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Camilo, Juan Luis Guerra lead 2021 Latin Grammy Awards nominees

Bad Bunny, Natalia Lafourcade and Camilo
Bad Bunny, left, Natalia Lafourcade and Camilo are among the top nominees for this year’s Latin Grammy Awards.
(Chris Walker / For The Times; Jon Kopaloff; Joe Buglewicz / Getty images)
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Lee toda la lista de nominados en español.

Colombian pop singer-songwriter Camilo and Dominican bachata pioneer Juan Luis Guerra lead this year’s nominees for the 22nd Latin Grammy Awards.

Camilo is nominated in 10 categories, including album of the year, song of the year and record of the year, for which he’s twice nominated: for “Vida de Rico” and “Amén.” The latter is a collaboration with his wife, Evaluna Montaner, her brothers Mau y Ricky and their father, Argentine-Venezuelan hitmaker Ricardo Montaner.

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Guerra’s six nominations include album of the year and record of the year. He’s also a contender in the tropical and traditional pop vocal categories, for songs from his “Privé” EP.

C. Tangana, the Spanish rapper-singer who won two Latin Grammys for songwriting on Rosalía’s “El Mal Querer,” scored five nominations, including album of the year for “El Madrileño.” His “Te Olvidaste,” which features first-time nominee and L.A.-based indie rocker Omar Apollo, is nominated for record of the year.

Bad Bunny is in the running for four awards this year, including album of the year for “El Último Tour del Mundo.” “Dákiti,” his joint reggaetón-pop hit with Jhay Cortez, made history when it topped both the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and the Global 200; it peaked at No. 5 on the Hot 100. Still, “Dákiti” was not nominated for either record or song of the year; instead, it is up for best urban song.

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Regional Mexican music is sparsely represented in major categories this year. Most notably, “Que Se Sepa Nuestro Amor,” the steamy mariachi duet by Mon Laferte and Alejandro Fernández, is nominated for song of the year, while “Un Canto por México, Vol. II,” by 14-time Latin Grammy winner Natalia Lafourcade, is up for album of the year. (Lafourcade won album of the year in 2020 for “Un Canto por México, Vol. I.”)

Women make up more than half of the 11 best new artist nominees; among them are Chilean-American R&B star Paloma Mami, Argentine YouTuber-turned-singer María Becerra and queer Dominican artist and novelist Rita Indiana.

After being passed over for best new artist in 2020, Puerto Rican urban star Rauw Alejandro received record and song of the year nominations for his 2021 disco-revival smash “Todo de Ti.” His single with Camilo, “Tattoo (Remix),” is nominated for urban fusion/performance.

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Reggaetón star J Balvin, who previously criticized the Latin Recording Academy for overlooking the genre, is nominated for song of the year and urban song for “Agua,” his collaboration with Tainy. “Agua” was the lead single from the soundtrack for “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run.”

“Patria y Vida,” which was adopted by protesters during this summer’s uprisings against the Cuban government, is nominated for song of the year and urban song. The collaboration among Cuban artists — both living on and exiled from the island — has resonated far beyond the country and its diaspora. The song is performed by Gente de Zona, Yotuel Romero of Orishas, Descemer Bueno, Eliécer “El Funky” Márquez and Maykel Osorbo, a rapper who reportedly has been detained in Cuba since May 18.

The Weeknd, who in November called the English-language Grammys “corrupt” after he failed to receive any nominations, has been nominated for a Latin Grammy. “Hawái (Remix),” his hit song with Colombian pop star Maluma, is nominated for urban fusion/performance.

After a COVID-conscious virtual ceremony in 2020, this year’s Latin Grammys will be broadcast from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Nov. 18.

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