Thirteen different songs by Omar Courtz are charting right now on the streaming lists of the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Colombia and Mexico. On the United States top 50, not a single one. This isn't a platform glitch or an algorithm hiccup: it's the real map of where reggaeton is growing in September 2026, and that map doesn't match the one the industry uses when it hands out its awards.
The Chart That Doesn't See Him
A snapshot of Apple Music and Deezer charts taken today makes the point bluntly: Omar Courtz shows up in four Latin American markets (Argentina, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Mexico) and in zero positions on the U.S. top 50. The same thing happens to the duo of ROA and Anuel AA, present in Argentina, Colombia and the Dominican Republic, completely absent in the United States. That's two cases, not one, which is enough to stop looking like coincidence and start looking like a pattern.
The pattern matters because the United States remains the yardstick Billboard, Telemundo and much of the press use to decide who's "breaking." If that yardstick doesn't register the artists moving the most in Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Santo Domingo and Mexico City, then it's measuring something else.
One Artist, Thirteen Songs, Four Countries
Omar Courtz's case isn't a single stray hit. In the Dominican Republic he simultaneously holds "KOKO" at No. 7, "L a k e n o s h i" at No. 10, the album "POR SI MAÑANA NO ESTOY" at No. 15, "WO OH OH" with fellow Puerto Rican artist ROA at No. 20, "VeLDÁ" with Bad Bunny and Dei V at No. 27, "ZIZI" with Ozuna at No. 28, and five more entries through No. 50: "Q U E V A S H A C E R H O Y?" with De La Rose at No. 32, "WHAT U NEED?" with Myke Towers at No. 37, "MOONLIGHT" with Eladio Carrión at No. 45, "VAMOaCOCHI" at No. 48 and "De Lejitos (Remix)" with Jay Wheeler at No. 50. In Argentina, "KOKO" reaches No. 3 and shares the top 15 with four more of his songs: "ZIZI" at No. 4, "POR SI MAÑANA NO ESTOY" at No. 5, "De Lejitos (Remix)" at No. 11 and "FOREVER TU GANTEL" with Ñengo Flow at No. 15. In Colombia he enters with "KOKO" at No. 16. In Mexico, the same song sits at No. 26.
There's something the chart snapshot doesn't fully explain on its own: the summary that places Omar Courtz at Argentina No. 43, Colombia No. 16, Dominican Republic No. 48 and Mexico No. 26 doesn't match the song-by-song positions of "KOKO," which hits No. 3 in Argentina and No. 7 in the Dominican Republic. The gap suggests those summary figures average the artist's weight across all of his active tracks rather than capturing any single song's peak. Put differently, the number that draws the most attention — Argentina No. 43 — actually understates a dominance spread across nearly half a dozen songs playing at once.
On the dedicated reggaeton chart, "KOKO" holds No. 3 and "SI ESTÁS CON ALGUIEN" sits at No. 12. Two songs by the same artist inside the top 12 of a genre chart is the kind of data point that doesn't even register in the United States.
The Bridge to Bad Bunny
Omar Courtz's most visible connection to American radar runs, indirectly, through Bad Bunny. "VeLDÁ," featuring Dei V, comes from DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, the album that Remezcla reports crossed one billion streams on Spotify this week. Courtz appears as a featured artist on that track, inside the biggest Spanish-language record of the year. And still, his own name doesn't crack the U.S. top 50 on its own merits. He's inside the genre's biggest phenomenon and outside the very chart that phenomenon feeds.
His backstory explains why he carries that weight without needing the U.S. seal of approval. Born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, in 1997, Omar Courtz worked at a clothing store frequented by Farruko, Anuel AA and Ozuna before signing to Pitbull's label, Mr. 305. His debut album, "Primera Musa" (2024), hit No. 1 in Spain and No. 2 on Billboard's Latin Rhythm Albums chart. His second, "POR SI MAÑANA NO ESTOY," released this past February, features Ñengo Flow, Myke Towers, Dei V, ROA, Bad Gyal and Eladio Carrión. Seven months later, that catalog is what's flooding Latin American charts right now.
ROA and Anuel AA Are Running the Same Map
The case of ROA and Anuel AA confirms this isn't a one-artist phenomenon. Their presence in Argentina (No. 8), Colombia (No. 18) and the Dominican Republic (No. 11) traces the same geography as Omar Courtz, with the same total absence from the U.S. top 50. ROA also appears as a collaborator on Omar Courtz's "WO OH OH," which points to a scene rather than isolated artists: a group of names moving together, crossing over in each other's credits, that still has no equivalent on the U.S. radar.
The Miami Gala Looks the Other Way
While this plays out on the charts, Billboard and Telemundo announced this week the first wave of performers for the Billboard Latin Music Awards, set for Oct. 22 in Miami: Tito Double P, Ozuna, Pablo Alborán, Manuel Turizo, Víctor Manuelle, Xavi, Yahritza y Su Esencia and others. Peso Pluma leads the nominations with 17, followed by Tito Double P with 15, Fuerza Regida with 12, Karol G with nine, Prince Royce with eight and Bad Bunny with seven. No Omar Courtz. No ROA. No name from this new generation. There's no need to read bad faith into the absence: the gala rewards what has already broken through in the market it measures, which is the same market where these artists don't register.
Pitbull, the label boss who signed Omar Courtz, is confirmed as a speaker at Billboard Latin Music Week, the industry conference that precedes the awards show, running Oct. 19-21 at the Faena Forum. He'll be in the building, in Miami Beach, that same week. His artist won't be on the awards stage. That distance, from the conference room to the awards stage, is what separates the reggaeton people are actually listening to from the reggaeton that gets the trophy.
