Juan Luis Guerra 4.40 wins large on the twenty fifth Latin Grammys : NPR

The twenty fifth annual Latin Grammy Awards had been introduced in Miami Thursday night time and the event was a take a look at the previous, current and way forward for Latin music.

Veteran Dominican merengue star Juan Luis Guerra and his group 4.40, an artist who gained two Latin Grammys in the course of the very first ceremony introduced in 2000, collected a complete of 4 trophies, together with the highest honors of each document of the yr and album of the yr for his launch Radio Güira.

Whereas his competitors within the document of the yr class featured a who’s who of a lot youthful musicians, together with Puerto Rico’s Dangerous Bunny, Brazilian pop sensation Anitta, Colombian Karol G and breakout Mexican star Peso Pluma, Guerra’s win appeared to mirror his friends’ admiration not only for the longevity of his profession but in addition the legacy of the final 25 years of Latin music.

The way forward for Latin music was additionally mirrored in three wins by Mexican American songwriter and producer Edgar Barrera.

He is already collected over 20 Latin Grammys, in addition to a Grammy for songwriter of the yr and billions of streams for writing or producing songs by Dangerous Bunny, Karol G, Peso Pluma, Shakira, Maluma and for crossover acts like Camila Cabello and Ariana Grande.

At 34 — simply barely older than the Latin Grammys themselves — Barrera displays the vitality of expertise in Latin music not simply within the second however for at the least a number of extra many years to come back.

Different highlights included Puerto Rican vocalist Kany García successful finest conventional pop vocal album for García, in addition to Venezuelan upstarts Rawayana besting favorites Kali Uchis and Peso Pluma for finest pop music.

Dangerous Bunny gained the most effective reggaeton efficiency class, which was crowded with prime names together with J Balvin, Álvaro Díaz and Rauw Alejandro. And OG reggaeton pioneer Daddy Yankee beat out youthful artists for finest city music.

Carin León edged out a crowded finest modern Mexican music album class that included Peso Pluma, Natanael Cano, Grupo Frontera and DannyLux, whereas former boy band member turned deep thinker Draco Rosa gained finest pop/rock album for one more of his extremely conceptualized albums, Reflejos de lo Eterno.

Ela Taubert gained finest new artist on the Latin Grammys Thursday in Miami.

Rodrigo Varela/Getty Photographs for The Latin Recording Academy

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Rodrigo Varela/Getty Photographs for The Latin Recording Academy

And the most effective new artist class is at all times a glimpse on the altering sound of Latin music. This yr’s winner, Colombian vocalist Ela Taubert, was acknowledged for her deeply private songwriting, a glimpse of the extremely private flip songwriting has taken lately.

Rather a lot has modified in Latin music for the reason that first awards had been handed out. For one, the market has grown exponentially because the Latino inhabitants right here in america has grown considerably.

In response to the U.S. Census, the quantity of people that self-identify as Latino has grown from simply over 12% in 2000 to virtually 19%. Within the first half of 2024, Latin music income grew 7% to a document $685 million, based on the Recording Business Affiliation of America.

Adjustments in expertise have fueled not solely the expansion of gross sales, from CDs to streaming, however have additionally catapulted Latin musicians to a world stage. At the moment, songs by nominees like Dangerous Bunny, Carin León, Camilo and Karol G stream within the billions, with title recognition effectively past Latin America, Spain and the U.S.