Justin Bieber’s appearance at 1OAK nightclub in NYC last week was mired in controversy after he seemingly forgot the words to his Spanish language hit “Despacito” and yelled “Blah blah blah,” “Burrito,” and “Dorito” instead. Although the performance didn’t sit well with many fans who perceived it as mocking Spanish language and culture, Bieber’s collaborator Luis Fonsi was more forgiving. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Fonsi brushed off the botched performance.
“That chorus is not easy to sing, even for fluent Spanish singers like myself,” he said. “It’s got a lot of lyrics, it’s kind of tongue-twisty… It’s big for Latin music that a global star like Justin Bieber takes the time to do the song, to do it in Spanish. I’ve done songs in other languages, I know how hard it is.”
“Despacito” is currently spending its second week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, marking the first Spanish language track to hit the Top 10 since “Macarena” in the late ‘90s.
You can check out the full profile on Rolling Stone now and read all the lyrics to Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito (Remix)” featuring Justin Bieber on Genius now.
