Tropical Airplay is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks the top-performing songs (regardless of genre or language) on tropical radio stations in the United States, based on weekly airplay data compiled by Nielsen's Broadcast Data Systems (BDS). It is a subchart of Hot Latin Songs, which lists the best-performing Spanish-language songs in the country. In 1998, 15 songs topped the chart, in 50 issues of the magazine. Due to damage to the BDS monitors in Puerto Rico caused by Hurricane Georges, the Tropical Airplay chart, along with the other Latin song charts, was not published in the issues dated October 10 and October 17.

At the start of the year, Gisselle was at number one with her first chart-topper "Quiero Estar Contigo". She went on to have another number one in 1998 with a cover version of Lani Hall and Camilo Sestos's "Corazón Encadenado" with Sergio Vargas; it would be the latter artist's only number one. Víctor Manuelle had three number ones in 1998 topping the listing with "Así es la Mujer", "Se Me Rompe el Alma" and "Que Habría Sido de Mí". Following a successful stint with Grupo Manía, Elvis Crespo launched his solo career and released his debut album Suavemente (1998). The album spawned two number one singles: the title track and "Tu Sonrisa". "Suavemente" was the longest-running number one of the year with nine weeks and the best-performing tropical song of 1998. Grupo Manía themselves reached number one with "Me Miras y Te Miro". Marc Anthony was the only other artist to reach number one with more than one track in 1998 with "Contra la Corriente" and "Si Te Vas", the latter a cover version of Pedro Fernández's song.

Other acts to reach number one for the first time include Olga Tañón, Ricky Martin, Servando & Florentino, and Juan Luis Guerra. Servando & Florentino's debut single, "Una Fan Enamorada", spent a total of six weeks on top of the chart. Guerra had the final one of the year with "Mi PC" from the album Ni Es lo Mismo Ni Es Igual (1998), which marked the artist's return to the music scene after a four year absence. Juan Manuel Lebrón (credited as Juanma y su Tuna Para Todo el Año) and Michael Stuart obtained their first and only chart-toppers in the year.

Chart history

Key

†	Indicates number 1 on Billboard's year-end tropical chart

Chart history

Issue date	Title	Artist(s)	Ref.
January 3	"Quiero Estar Contigo"	Gisselle
January 10	"Por Dos Pulgadas"	Juanma y su Tuna Para Todo el Año
January 17	"Me Miras y Te Miro"	Grupo Manía
January 24	"Así es la Mujer"	Víctor Manuelle
January 31
February 7	"Mi Mayor Venganza"	La India
February 14	"El Frío de Tu Adiós"	Olga Tañón
February 21	"Mi Mayor Venganza"	La India
February 28	"Vuelve"	Ricky Martin
March 7	"El Frío de Tu Adiós"	Olga Tañón
March 14
March 21	"Si Te Vas"	Marc Anthony
March 28	"Una Fan Enamorada"	Servando & Florentino
April 4
April 11
April 18
April 25
May 2
May 9	"Suavemente" †	Elvis Crespo
May 16
May 23
May 30
June 6
June 13
June 20
June 27
July 4
July 11	"Se Me Rompe el Alma"	Víctor Manuelle
July 18
July 25
August 1
August 8	"Tu Sonrisa"	Elvis Crespo
August 15	"Corazón Encadenado"	Gisselle and Sergio Vargas
August 22	"Tu Sonrisa"	Elvis Crespo
August 29
September 5	"Oye!"	Gloria Estefan
September 12	"Tu Sonrisa"	Elvis Crespo
September 19
September 26	"Contra la Corriente"	Marc Anthony
October 3
October 10	No charts published
October 17
October 24	"Que Habría Sido de Mí"	Víctor Manuelle
October 31	"Contra la Corriente"	Marc Anthony
November 7
November 14	"Agua Pasada"	Frankie Negrón
November 21
November 28
December 5	"Niña Bella"	Michael Stuart
December 12	"Mi PC"	Juan Luis Guerra & 4.40
December 19
December 26

See also

• 1998 in Latin music