There was an acknowledgment of the massive year Mexican regional music has had through rousing songs from Grupo Firme, Los Dos Carnales, Calibre 50, and Banda Recodo. All of the biggest stories in the Spanish-speaking industry right now were covered through the performers. It’s been the Latin Grammys’ way to reflect the modern and commercial impulses of the industry onstage, even when those aren’t especially well represented among its actual nominees and winners. Each artists is beloved (particularly Blades, who was also honored as Person of the Year), and their wins are something to celebrate, though they do raise the perpetual question of how the Latin Grammys sees the future.īut the jam-packed stage, the evening’s gleaming focal point, has always carried an awkward tension.

Yotuel is one of the earliest hip-hop acts recognized by the Academy he took home Best Rap/Hip-Hop Album with his band Orishas just three years after the Latin Grammys first started in 2000. Many of the winners are long-time favorites: Veloso and Blades are legends who each boast an impressive history with the Latin Grammys, Blades having won 10 awards and Veloso having won 13 throughout the decade. Tangana for Album of the Year and the anthem “Patria Y Vida,” which soundtracked Cuban protests this summer, was chosen as Song of the Year over some of the biggest pop hits in recent months.īut in the context of the awards show’s tastes and traditions, some of these winners might not be all that shocking.

The 79-year-old Brazilian trailblazer Caetano Veloso and 24-year-old son Tom Veloso won over emerging stars like Rauw Alejandro and Camilo for Record of the Year Panamanian salsero Rubén Blades beat out Bad Bunny, Natalia Lafourcade, and C. Viewed through one lens, last night’s Latin Grammy Awards were full of unexpected awards and upsets.

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