Last year at the Grammys, Bad Bunny’s LP Un Verano Sin Ti made history as the first Spanish-language project nominated for Album of the Year, and his song “Moscow Mule” got a nod under Best Pop Solo Performance. These all seemed to be signs that the Recording Academy was broadening its view of Latin music and art and considering it for major categories, rather than siloing it to genre-specific categories.
But sadly, it’s back to bad habits this year. No Latin artists appear in the Big Four, despite stars like Karol G having major success, or música Mexicana reaching a global peak. One of the biggest snubs is keeping Peso Pluma — among the biggest breakthroughs of 2023 — out of the Best New Artist category. Elsewhere, only three projects were nominated for Best Música Urbana Album and no Latin producers — despite a colossal year for Bizarrap and Tainy — were recognized in the production category (Multi-hyphenate Edgar Barrera got some love as Songwriter of the Year.) Here are some of our other observations about how Latin music fared in the Grammy nominations this year.
Only Three Urbano Nominees?
One of the strangest anomalies in this year’s nominations is that the Best Música Urbana Album category only has three names in it. Elsewhere, other categories have five — even six or seven — nods but urbano, despite being one of the biggest commercial forces in the Latin industry, is surprisingly bare-boned. A small note in the nomination list specifies that this is because the category received fewer than 40 entries. That seems shocking given how much urbano music came out this year, and clearly submission information needs to become more widespread among the genre’s artists. The names that do appear are among the most deserving, though: Tainy’s opus Data, Karol’s career-defining Mañana Sera Bonito, and Rauw Alejandro’s intergalactic Saturno are all up for the award. We just wish we’d seen projects like Eladio Carrion and Myke Towers in there, too. —J.L.
Latin Producers Not Recognized
Once again, not a single Latin producer got recognized in the Producer of the Year category, despite another massive year for the genre. Despite Tainy receiving a nod in the Música Urbana category for his own LP Data, he wasn’t recognized in the production category. (In fact, Tainy has never been recognized in it, despite his work on Bad Bunny’s Grammy-winning Un Verano Sin Ti.) Ovy on the Drums, Sky Rompiendo, Bizarrap, Rauw Alejandro (who produces under the alias El Zorro), and Edgar Barrera could’ve also easily repped Latin music in the category on the list. —T.M.
Peso’s Best New Artist Snub
No one ran more victory laps in 2023 than Peso Pluma. The breakthrough Mexican artist landed back-to-back number-one hits with the Eslabon Armado collab “Ella Baila Sola” and his viral “BZRP Music Session #55.” Later, his album Genesis shot to Number Three on the Billboard 200 and he closed out a successful U.S. tour as one of this year’s biggest new artists. But he’s conspicuously missing from the Best New Artist category. (“Ella Baila Sola” is notably missing from Song of the Year and Record of the Year, too.) The move is even more baffling given that Peso represents the bigger música Mexicana movement, which had unmatched commercial and cultural momentum in 2023. The Grammys aren’t just snubbing a lone artist here. They’re brushing off an entire new wave of talent. —J.L.
Música Mexicana, ¿Dónde Estás?
If there was a year when música Mexicana could’ve made its way into the general categories, it was this one. With corridos tumbaos dominating streaming charts, it’s strange to see that few artists were recognized — perhaps the Música Urbana category should consider Mexico’s urbano music too? Genre-wide, the only Mexican representation came in, well, the Best Música Mexicana Album category, where Peso Pluma received his lone nomination. Edgar Barrera also received a Songwriter of the Year nod for his work on tracks like Christian Nodál’s “Un Cumbión Dolido” and Grupo Firme’s “Falsa Alarma.” —T.M.
Lots of Latin Pop Selections
Due to a voting tie, the Best Latin Pop Album category sees 6 nominees instead of 5 this year. Among them is Maluma, who, after releasing Don Juan, moved from the Musica Urbana category last year. This year’s Latin Grammy Album of the Year nominees Pablo Alborán’s La Cuarta Hoja and Paula Arenas’ A Ciegas are also up for the award. Meanwhile, Colombian-American singer AleMor earned her first Grammy nomination thanks to her collaborative LP, Beautiful Humans, Vol. 1. —T.M.
Sweet Surprises
There are some nice surprises in unexpected categories: The supremely talented Mexican singer-songwriter Silvana Estrada got a nod for Best Global Music Performance for her heart-wrenching song “Milagro Y Desastre,” and living Cuban treasure Omara Portuondo is in the running for Best Tropical Latin Album with her album Vida. The Best Música Mexicana Album nominations are run primarily by women: The legendary Ana Bárbara, the vocal powerhouse Lila Downs, the all-girl group Flor de Toloache, and Lupita Infante (granddaughter of Pedro Infante) are vying for the award alongside Peso Pluma. Other deserved nods went to Juanes, Eduardo Cabra, Diamante Electrico, and Natalia Lafourcade. It’s just too bad so much great art was siloed again. —J.L.
