Elvis Crespo reveals how much money «Suavemente» still generates for him

The king of merengue broke his silence and spoke candidly about the royalties still produced by his 1998 mega-hit, one of the most-listened-to Latin songs in history.

Some songs never age. «Suavemente», the mega-hit by Elvis Crespo released in 1998, is one of them. And the artist himself knows it better than anyone: in a recent interview, the king of merengue broke his silence and revealed, with a satisfied smile, how much money that song — which conquered the world nearly three decades ago — still generates for him.

«Suavemente keeps paying my bills», Crespo declared with a laugh during a conversation with a Latin music outlet. «I won't give an exact figure, but I'll tell you that every time it plays at a wedding, a party, in a movie or on a streaming platform, I get my check. And it plays a lot, believe me».

The track, included on his self-titled debut album, reached number one in multiple countries and became one of the best-selling merengues in history. With more than 25 years on the market, «Suavemente» continues to rack up streams on platforms like Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube, where it surpasses 500 million combined streams.

According to music industry experts, a song with that level of sustained popularity can generate between $50,000 and $200,000 dollars annually in digital royalties alone, not counting licenses for film, television, advertising and live events. In Crespo's case, who is a co-author of the song, the figure could be considerably higher.

«People think old songs aren't worth anything, but it's the opposite», the artist explained. «A classic song has a value that grows over time. Young people discover it, use it in their TikTok videos, play it at their parties. That's real money».

Elvis Crespo, born in New York and raised in Puerto Rico, released «Suavemente» when he was just 24 years old. What he didn't imagine then was that the song would become his passport to musical immortality and, also, a source of income that decades later remains more than relevant.

The artist used the interview to announce that he is working on new material and plans to celebrate the 30th anniversary of «Suavemente» in 2028 with a special tour. «It's going to be a huge party», he promised. «Because that song isn't just mine — it belongs to all of Latin people».