2020 LATIN GRAMMYS SURRENDER TO REGGAETON.

 2020 Latin Grammys' nominations have been announced today, just  hours ago. As Rolling Stone Magazine says,'J Balvin leads this year's nominations with 13, followed by Bad Bunny with nine nominations and Ozuna with eight;Anuel AA, Josh Gudwin and Collin Leonard each received seven nominations'. This proves reggaeton predominance , which separates from last year's controversy. A lot of Reggaeton artists (Daddy Yankee,Karol G , Maluma...) dennounced the lack of  reggaeton's protagonism , launching the hashtag #SinReggaetonNoHayLatinGrammys. (There are no Latin Grammys without Reggaeton)

Let's start!

-Record of the Year:

  "China" — Anuel AA, Daddy Yankee, Karol G Featuring Ozuna & J Balvin 

"Cuando Estés Aquí" — Pablo Alborán 
"Vete" — Bad Bunny
"Solari Yacumenza" — Bajofondo Featuring Cuareim 1080 
"Rojo" — J Balvin 
"Tutu" — Camilo Featuring Pedro Capó
"Lo Que En Ti Veo" — Kany García & Nahuel Pennisi
"Tusa" — Karol G & Nicki Minaj 
"René" — Residente 
"Contigo" — Alejandro Sanz

As I said, Urban or reggaeton songs are in the spotlight. China reigned Billboard's Hot Latin Songs for several weeks and it recruits the most famous reggaeton stars (Daddy Yankee, Karol G, Anuel AA, J Balvin and Ozuna ) with a sample from Shaggy's It Wasn't Me. We would have expected it to appear in Best Urban Fusion/Performance (as it does, in fact), but it is really a record of the year song? The same happens with Vete or Rojo. Different is Tusa nomination. It has had a huge commercial success .With more than 1 billion views on Youtube, Karol G's song has been one of the biggest hits of the year. Its success and its wide circulation have been maybe the reson for the nomination. 

There is also time for latin (more traditional)pop music . Pablo Alborán's charity and unnoticed song, Cuando Estés Aquí competes with Alejandro Sanz's cover of Joaquín Sabina's slow-tempo love song Contigo, and with Kany García's Lo Que En Ti Veo , showing support for songwriters.

With the hope of connecting black music with electronic music, Bajofondo earns a big nomination. This is the Academy's bet for instrumental music and for joining traditional latin music (that deeps in its origins) with something nearer to our times , electronic music.

Tutu's nomination is the fusion of modern latin pop: a soft reggaeton rhythm that distances it from the urban genre's rawness, but a truly simple lyrics, not very thought or elaborated, just modifying words to rhyme in 'u' .

-Album Of The Year:

YHLQMDLG — Bad Bunny 
Oasis — J Balvin & Bad Bunny 
Colores — J Balvin 
Por Primera Vez — Camilo 
Mesa para Dos — Kany García 
Aire (Versión Día) — Jesse & Joy
Un Canto Por México, Vol. 1 — Natalia Lafourcade 
Pausa — Ricky Martin 
La Conquista del Espacio — Fito Páez 
Cumbiana — Carlos Vives 

J Balvin is again nominated (doubly) for Album Of The Year , as he was with 2018's Vibras.We will see what happens with all these nominations for the urban genre: In 2018 JBalvin only took home one grammy and he was nominated more than five times. In this category there is a stronger presence of songwriters and defenders of traditional latin music,as Natalia Lafourcade.

Song Of The Year: 
"ADMV" — Vicente Barco, Edgar Barrera, Maluma & Stiven Rojas, songwriters (Maluma)
"Bonita" — Juanes, Mauricio Rengifo, Andrés Torres & Sebastián Yatra, songwriters (Juanes & Sebastián Yatra)
"Codo Con Codo" — Jorge Drexler, songwriter (Jorge Drexler) 
"El Mismo Aire" — Edgar Barrera, Camilo, Jon Leone, Richi López & Juan Morelli, songwriters (Camilo)
"For Sale" — Alejandro Sanz & Carlos Vives, songwriters (Alejandro Sanz & Carlos Vives)
"#ELMUNDOFUERA (Improvisación)" — Alejandro Sanz, songwriter (Alejandro Sanz)
"Lo Que En Ti Veo" — Kany García, songwriter (Kany García & Nahuel Pennisi)
"René" — Residente, songwriter (Residente)
"Tiburones" — Oscar Hernández & Pablo Preciado, songwriters (Ricky Martin)
"Tusa" — Kevyn Mauricio Cruz Moreno, Karol G, Nicki Minaj & Daniel Oviedo Echavarría, songwriters (Karol G & Nicki Minaj)
"Tutu" — Camilo, Jon Leone & Richi López, songwriters (Camilo Featuring Pedro Capó)

ADMV , Maluma's ballad released during lockdown, gets an unexpected nomination while Ricky Martin's Tiburones social song is also a contender for the category. After La Plata's success, Juanes is nominated for Bonita ( with Sebastián Yatra), which sound almost exactly the same as its predecessor.

With simple and (computer) drums and vallenato kind-of-beat, Carlos Vives and Alejandro Sanz 's For Sale gets a nomination. The song's message is not bad, the singers seem to be able to sell every material thing they shared with their lovers except the couple's love and secrets, but instrumentally , it is not their best piece.

 

Best New Artist :
Anuel AA
Rauw Alejandro 
Mike Bahía 
Cazzu
Conociendo Rusia 
Soy Emilia 
Kurt 
Nicki Nicole 
Nathy Peluso 
Pitizion 
Wos 

Here we can see that The Academy is paying more attention into argentinian trap artists (Cazzu, Nicki Nicole, DUKI,Wos...) , as it is shown in Best Rap/Hip Hop song , where Duki is nominated for Goteo 

Best Pop Vocal Album:
Spoiler — Aitana 
Prisma — Beret 
Por Primera Vez — Camilo 
Más Futuro Que Pasado — Juanes 
Pausa — Ricky Martin 

Spanish artists Aitana and Beret earn each a nomination. It is Aitana second nom after competing last year in Best New Artist category. Camilo seems unstoppable, his mix of reggaeton soft rhytms with more traditional pop songs (El mismo aire)  might represents The Academy's vision/direction of Pop right now.

Best Reggaeton Performance (New Category):
"Yo Perreo Sola" — Bad Bunny 
"Morado"— J Balvin 
"Loco Contigo" — Dj Snake & J Balvin Featuring Tyga
"Porfa" — Feid & Justin Quiles 
"Chicharrón" — Guaynaa Featuring Cauty
"Te Soñé de Nuevo" — Ozuna 
"Si Te Vas" — Sech & Ozuna 

This is what most reggaeton artists were asking for last year and finally they got it. This is why this year nominations are a complete redemption to the genre. During last few years , it has been included in the Urban categories. Is it an independent genre? It is true that reggaeton success all over the world has spread latin music , but there is also much more instrument and lyrical complexity in Latin Music that what Reggaeton shows. 

Best Pop/Rock Song:
“Dolerme” – Pablo Diaz-Reixa, Frank Dukes, Rosalía & Matthew Tavares, songwriters (Rosalía)
“La Canción de Las Bestias” – Fito Páez, songwriter (Fito Páez)
“Quiero Que Me Llames” – Conociendo Rusia, songwriter (Conociendo Rusia)
“Quiero Vivir” – Draco Rosa & Jaime Sabines, songwriters (Draco Rosa)
“Ultimas Palabras” – Los Mesoneros, songwriters (Los Mesoneros)

This is what used to hog the main categories a few years ago in the Latin Grammys. I recommend you to listen to Conociendo Rusia ( it is similar to Spanish alt-pop ) and Los Mesoneros , which is similar to  Dvicio's and Morat's music. 

Surprise nominations: Amaia's Una Vuelta al sol is nominated for Best Long Form Music Video, Lido Pimienta is shortlisted for Best Alternative album ,Prince Royce is nominated  for Best Contemporary/Tropical Fusion Album and Rosalía is also a contender for Best Urban Fusion/Performance, thanks to 'Yo x ti, Tú x Mí'. 

2020 Latin Grammys nominations shows reggaeton's hegemony in main categories . Its spread and fame all over the world has lead to consider the genre as one of the most important of latin music, but Latin Music is richer, is more complex than reggaeton or latin trap shows. The Academy should difference between 'popular' and 'award winnig'.