Will this year’s Latin Grammys be as controversial as last year’s?

After last year’s controversy, what will happen during the 2022 Latin Grammys?

Last September, when the Latin Recording Academy released the list of nominees for the 23rd award ceremony, which will take place on November 17th in Las Vegas, the yearly conversation around the nominations got started. In a recent interview, the CEO of the Latin Recording Academy, Manuel Abud, addressed the criticism that the Grammy Awards have received by the artists who feel they were left out, and said: “When there are complaints, we respect the opinion, it’s valid, and we take it into account,” and added that it probably requires adjustments.

Some people would say that a real show demands some drama and we’re giving you the timeline of the Latin Grammys controversies of the last few years.

Latin Grammys 2022: Latino take their thoughts to social media

Venezuelan singer Danny Ocean complained on social media because he was not in any of the categories. He shared his discontent on Twitter: “Is the music that many of us who sweat it so different that they don’t know where to put it?” and continued, “I don’t want to sound whiny or anything, but with so much music on the street and so many creative things happening… Every year is always the same. What a bore!!!”

Maluma posted a story on Instagram stating that his only nomination was for the song “It all adds up” and, in another story, pointed out that his song “Hawai” has reached one billion streams on Spotify. He wrote: “I’ll stick with this,” as a subtle way of criticizing the criteria for designating nominees. 

Latin Grammys 2021: J Balvin vs Residente

The 2021 Latin Grammys gave us plenty of drama. J Balvin called for a boycott because he said that reggaeton didn’t have the same recognition as other musical genres, and Residente answered that his music was like a hot dog cart, stirring up enough controversy to make headlines. But this wasn’t the first time the awards have been criticized, and this year some artists have already commented on the nominations. 

In 2021, when the nominees for the Latin Grammys were announced, J Balvin, who was nominated in several categories, shared a Tweet in Spanish that stated: “The Grammys don’t value us, but they need us.” He then clarified he has nothing against the other genres, because they deserve respect, but that it was “already boring.” 

“We give them ratings, but they don’t give us respect,” pointed out J Balvin, and then made it clear that he was nominated, so it wasn’t about feeling hurt for being left out. He even called for action, adding that “those with power in the genre, none should go,” to force the award ceremony to make some changes. 

The next day, Puerto Rican artist, Residente, posted a video on Twitter, addressing J Balvin and saying he would believe his call for a boycott if José Álvaro Osorio Balvín hadn’t attended the ceremony in 2020, after having received 13 nominations. The Puerto Rican singer said that the problem is the Colombian rapper only got one award, and that’s why he decided to criticize the Grammys. 

Residente continued and told J Balvin that it’s as if a hot dog cart owner got upset because he couldn’t win a Michelin star. He added that almost everybody likes a hot dog and that his music is like a hot dog cart. But, if he wants to earn a Michelin star, he should do things differently. 

There was a further exchange of posts between both artists that had a lot of media coverage and repercussions on social networks, but, in the end, J Balvin performed with Maria Becerra in the Grammys last April their song “Qué más pues?”

Latin Grammys 2019: Daddy Yankee defends Reggaeton

It wasn’t the first time the Puerto Rican rapper criticized the lack of recognition for urban music. In 2019, he turned to social media to post: “Without reggaeton, there is no Latin Grammy.” The message was also posted by Bad Bunny, Nicky Jam, Natti Natasha, and Maluma, among others. The objective was to bring to light the fact that the artists from this genre were not being nominated in important categories, such as Best Album or Song of the Year.

Likewise, in 2019, Daddy Yankee, who had been nominated, said he didn’t agree “with the way they treated the genre and a lot of my colleagues.”  He added: “This goes beyond a prize. This is culture, credibility, relevance, and respect.”

Who are your favorite nominees this year? Stay tuned for our coverage of the 2022 Latin Grammys.