wal-Mart picking up their milk. They can also pick up a CD.”
Beyond the Christian market, music consumers as a whole may be more open to Christian messages, thanks to secular acts that record religious albums.
Most recently, reggaetón star Hector “El Father” announced he had converted to Christianity and would stop recording reggaetón. In the meantime, he will release a new album, “El Juicio Final” (The Last Judgement), Oct. 21 on VI/Machete. “I am giving my testimony, so people know how I felt and how I lived,” Hector says about his album, which he describes as a mix of rap and worship.
“El Juicio,” he says, will be his last secular album. “If the Lord wants me to record another album, I will do it, but it will be an album of worship to the Lord,” he says.
For the time, Machete is working the album to secular and Christian accounts. The single “Y Llora” is playing at mainstream Latin radio, but a second track, “Si Me Tocaras,” is playing on Christian radio in Puerto Rico as well.
The bottom line, Witt says, is that “Latin Christian music is simply better now,” as far as production values, lyrical content and creativity. “The second thing is, I think we’re in a spiritual moment in humanity. I think people are looking for a message — something to hang onto. Something bigger than us.”
DIFFERENT DISCIPLES
Latin spirituality comes in many forms. Here are three artists who record distinctly different types of Christian music:
FATHER MARCELO ROSSI
Rossi is not new, but two of his albums are topping Brazilian charts today. A Catholic priest known for his charismatic preachings and Masses, Rossi is a superstar in Brazil who’s sold millions of albums and infuses his huge Masses (which he gives in stadiums) with music and aerobics.
ALEX CAMPOS
The Colombian singer vacillates between acoustic pop reminiscent of trova and rock, whose lyrics can take many meanings. His album “Cuidaré de Ti” in June hit No. 48 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart, but he is most popular in Latin America, where he fills stadiums.
DANIEL CALVETI
The Puerto Rican preacher sings songs of praise and worship that he pens when he’s “alone with God.” Signed to Canzión, Calveti this summer peaked at No. 26 on Top Latin Albums with “En Paz.”