When the first Latin Grammy Awards were held in 2000, they celebrated the diversity of sounds from throughout Latin America, and arrived with the hype 鈥� and hope 鈥� that a new generation of stars would cross over into the American pop mainstream. Among the big names that year were Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony and a rising young singer-songwriter named Shakira.
Now, for the show鈥檚 25th annual iteration, the indefinably broad category of Latin music represents a sprawling segment of the industry that, thanks largely to streaming, has become a truly global phenomenon. The latest nominations, announced Tuesday by the Latin Recording Academy, are dominated by Bad Bunny and Karol G, who sell out arenas, draw clicks by the billions and have eight nods apiece.
Juan Luis Guerra, a veteran Dominican songwriter, has five nominations. Coming in with four each are Kany Garc铆a, a Puerto Rican singer; Feid, from Colombia; Carin Le贸n, from Mexico; and Kali Uchis, a Colombian American singer-songwriter. For the second year in a row, however, the top nominee overall is a behind-the-scenes figure: Edgar Barrera, a Mexican American songwriter and producer, who has a total of nine nods.
Another songwriter, Kevyn Mauricio Cruz, known as Keityn, who often works with Barrera, has six nominations.
A mere list of the nominees gives a sense of the geographic diversity of the Latin field, and of the cross-pollination among genres and regions that has become increasingly common (and popular).
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Barrera 鈥� also known as Edge 鈥� has worked closely with Karol G, the neon-maned Colombian singer who has quickly become an A-list pop star. (At the MTV Video Music Awards last week, she danced in the audience with Taylor Swift and Camila Cabello while performing a recent track, 鈥淪i Antes Te Hubiera Conocido.鈥�) Among the nominations that Barrera and Karol G share are song and record of the year for her track 鈥淢i Ex Ten铆a Raz贸n鈥� (鈥淢y Ex Was Right鈥�).
In the record of the year category, they will compete against streaming hits by Bad Bunny (鈥淢onaco鈥�), Brazilian singer Anitta (鈥淢il Veces鈥�), and Uchis and Mexican star Peso Pluma (鈥淚gual Que un 脕ngel鈥�), along with a salsa-tinged collaboration between Colombian pop star Camilo and cowboy-hatted Mexican artist Le贸n (鈥淯na Vida Pasada鈥�). Also in the category are tracks by Cimafunk and Colombian band Monsieur Perine虂 (鈥淐atalina鈥�), Jorge Drexler (鈥淒errumbe鈥�), Fonseca and salsa band Grupo Niche (鈥淐on Dinero y Sin Dinero鈥�), Guerra and his group 4.40 (鈥淢ambo 23 鈥�) and Chilean performer Mon Laferte, who has long explored Mexican styles (鈥淭enochtitla虂n鈥�).
In addition to Karol G鈥檚 鈥淢i Ex,鈥� Barrera has credits on two other tunes up for song of the year: 鈥�(Entre Pare虂ntesis),鈥� performed by Shakira and Grupo Frontera, and 鈥淪egu虂n Quie虂n,鈥� by Maluma and Leo虂n. That category also includes 鈥淐aracas en el 2000,鈥� performed by Elena Rose, Danny Ocean and Jerry Di; 鈥淭e Lo Agradezco,鈥� by Kany Garci虂a and Leo虂n; 鈥�313,鈥� a partly spoken track by Residente, Silvia Pe虂rez Cruz and actress Pene虂lope Cruz; 鈥淎 La Mitad,鈥� sung by Maura Nava for a new TV version of 鈥淶orro鈥�; and songs written and performed by Drexler, Dayme虂 Arocena and Vicente Garc铆a, and by Gian Marco and Rube虂n Blades. (Record of the year goes to the performers and producers of a single track; song of the year is a songwriter鈥檚 category.)
In album of the year, Karol G, Shakira, Guerra and Puerto Rican rapper Residente will go up against releases by Camilo, Le贸n, Laferte, Kany Garc铆a, 脕ngela Aguilar and Xande de Pilares.
Nominations for best new artist went to Agris, Kevin Aguilar, Darumas, Nicolle Horbath, Latin Mafia, Caca虂 Magalha虄es, Os Garotin, In虄igo Quintero, Sofi Saar and Ela Taubert.
More than 23,000 entries were submitted for the current awards, which cover recordings released from June 1, 2023, to May 31, 2024. To qualify, songs must be new and contain lyrics in Spanish, Portuguese or any native regional dialect, according to the academy.
This year鈥檚 awards will be held Nov. 14 in Miami.
This article originally appeared in. 漏 2024 The New York Times
