Let’s face it: It wouldn’t be Latin Grammys season without some piping hot discourse on the “State of the Latin Music Industry.” Each year’s ceremony feels more polarizing than the last; whether it’s moving the ceremony to Spain this year, or rappers calling for a boycott, the event seems to evoke strong opinions from everyone (and their tía).
The Latin Grammy nominations were unveiled Tuesday. These are the artists with the most nominations.
This year is no different. Tuesday’s nominations for the 2023 Latin Grammys — the ceremony will be held in Sevilla on Nov. 16 — excluded one of Latin music’s most popular subgenres, corridos tumbados. Below are some of this year’s biggest snubs and surprises.
Snub : Rancho Humilde, the groundbreaking L.A. label and incubator of the hot corridos tumbados sound, has been shut out of the nominations this year.
Rancho Humilde Records, headquartered in Downey, has become a trailblazer in Latin music by giving traditional Mexican corridos a hip-hop makeover.
Not a single act from the label’s hefty roster is in the running — not even the South Central players of Fuerza Regida, who in the last year have landed four No. 1 songs combined on the Mexican and U.S. Latin Billboard charts. (This includes “Bebe Dame,” their feel-good cumbia collab with song of the year nominees Grupo Frontera.)
According to a representative for the label, Rancho Humilde filled out the necessary paperwork for nominations; the label just didn’t make the cut this time. Pour one out tonight for Junior H, Natanael Cano and the many other talented players who’ve helped propel this influential new wave in Mexican music.
Surprise: Peso Pluma, corridos tumbados’ buzziest ambassador, is not technically up for any Latin Grammys this year. Although he and Eslabón Armado famously recorded the mega-hit “Ella Baila Sola,” which is nominated for song of the year and in the regional song category, it is the tune’s author, Eslabón Armado frontman Pedro Tovar, who is in the running for the songwriting awards.
Keep your fingers crossed, though, Doble P Hive: The song’s nominations could lead to Peso Pluma’s consideration next year, when his June 29 debut, “Génesis,” will finally qualify. (The cut-off date for this year was May 31.)
Snub: Latin Grammy-winning reggaetón producer Marco “Tainy” Masís is kind of a big deal around here. He’s produced loads of tracks for Latin music’s most prominent acts, from Bad Bunny to Daddy Yankee; and now that there are five categories dedicated to urban music, including one reserved for reggaetón performance, his complete absence from the nominations feels pronounced. And yet, much like the aforementioned Peso Pluma, perhaps Tainy’s summer LP, “Data,” may stand a chance next year.
From working with Bad Bunny to being inspired by anime, Tainy takes us behind his new album, ‘Data.’
Surprise: Prodigal rapper Tego Calderón has resurfaced for his first Latin Grammys nomination since his album “El Que Sabe, Sabe” won for Latin urban album in 2015. His 2023 song “La Receta” is nominated this year for reggaetón performance. Welcome back, king!
Snub: Puerto Rican trap princess Villano Antillano is way harder than everyone, and I mean everyone, who is nominated for a Latin Grammy this year. If she had made the cut, though, it would have been incredible to see her and Bruses — now nominated in the pop/rock song category — inciting a glorious, queer femme riot in Sevilla.
Surprise: Philadelphia DJ Marshmello will compete against Caribbean titans Marc Anthony and Juan Luis Guerra in the tropical song category of for “El Merengue,” his profoundly random collaboration with Colombian balladeer Manuel Turizo. The way these Latin Grammys go, Marshmello and Turizo are not likely to win; but they could make for a memorable telecast.
