NPR Music - As the Latin Grammys turns 25, how much has Latin music changed? (Part 1)

Episode Date: November 20, 2024

The Latin Grammys recently marked its 25th anniversary. Alt.Latino's Anamaria Sayre was in Miami to talk to some of Latin music's most influential artists to understand some of the trends that are shaping Latin music today, shared over two episodes.Songs featured in this episode:•Juanes, "Fíjate Bien"•Juanes, "Vida Cotidiana"•Álvaro Díaz, "Quien Te Quiere"•Fuerza Regida, Grupo Frontera "Bebé Dame"Audio for this episode of Alt.Latino was edited and mixed by Simon Rentner. Editorial support from Hazel Cills. Our project manager is Grace Chung. NPR Music's executive producer is Suraya Mohamed. Our VP of Music and Visuals is Keith Jenkins.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

You texted me that you were working so hard and you just let it slip out that you went to a bunch of parties. Okay? I just want the audience to know. The parties are work, Felix. I just want people to know, all right? For the record, yes, you were at home, but you did have the opportunity to come and everyone was asking me, where's Tio Felix? Where is he? And I was like, well, he's in his bed at home.

From NPR Music, this is Alt-Latino. I'm Felix Contreras. I'm Anna Maria Sayer. Let the chisemet begin. And boy, Felix, do I have maybe the most chisemate for you this week? Yeah, Anna was at the Latin Grammy as well. I was here doing all the hard work holding it down. The 25th annual Latin Grammys held in Miami was a big event, an auspicious event, because of course it is the biggest night in Latin music. But also that 25-year mark was a big deal this year. It's just where everyone gets together. And you kind of get to do an assessment of, like where we are with Latin music.

I think it's one thing, obviously, to talk about it generally. It's another thing what the Academy says. But to me, the real value of the Latin Grammys is just getting to have all of those conversations with all the artists who have been there forever, who are on the cutting edge, who are making Latin music what it is today, what makes it so special today. So that was really, really amazing for me to be able to have some conversations about that. Anna walked around with her tape recorder. We've got a handful of interviews and honest observations.

You know what really strikes me in this whole thing? It's just thinking about 25 years ago the status of the Internet. Latin music industry was built on physical product, CDs and cassettes, if you can believe it. I mean, the way that we make music, the way that we listen to music, all of that has fundamentally changed. I mean, I think in many ways, people don't even, to this day, entirely realize how electronic the production process has become. I mean, live instrumentation, whether it exists or doesn't within a song, oftentimes starts from an electronic space all the way through to the listening experience.

Everything's accessible, which means that you really have to set yourself apart when you're making music. And that was what was really interesting to me, Felix, is being on the ground at the Latin Grammys, there's so many opportunities to have so many conversations on mic, off mic, you know, at the awards, at the parties, whatever you have. And I was trying to get down to the bottom of, you know, we're however many years down the line of what people are seeing is like this huge era of the Latin music explosion, started with Bad Bunny, now we're seeing music a Mexicana,

and now we're seeing more and more and more subgenres of Latin music make their way into quote-unquote the Main Street market. And so as I was trying to understand, I had my theories, but I was trying to understand why that was. I was trying to talk to artists that had been there forever, that were new to the game, that were making big hits, that were making smaller songs. to get a sense of what it is about the characteristics of Latin music that are making it so special and universal right now.

Let's start with that first interview, because you were able to talk to a musician who's almost synonymous with not just the Latin Grammys, but with Latin music in general. Absolutely. I mean, we've talked to Juanis, Colombian superstar, pop star, many times before Felix. And it obviously made sense. If we're going to be talking about 25 years of Latin music, why not speak to the man who, Literally his first Latin Grammys was 24 years ago, where he got seven nominations. Including album of the year, record of the year, song of the year. And guess what? He won the best new artist award back in 2001. While I was there, he and his team told me this amazing story about how he didn't want to go to that first Latin Grammys he was invited to.

He thought he wasn't going to get anything. He wanted to stay in Colombia. He's very kind of introverted, loves to be in the studio, not at all the events. And so he refused to go. And last minute, the academy calls, and they go, no, Juanis, you should really, really be there. We can't tell you why, but you really should come. So he gets on the last flight out of Medellin and flies to Latin Grammys has no change of clothes. Joseph has been sopping wet shoes.

And he sits down amongst all of the biggest stars at that time. And they start naming out the names. And they go, Juanes, Juanis, Best New Artist, Juanis, Best New Alas, and Juanis. And they can start naming him over and over. And they said that everyone just looked at him and was like, who is? this Juanis character been a legend ever soon

the album he had out back there was Fijete bien into the title track You've got You've got to do you know, and it's back here despojado of your

house go out in the city you're the little of the nada you're the life that

is the life that are That's the boys, are the boys, are the mothers, we're in the title. It was from Juanis's his first album, Fijate Vianne, the title track.

It's always so fun to hear early Juanis, Felix, because he really has evolved a lot as an artist. He's gone through so many iterations, and he talked a little bit about, his origin story about what he was experiencing, especially when we think of it in the context of how young artists are experiencing music, which is clearly very different.

He experienced music in his early years in a much different way. A very analog way. My algorithm was just my house, you know, the vinyl is that my parents have at home. That was everything, nothing else. And then there was just like two radios maybe and two TV channels.

That's it. Felix, the thing about Juan is that's important to remember is that he came up in a very different era musically too. I mean, he was kind of around for that first, first, first wave of when Latin music really started making its way into the mainstream. And as a result, there was a lot more of a pan-Latin sound that was pushed, initially at least with these pop artists. You know, it was something that it was like,

what can we get everyone to be listening to that's not feeling too hyperlocal, not too distinct, not too from a certain country. And so I asked him about that. I wanted to know if he felt pressured to be more Pan-Latin. And here's what he had to say about it. I think the most important thing now

is just to be original, unique. And the easiest way to be unique and original is just going back to your roots because we are different. We grow up in different countries, different backgrounds, families. So if we go back and look into that, we can have something new to share with the world.

Okay, Anna, let's take a little break for a second to hear some of that music from Juana's. Last year, he won the category of best pop rock album at the Latin Grammys. This is the title track, Vida Continiana. There's a indifference And although There's a

day Yes I'm There's No We've more in the

Scuro Stando those present I've I've I've There was a title

track from is his latest album, Vida Cotidiana. Felix, the new wave of Latin music for me has been this return to local listening. So like I mentioned before, you're seeing more of a pant Latin pop star experience. And as more genres have gotten more pickup as they've become more popular,

people have actually started listening more locally. So you have more Mexicans listening to Mexican music, you have more Colombians listening to Colombian music, all of that kind of stuff. basically across most of the countries in Latin America. I asked Kwanis about that because he's been part of that transition of the Pan-Latin pop music era into this new, more locally representative, popular music moment. And he had something insightful to say about it.

I was very clear about what I wanted to do. I wanted to mix Latin music with rock music because I love both. And I was trying to find my way in my own style. And then probably 10 years ago, I was a little bit more confused or lost. Like, I don't know what I'm doing or what should I do. But then I realized that I needed to go back to my essence. So, Felix, over the rest of this episode and the next episode that we'll have next week, we talked to a few of these artists who are going back to their roots

and who are doing local music in a big way. So I got to talk with artists who are part of each of what I see as the most explosive genres of Latin music right now. So after we take a break, we're first going to talk to one of the most innovative reggaeton artists, in my opinion, on the scene at this moment, Alvaro Diaz. Welcome back to That was That was off That was off of his new album Sayanara

Which was nominated this year, Felix We're going back over the parties That Anna attended I can't get over that yet You're really putting me on blast, feeling. I have to tell you the story. This is so bad. I shouldn't be saying this on tape.

But do you know what I did? At the party where I got to see the artist I'm about to talk about, Alvaro Diaz, I actually went in the pool. You what? Why is that taboo? I don't know, because no one else went in the pool. It's not like you're lounging around. Anna is dolphin daughter, man.

She swims. She's swimming. collapse every city we go to. She found a pool in Barcelona and Bilbao. She found a pool everywhere we went. The secret special bonus episode that's going to be coming after this episode is my review of every single pool in the entire world because I've swam in so many. The spoiler alert is that Barcelona has the best pool. All right. Let's get back to business. Let's get back to the music. I'm really curious, honestly, when you think, think of reggaeton right now. Obviously, you were doing this work when it first started exploding.

Like, what do you think of? I think of how the music has changed from being a very, very street level, going from being an expression of a marginalized population of Puerto Rico to being this global phenomena, sometimes a very, very shiny sheen on top of it. But that's what I think about reggaeton. I think of, like, the way it's morphed over the years. Alvaro had this amazing analogy, Felix, for what reggaeton is now. I see a reggaeton as a, if you can say, like a Netflix series, like a movie where he's been like has a lot of seasons. And there's been a lot of main characters that being held in down this series. So when people get into the series, they can have a lot of success because the series is already big.

Like, you know, like this series that is big and they introduce a new character on season seven. So there's a big possibility that he being. huge if he has a big role on that series. And I see it like that. I always think of the novel. Felix, Alvaro to me is a really interesting example of a very contemporary regettonero. I mean, he actually, interestingly enough, I don't know if he knew this. He was around from the get with all those guys, the bad bunnies, all of the initial, right, big kind of massive explosion wave of reggaeton artists into the mainstream. But he didn't quite make it there because he was doing this kind of awesome.

to the side styling of it. It was never the same kind of straight-ahead regitone that the other guys were doing. And it's just now, as more genres are making their way into the mainstream, as people are kind of looking for something a bit more than just the straight-ahead regiton, that he's really having a shining moment. And he talked about, and many of the artists I talked to have shared similar feelings, he talked about the value of really staying true to the exact kind of art that you want to make. Music is involving in that way, and now their responsibility is in us, like, artists, push

for different sounds. And sometimes this week, people ask me, like, what's your favorite Grammy moment? Now that you've been nominated. And I always remember, like, the first time Cayetresa won a Grammy, that's, like, my favorite Grammy moment because of the message that the Grammy sent to everybody in music at that moment. It's like, hey, we love you all. But we're going to give this award to the one that we feel like he's pushing more the sounds. And seeing that as a kid is what made me be the artist that I am.

And Alvado Diaz is like a cheerleader for what he calls the Oveja Negra, the black sheep, the people who think a little bit differently than others. I'm like the Oweja Negra sometimes, you know, because I'm like the different kids. So I think there's a lot of different kids around the world that feel that way. and I'm like pushing that message. Like being your own and being the Wehanna is good to you. You know, like it has your, Tiena su bendizione. It's really amazing to me that Alvaro was able to find a band, like I, that I say,

to look up to at the academy. Because really, artists like that have been very few and far between in terms of Latin Grammy representation. That's changing a lot now. And it's changing with artists like Alvaro, among many who were nominated this year. Because artists like him see themselves as the different kids. They see themselves of the kids who make different types of music, who have kind of weird thoughts or weird ideas or weird figures about things.

I mean, Felix, honestly, as we talk more and more and more and more about the validity of a real diversity to a Latino experience, it's artists like these who are putting a name to that, who are putting a face to that, who are putting art to that, to show that Latinos can. can be anything and everything, and that there's always going to be a different kid to find that music. And Alvaro says that specifically. I grew up listening a lot of punk, and you can see it on my music. I think it's going to come back, but it's not, probably it's not going to come back in the same format that it wasn't the past, but it's going to come back in another way, you know, like, it's going to be a lot of

artist's influence by, by dad's dad. We're like rockers and, you know, love rock. and they grew up listening to reggaeton in the school, so it's a mix of that. Like, my mom used to listen, like, to the Beatles and Shadeh and gospel music, and my dad would only play salsa. Like, you could never play another song that's not salsa and old salsa. Like, for real, like, you would get mad. And me and my friends would listen to reggaeton, but also blink,

and that's what you see in my music. It's like, you can see, like, in the way that I speak, that I never try to correct my word. I used to speak like a Puerto Rican. Like, I remember when I started, like, I used to like, like, come down my words, and I think that's of the things more bonitia's that we're like, speaking like a Puerto Rican.

I know there was a time that people were like, no, you gotta say all the R's and the S and everything. It's like, but I don't talk like that. Like, why would I want to present myself as something that I'm not? And that evolves to being a good thing. Like back in the day, it was like being, talking like a Dominique and it was like, no, you gotta talk like, but now it's like cool, like, I don't know, like music is evolving in an amazing

way, like I used to dream as a kid, like being in the biggest studio with the best equipment, and now it's like if you can record yourself in a studio, in an hotel room, and I can feel that, like maybe the shower still on or something, like that's a, that creates like character in the music. And I think like it goes back, you know, like punk and all that, you know, garage, that feeling that, like genuine things, you know, not like perfection is going away. Imperfection, I think, is going to be a huge thing in the fisher. Felix, do you have any thoughts on that? I'm totally with him on that.

I think that no matter what generation, no matter what genre, no matter what style, you always need people like Alvado Diaz, pushing the envelope, being a little different, just to keep things fresh and vital. He's playing a very important role. I respect that. But Felix, I don't know if we've seen, you know, in the Latin music space, in the Latin Academy represented space specifically, the Oveja Negra is getting this kind of airtime in the past.

Well, you know, having said that about, you know, being different, the Latin Academy, the Gringo Grammys, you know, they've not been known for spotting those kind of innovations ahead of the curve, okay? That's for other people and other artists to figure that out. But yeah, I would agree that it's not getting the stamp of approval from the industry. And never has and probably never will, but that's their role. But you know, Felix, the feeling on the ground for me, talking to artists on the carpet, talking behind the scenes,

feels like people care less and less about that fact. I mean, one piece of this hyper-local explosion is that there's a lot more control. I mean, artists are speaking direct to consumers on platforms like TikTok on DSPs. So there's a lot more opportunity without, you know, labels or other intermediaries. in the way for artists to really speak their truth directly to fans. And Alvaro really does say something that kind of supports that. Anna, hyper-localization is something that's come up a couple of times in this conversation. Before we sign up for the week, what to you as an example of that kind of hyper-localization?

That's such a tricky question, Felix, because it's really happening across the map, right? like pick a country and you can find examples of a style of music that's exploding. Take quartetto in Argentina and a lot of the bond of stuff that's making its way to Chile. But the best and most visible example would be music, a regional Mexican music, which we've obviously covered very extensively. Now, this is a good example because, one, it's music that's obviously very derivative of traditional Mexico styling. So very local in its inception. but it's also actually making its way outside of the country.

The only thing that I think still makes it fall into this hyperlocalization category is a huge argument for why it's making its way outside of the country is not that other people in the world are listening to it, but it's just that there's a lot of Mexicans everywhere. Here's an example of one of the first really explosive regional Mexican songs I ever heard called Bebe Damne, which Armenta wrote. Anna, we play in the

two. I want to make every other I'm Anna, we played our Minta for a specific reason because you had a really wonderful conversation with him about so many different things, but we're going to have to wait till next.

week for that because we've run out of time. There's so much great interviews, so much good stuff to talk about at the Latin Grammys, the 25th annual Latin Grammys that you attended in Miami. So let's put things on hold for now and let's hold off till next week. Okay, Felix, way to cut me off. I have a lot more to say, but that's fine. I'll save it all for next week. I really still need to go recover anyways for the Latin Grammys, so it's fine.

I need to take a nap. You've been listening to Alt Latino from NPR Music. Our audio editor for this episode is Simon Rettner with editorial support from Hazel Sills. The woman who keeps us on track is Grace Chung. Zerreya Mohamed assists on audio and is also executive producer of NPR music. And Keith Jenkins is VP of Music and Visuals. I'm Felix Contreras.

And I'm Anna Maria Sayre. Thank you for listening.