Tropical Albums (formerly known as Tropical/Salsa Latin Albums) [1] is a chart that ranks the bestselling tropical albums in the United States. Initially, the chart was published on a fortnightly basis with its positions being compiled by sales data from Latin music retailers and distributors. [2] [3] The methodology for the chart was amended with effect from the week of July 10, 1993, to have its sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, based on electronic point of sale data. At the same time, the chart began to be published weekly and became a sub chart of Top Latin Albums (which was established in the same week as the methodology change). Billboard also imposed a linguistic rule requiring an album to have 70% of its content in Spanish (later reduced to 50%) to be eligible to rank on the chart. [3] [4]
The first number one of the decade was Mi Mundo (1989) by Luis Enrique, which had been in the top spot since the issue dated October 7, 1989, [5] and was the bestselling tropical album of 1990. [6] Enrique, [7] Marc Anthony, [8] Jerry Rivera, [9] and Eddie Santiago tied for the most number-one albums of the decade with three records. [10] Rivera's album Cuenta Conmigo (1992), which was the bestselling tropical album of 1993, [11] has been described by several sources as the bestselling salsa album since Siembra (1978) by Willie Colón and Rubén Blades. [12] [13] Todo a Su Tiempo (1995) by Anthony became the first salsa album to receive a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). [14] Anthony also had the final number-one album of the decade with his greatest hits album, [15] Desde un Principio: From the Beginning (1999).
Merengue music, which rivaled salsa music in the 1980s, [16] saw its popularity rise in the 1990s. [17] One of the merengue acts to achieve number one was Elvis Crespo, who had the bestselling tropical album of 1999 with his debut album, Suavemente (1998). [18] [19] In addition to performing merengue, Dominican Republic singer-songwriter Juan Luis Guerra was credited with bringing bachata's success outside of the working class from his country with his fifth studio album, Bachata Rosa (1990), [20] which was the bestselling tropical album of 1991. [21] Similarily, Carlos Vives brought the popularity of vallenato music outside of his native Colombia, [22] and achieved his first number one on the Tropical Albums chart with La Tierra del Olvido (1995). [23] Cuban music saw a resurgence in mainstream interest due to the popularity of Mi Tierra (1993) by Gloria Estefan and the 1997 self-titled album by Buena Vista Social Club, which both sold millions of copies. [24] Mi Tierra was the longest-running number one tropical album of the 1990s with 94 weeks at the top of the chart. [25] Buena Vista Social Club is the second bestselling Latin album of all time in the US as of 2017 [update] , after Dreaming of You (1995) by Selena, [26] and holds the Guinness World Record as the bestselling world album of all time. [27]
