Thalía And Pabllo Vittar’s ‘Tímida’ Video Is A Long Overdue Latinx Link-Up

There’s no doubt about the fact that music in the United States is experiencing its second “Latin boom”; unlike the explosion of Spanish-speaking artists at the turn of the century, however, these artists and trends are here to stay. With the Super Bowl hosting its first-ever halftime show consisting exclusively of Latin performers—some who debuted during the original Latin boom two decades ago, and some newcomers leading the charge today—it’s clear that this new moment has long outlasted the hype of “Despacito.”

Brazilian drag superstar Pabllo Vittar often isn’t considered in these conversations about Latin music’s influence in mainstream American music and pop culture, but rightfully should be. The singer recently branched beyond her native Portuguese to give fans both Spanish and English songs on her latest project 111—the second part of which is due out later this year—and in turn has created a worldwide network of fans that transcends language in Latin America and beyond.

Mexican singer and actress Thalía, by contrast, has been a constant fixture in Latin music and television for the better part of three decades. Like Vittar, she’s been known to sing in languages besides her native tongue, including Portuguese and Tagalog. When she made her English crossover in the mid-2000s, she had her sights set on dominating markets and audiences in the U.S. that she had yet to reach.

Thalía has teamed up with younger Latin artists like Maluma and Natti Natasha in the past, and shown that she’s always open to working with newer artists and exposing herself to many potential new fans. “Tímida,” her new collaboration with Pabllo Vittar, serves that exact purpose.

As the lead single for the second part of Vittar’s 111 album, “Tímida” is a continuation of the multilingual mission that Vittar embarked on last year: the song is sung entirely in Spanish, save for a few English lines from Vittar. Both Thalia and Pabllo look stunning as they gyrate through the music video’s different bright backdrops, and complement each other perfectly as two Latin divas bringing their respective talents to the table.

With the second half of 111 on the horizon, Pabllo Vittar needed to show that she’s dedicated to bringing her fans the strong trilingual experience that she committed to with 111. “Tímida” does just that, and simultaneously serves as a seminal moment for Latin music and culture in the process as two big-name performers hailing from two of Latin America’s most opposite countries come together to bridge the shrinking linguistic and generational gaps in the Latin music world.