becky g

This year promises to be one of the most exciting editions of the Latin Grammys.

As the Latin Recording Academy prepares to unveil the nominations for the award’s 26th edition on Sept. 17, the eligibility period — from June 1, 2024 to May 31, 2025 — includes a number of high-profile albums that not only contributed to the ongoing Latin music boom on a global level, but also pushed the movement forward with their radical choices and genre-defying sounds.

Now a vital part of the Latin pop DNA, the urbano genre continues to redefine and challenge itself, while the rootsy strains of música Mexicana have deservedly gained a privileged seat on the table like never before. The fields of folk, rock, electronica and tropical are still expanding, and artists such as Bad Bunny, Rauw Alejandro, Becky G, Fuerza Regida and Natalia Lafourcade are vying for awards with some of the most ambitious albums of their careers.

De Los assistant editor Suzy Exposito and contributing writer Ernesto Lechner discuss their predictions on the songs and albums that are most likely to be nominated. The following conversation has been edited for length.

Ernesto Lechner: This seems to be an easy year in terms of the two obvious candidates for Latin Gammy history. Bad Bunny’s “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” is the kind of album that defines not only the year it came out — 2025 — but also the entire decade. And Natalia Lafourcade’s mystically tinged “Cancionera” finds the perennial Grammy favorite at the apex of her craft. Going back to Benito’s masterpiece, its conceptual gravitas is almost grander than the songs themselves.

Suzy Exposito: I’m really gunning for Album of the Year for this one. The amount of thought and intention that he placed on this record. The cultural significance of the songs, not just in terms of the history of Puerto Rico, but the way in which he directly engages with the Caribbean diaspora at large through salsa.

E.L.: I love how lovingly he delves beyond salsa to also include plena. He goes back to Rafael Cortijo — the roots, the very essence of boricua culture. And the album has this Beatles-like quality where it’s incredibly commercial — a No. 1 record, the album that everybody is listening to — but there’s no compromise on the artistic front. It’s an ambitious, fully realized statement.

S.E.: Is any album by Benito just another Bad Bunny album? I don’t think he dabbles in filler the way other artists do.

E.L.: The photo of the plastic chairs on the cover could have been taken in the suburbs of Lima, or San Salvador, or Medellín. Benito makes such an inclusive, pan-Latin statement. Which brings me to nominate the title track, “Debí Tirar Mas Fotos,” as a perfect contender for Song of the Year.

S.E.: When I first heard it, I started to cry. It’s a very sentimental song. I was recently in Puerto Rico and went to a plena jam session. It was happening in the street, and you could see people of all ages playing together, singing traditional songs, drinks in hand. There was something really beautiful and timeless about that communal experience.

E.L.: A similar passion for music permeates Lafourcade’s “Cancionera.” Recorded live on analog tape, it has a pristine, wooden-floor kind of warmth. She embodies this mystical character, the cancionera, and it’s a very mature album. I love “Cocos en la Playa” — a frisky, beautiful tropical song that’s so lovely and authentic. For my money, it’s going to be a battle between those two albums in all the major categories.

S.E.: I feel that Natalia Lafourcade is the conservative choice at the Latin Gammys, and it feels bizarre to say it. This is a woman who was making pop-rock in the 2000s. She is a virtuosa, and a master of her craft, but her nomination is predictable because now she represents the gold standard for the Latin Academy.

E.L.: She’s definitely the safest choice between the two. Besides Benito and Natalia, there are a few albums that could very well appear in the major categories, and one of them is Cazzu’s “Latinaje.”

S.E.: That album is such a statement piece. I loved seeing Cazzu break away from the Latin trap sound that she defined and blending it with other things. She’s a great songwriter, and her transformation is fascinating. I think this is the year when many young people are going back to their roots, and then making something new out of it.

E.L.: I had a conversation with Cazzu a few months ago and told her that “Latinaje” made me feel vindicated. As a fellow Argentine, I’ve always felt that we’re an integral part of Latin America. She proved it with this beautiful love letter to so many essential genres. There’s salsa, merengue, South American folk, and “Dolce,” a gorgeous corrido tumbado about that infamous red dress that went viral. And she did it all so genuinely.

S.E.: It may be hard for her, because she came up as an MC. I wonder if the Latin Academy will know in what categories to place her, since this is such a multi-genre album. I mean, she’s an international girl.

E.L.: And of course, Rubén Blades has a new album out, and it’s beautiful as always. “Fotografías” is another sumptuous, big band salsa session. It combines new compositions with songs that Rubén had given to fellow Fania artists in the ‘70s, and now recorded them himself.

S.E.: That’s a great move on his part. “Hey, remember those songs? Yeah — I wrote them!” It sounds ridiculous to say that Rubén is another safe choice, but I can see him in all the big categories. Which brings me to another artist who made a salsa-influenced album: Rauw Alejandro and “Cosa Nuestra.”

E.L.: I love the Afro-Caribbean vibe on “Cosa Nuestra” and the silky duet with bachata star Romeo Santos on “Khé?” I feel this one has been overshadowed a little by Benito’s “Debí Tirar Más Fotos.” My favorite Rauw Alejandro album remains 2021’s “Vice Versa” with the awesome, ‘80s influenced mega-hit “Todo De Ti.”

S.E.: My favorite song on “Cosa Nuestra” is “Se Fue,” the duet with Laura Pausini, which is also like a moody ‘80s song. Raúl has made it a point to polish up his nostalgia for old forms of music. Michael Jackson is one of his most influential artists.

By the way, we should mention Fuerza Regida and their ninth studio album, “111XPANTIA.” They have never been nominated for a Latin Grammy, so I’m rooting for them because they have experimented in a really bold way. Their lead singer, Jesús Ortiz Paz, has shown a lot of intention behind his creative decisions beyond making the same corridos or mining from the same old ‘90s rappers. Their music is cheeky; sonically, it pushes boundaries.

E.L.: You’re never gonna have a bad time with this new wave of música Mexicana stars, considering the staggering melodic richness of their songs and the immediacy of the lyrics.

S.E.: On that note, I think it’s time for Ivan Cornejo to get a Latin Grammy nod for “Mirada” — the production has this ethereal quality that sounds so mature and progressive for the genre. I also want to applaud DannyLux for his ambitious “Leyenda,” which is a psychedelic take on sierreño music, à la George Harrison.

E.L.: What about Becky G? Last year I was asked to write about “Encuentros,” and I just had to surrender to the elegance of this pristine música Mexicana session. Her voice sounds huge on this record.

S.E.: I really hope they don’t silo her in the música Mexicana categories, because this is a very mature album for her. She grew up singing mariachi music with her family, so it’s a beautiful full circle moment for her.

E.L.: “Encuentros” would be a perfect Album of the Year candidate because it celebrates the music of her grandparents but at the same time transcends it. I love that Becky said she’s never looking back after recording her two traditional albums of rancheras and lush Mexican pop.

This brings me to a more general observation: I believe we’re experiencing an era of absolute splendor, and the Latin Grammys nominations are bound to reflect that. It’s like every single Latin American country has blossomed, wearing its most elegant clothes and throwing some amazing parties. The richness and breadth of the music being recorded throughout the continent is off the charts.

S.E.: I agree. Creatively, the last couple of years have been the most exciting for Latin music in a really long time. I think we’re going to remember the 2020s for the bold decade that it is.

Amid ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids happening in Los Angeles and across the country, Shakira is opening up about the realities of being an immigrant in the United States.

The 48-year-old singer spoke with the BBC last week about moving as a teenager from her native Colombia to Miami in the ’90s.

“I was only 19 when I moved to the US, like many other Colombian immigrants who come to this country looking for a better future,” she said. “And I remember I was surrounded by Spanish-English dictionaries and synonym dictionaries because back in the day I didn’t really have Google or ChatGPT to [help].”

Further commenting on her “very precarious” situation, Shakira noted that she used the works of poet Walt Whitman and singer-songwriters Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan to refine her English skills.

But beyond the language learning pains, the “Estoy Aquí” artist spoke on the emotional toll of the immigrant experience.

“It means living in constant fear. And it’s painful to see,” Shakira said. “Now, more than ever, we have to remain united. Now, more than ever, we have to raise our voices and make it very clear that a country can change its immigration policies, but the treatment of all people must always be humane.”

This isn’t the first time Shakira has touched on the subject of immigration in recent months.

While accepting the Latin pop album Grammy for “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran” in February, the “Whenever, Wherever” singer dedicated her award to her “immigrant brothers and sisters in this country”

“You are loved, you are worth it and I will always fight with you,” she said.

Shakira’s recent words of solidarity with the immigrant community came as other major Latin American music acts used their platforms to condemn the ICE raids and align their sympathies with immigrants. Becky G, Ivan Cornejo, Fuerza Regida, Junior H, Grupo Frontera and Maná were among the acts to publicly voice concern for the immigrant community.

A number of Latinx musicians have expressed their solidarity and support for immigrant communities via social media in the wake of immigration raids that have resulted in the arrest of 330 people in Southern California and the Central Coast.

In a lengthy Instagram video posted Saturday, TV personality and two-time Grammy-nominated singer Chiquis held back tears as she addressed the raids and reminded her fans to “treat people like you want to be treated.”

“United we stand, divided we fall apart, you guys,” she said. “If all humans would to get together and be kinder and hold each other’s hands and push people a little bit more in a positive way, uplift people, we would be so powerful.”

Música Mexicana artist Ivan Cornejo shared in an Instagram post Tuesday that his father had been granted amnesty by the Reagan administration during the ‘80s. He punctuated his post by sharing the information for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights and added that he’ll continue to raise funds for CHIRLA throughout his tour.

“Words cannot express the sorrow that I feel for my community,” the “Estas Dañada” singer, a native of Riverside, said. “I see my mom, my dad and myself in many of you. I am speechless at the inhumanity that is affecting our Mexican and Hispanic communities.”

“The people being attacked today are not ‘illegal aliens,’ they are human beings with RIGHTS,” pop star Becky G said Tuesday in an Instagram post that paid tribute to her immigrant grandparents. “We must understand that an attack on them is an attack on OUR DEMOCRACY and an attack on what this country was made to stand for.”

The “Otro Capitulo” singer also shared information about what to do if confronted by immigration agents, and listed several advocacy organizations to support.

Los Aptos, a first-generation música Mexicana act band from Indiana, posted a segment of their interview with YouTube podcaster Pepe Garza describing their origins, and called for “a system that is untouchable no matter what a— is in office.”

In the same post, Los Aptos provided information on what to do if ICE knocks on your door and an infographic with the rights a person has if they are arrested.

Fuerza Regida, one of the most streamed Latin music acts, offered their “love and strength” to the Latinx community in an Instagram post Tuesday.

“We’ve been deeply moved by the events of this past week,” the band wrote in the statement. “These are our people, our fans, the very communities that inspire our music.”

Fher Olvera, the lead singer of legendary rock en español band Maná, posted a video on the group’s official Instagram on Wednesday expressing his support for the immigrant community in L.A., and asked protesters to remain peaceful.

“That’s how you are going to win,” Olvera said in Spanish.

Eight-time platinum artist Junior H also chimed in Wednesday, sharing a photo captioned with “No one is illegal in stolen land.” The “Rockstar” singer also shared a post from his fashion brand, Sad Boyz Clothing, announcing that a portion of its sales would be donated to “help cover the legal fees for families impacted by ICE Raids.”

“It’s a small gesture, but one we believe matters— because when one of us hurts, we all do,” read the company’s statement.

The normally tight-lipped Texas band Grupo Frontera also chimed in, writing in an Instagram Story on Wednesday that they “send strength and resilience to our migrant community.”

“We stand with you. As immigrants, we understand the pain, uncertainty and fear that many are experiencing,” the group said. “It hurts to see our people go through this and that’s why we want to speak out. We support you and we will never stop fighting for our community.”