Dear listeners,
Jon Pareles here, sitting in for Lindsay.
The Latin Grammys, which will be broadcast Thursday on TelevisaUnivision, have always been more fun for me than the Grammys. They’re flashier, more enthusiastic, less uptight and more musically varied, since so many countries get their moments. The dancing is better, too.
Like any other awards show, the Latin Grammys are skewed and far from comprehensive, but they also offer a rare prime-time survey of music that still — despite world-beating superstars like Bad Bunny — faces language and format barriers. Here’s a quick selection drawn from the vast number of nominees, from arena headliners to best new artist hopefuls.
Jump into the sky,
Jon
Listen along while you read.
1. Karol G: “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido”
Karol G sees a guy dancing with his girlfriend and gets jealously competitive in the breezy “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido” (“If I’d Met You Before”), one of the many nominated songs co-written by Edgar Barrera. She fantasizes her way from momentary infatuation to thoughts of marriage — “My name sounds good with your last name” — in a terse production that suggests a freeze-dried merengue, minimal and propulsive.
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2. Annasofia: “Lo Dejo Fluir”
The Colombian songwriter, singer and producer Annasofia, nominated as best new artist, uses programmed beats and sampled pianos and horns to create a kind of deconstructed salsa in “Lo Dejo Fluir” (“I Let It Flow”). She raps and sings boasts that can be down-to-earth (“I’m filling my fridge”) or metaphysical (“I jump into the void as many times as I need to / Until I touch the sky with my own two hands”), easily cruising through her own percussive playground.
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3. Pedrito Martinez: Ilusión Óptica
Brittle, kinetic cross-rhythms pile up at every angle in the title cut of “Ilusión Óptica,” (“Optical Illusion”) nominated for contemporary tropical album. Pedro Martinez, a percussionist and composer born in Cuba and based in New Jersey, pushes high-speed Cuban timba into overdrive. Two Cuban singers — Yomil and Alexander Abreu — trade verses, soaring and growling through polysyllabic lyrics about a tantalizing, elusive woman: “You are like nature, an interaction of dualities.” Through a high-note trumpet solo by Abreu — and then beyond — the music keeps ratcheting up.
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4. Bad Bunny: “DtMF”
Bad Bunny’s 2025 album,”Debí Tirar Más Fotos” (“I Should Have Taken More Photos”) often glides between eras, deliberately moving from contemporary electronics to Puerto Rican roots. Its title song wistfully ponders memories of romance, people and places, shifting from solitude and synthesizers to a communal singalong and deep Afro-Caribbean drumming.
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5. Liniker: “Caju”
The Brazilian songwriter Liniker’s seven nominations include album of the year for her 2024 album, “Caju” (“Cashew”). In the plush R&B of the title song, she agonizes over the competing pulls of romance and a pop career. Liniker, a trans woman, reaches deep into contralto and swoops up to falsetto as she wonders, “Who will be waiting for me at home?” The track starts with an airport boarding announcement in Japanese.
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6. Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso: “#Tetas”
Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso maintain a spirit that runs through Argentine rock and pop: sardonic, twisted irony. “#Tetas” (“Hashtag Tits”), nominated in top categories, uses slick, twinkly, guitar-scrubbing yacht rock behind a sendup of social media career strategies, rapped and sung with tongue deeply in cheek.
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7. Sued Nunes: “Eixo”
Sued Nunes, a best new artist nominee from Brazil, updates the Afro-Brazilian roots of her home province, Bahia. In “Eixo” (“Axis”) she invokes a Yoruba deity, Exu, with a modal melody over a beat that struts like Bahian sambareggae. But the track is also laced with teasing electric-guitar figures and electronically tweaked backup vocals that insist on modernity. “It’s a crossroads / You can go whichever way you want,” she sings.
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8. Raquel Sofía: “Demasiado Poco (Demasiado Tarde)”
Raquel Sofia, a Puerto Rican songwriter whose “Después de los 30” is nominated for traditional pop album, whispers and scoffs her way through “Demasiado Poco (Demasiado Tarde)” (“Too Little Too Late”). It’s a swinging, knowingly retro kiss-off carried by little more than a springy bass line, finger snaps and just a few piano notes. That’s all she needs to tell someone that there’s no chance to win her back.
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9. Ivan Cornejo: “Mirada”
The California-born songwriter Ivan Cornejo wallows in suffering for love. In the title track of “Mirada” (“The Gaze”) — nominated as best contemporary Mexican album — he begs, “If you’re going to kill me, don’t do it so slowly.” It’s a low-fi ballad set to strummed guitars and fleeting backup vocals amid hazy reverb, a private-sounding plaint that has been streamed more than 100 million times.
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10. Judeline: “Mangata”
A muted techno pulse carries breathy vocals in “Mangata” from “Bodhiria,” nominated as best alternative album. Judeline, the Spanish songwriter Lara Fernández Castrelo, leans into studio craft, creating ghostly sounds and layering phantom combinations; in “Mangata,” she answers herself with hints of Balkan choirs. As the music floats, she’s both mystical — envisioning a bewitching full moon — and acutely self-conscious. She sings, “I didn’t want you to leave without telling me something that could inspire a song.”
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11. Maria Beraldo: “Baleia”
Maria Beraldo’s “Colinho,” nominated for Portuguese language rock or alternative album, is Brazilian pop at its most experimental, toying with sounds, words and spatiality. Stop-start percussion and detached piano clusters are the counterpoint to her sustained melody in “Baleia” (“Whale”), an enigmatic song in which, she sings, “My heart distills a sound that melts the sea.”
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
The Amplifier Playlist
“A Latin Grammys Primer in 11 Songs” track list
Track 1: Karol G, “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido”
Track 2: Annasofia, “Lo Dejo Fluir”
Track 3: Pedrito Martinez, Ilusión Óptica
Track 4: Bad Bunny, “DtMF”
Track 5: Liniker, “Caju”
Track 6: Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso, “#Tetas”
Track 7: Sued Nunes, “Eixo”
Track 8: Raquel Sofía, “Demasiado Poco (Demasiado Tarde)”
Track 9: Ivan Cornejo, “Mirada”
Track 10: Judeline, “Mangata”
Track 11: Maria Beraldo, “Baleia”
Jon Pareles has been The Times’s chief pop music critic since 1988. He studied music, played in rock, jazz and classical groups and was a college-radio disc jockey. He was previously an editor at Rolling Stone and The Village Voice.
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