On Tuesday, the nominees for this year’s Latin Grammys were disclosed and the urban genre community is UPSET.
Among the list of artists that were snubbed:
- Romeo Santos (who this past weekend set a record by playing for more than 60,000 fans at MetLife Stadium. More than any artist, ever. His album Utopia, isn’t nominated at all.
- Ozuna’s album Aura: debuted at number 7 on the US Billboard 200; 2018’s biggest week for a Latin album; goes beyond the reggaeton and trap Ozuna is known for, with cumbia track “Aunque Me Porte Mal” and bilingual pop track “Comentale.”
- Karol G’s Ocean: 2018 Best New Artist winner; not one nomination.
- Becky G: not one nomination.
- Natti Natasha: not one nomination.
- Daddy Yankee: only one nomination for best urban fusion performance for “Con Calma” featuring Snow
- Bad Bunny: only two nominations; 2019 album in collaboration with J Balvin “Oasis” opened at No. 1 on the Top Latin Albums chart; broke record for the most concurrent songs in top 10 of Hot Latin Songs
Although, the amount of nominees per categories has been increased from five to 10, since 2012, any Latin Urban artist is non-existing in the major categories this year’s Grammys.
This isn’t the first time the Academy belittles the reggaeton/urbano latinx community, setting them apart from “real” music. It is the first time; however, that artists have voiced their opinion so loudly. On Tuesday, Daddy Yankee (genre veteran, still relevant and evolving decades into his impactful career) spoke, and over a million people agreed.
Daddy Yankee’s statement, translated to English:
“Although I’m nominated, I don’t agree with the manner in which the genre and many of my colleagues were treated. This goes beyond an award. This is culture, credibility, persistence and RESPECT.”
The graphic posted by Daddy Yankee has been reposted by others in the community, including J Balvin, who won Best Urban Music Album for “Vibras” in 2018.
The graphic states: “WITHOUT REGGAETON, THERE ISN’T A LATIN GRAMMY”
While it is true that the Latin Urban/Reggaeton genre is of massive influence and importance to the Latin genre, as a whole, would boycotting the Latin Grammys be effective? It is possible for the ratings of the annually televised show to go down, but would it lead to the Academy giving the genre’s artists the recognition they deserve?
After the backlash, the academy released a response:
“The Latin Recording Academy has followed a strict voting process for the past 20 years. The members, through their votes, select what they believe merits a nomination. The Academy has never influenced their decisions, have always honored, and respected their elections, even if there are people who do not agree with the results.
Nevertheless, we hear the frustration and discontent… We invite the leaders of the urban community to get involved with the Academy, to get involved with the process, and to get involved with discussions that improve the Academy.”
Thus far, it seems as if the Academy wants to shine a light on Latin artists who don’t belong to the Urban category. This is presumed to be because urban music is currently dominating the charts and the radios, not giving enough space for other quality talent to rise. While it is reasonable and admirable that the Academy wants to honor all kinds of greatness in Latin music, its belittling and under-representation of urban artists, who have been making honorable strides.
A possible solution might be for more members of the urban community to become part of the Academy, as the Academy’s statement mentioned. If you have members that are part of the urban community, it is more likely for such music to be recognized and the definition of merit to be re-thought.
The Latin Grammys are not the first awards to be slow at arriving at accurate representation and recognition of the urban community’s impact on music. As Billboard reports, the Grammys themselves were slow in recognizing hip hop and, previously, rock. Just last year, a force was gathered to create inclusivity at the Grammys. Is it time for members of the Latin urban community to help the Academy improve, or will mere protest be enough to stop the belittlement?
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