The music video for smash hit single Despacito, from Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, has become the most-watched YouTube video ever, surpassing the record for Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth’s See You Again.

With just under 3bn views, only a couple more million than Khalifa’s work scored, Despacito continues its run as the song of the summer, having spent the past 12 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100. When the song whose title means “slowly” in English initially went to number one in May, it was the first Spanish-language song to reach that position since Macarena did in 1996.

Despacito becomes the first Spanish-language song to top the Billboard Hot 100

Khalifa and Puth had little time to enjoy See You Again’s being YouTube’s most-viewed video ever last month. After it dethroned Psy’s 2012 song Gangnam Style, Despacito knocked off See You Again from the top spot two weeks later and now averages about 15m new views a week as it dominates airwaves.

While the music video for Despacito, which was filmed in San Juan, Puerto Rico, does not feature Justin Bieber, his presence on the single has helped its steady rise to the top. It achieved this record in a mere seven months (after premiering in January) while See You Again, from Furious 7, was uploaded two years ago.

@daddyyankee reacts to #Despacito's new record A post shared by Billboard Latin (@billboardlatin) on Aug 4, 2017 at 11:14am PDT

Daddy Yankee took to Billboard’s Instagram account to post a video responding to the honor of being the new king of YouTube.

“Thank you YouTube for Despacito’s success,” he says in the clip. “I recognize the influence that the platform has. The music industry has changed. The rules of music have changed. And YouTube has a big responsibility, and I recognize it. Breaking the record is overwhelming, and I’m happy to keep [inspiring] others to do the same.”

In June his video also became the most-streamed song of all time with 4.6bn listens while last month Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro tried to co-opt the song for his campaign with an unofficial remix. Both Fonsi and Yankee criticized its usage for “nefarious” reasons.

Bieber, who’s featured in the song’s remix, recently cancelled the remainder of his Purpose tour, explaining in an Instagram post that he wants his “mind, heart, and soul to be sustainable”.