The 65th Annual Grammy Awards this Sunday could become the scene of another historic moment for Latin music with Bad Bunny and Anitta, two of its top performers, vying for two of the night’s most coveted categories.
The U.S. Recording Academy Awards ceremony, hosted once again by comedian Trevor Noah, will be held at the Crypto.com arena in Los Angeles from 17H00 local time (01H00 GMT Monday).
Puerto Rico’s Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, Bad Bunny to the world, who already has two gramophones to his credit, is aiming for his hit “Un verano sin ti” to win the coveted Grammy for Album of the Year, a recognition never before awarded to an album recorded entirely in Spanish.
The album, with more than 4 billion plays on Spotify, has garnered record upon record, as has his promotional tour, which filled stadiums in Latin America and the United States. But the competition for the reggaetonero is not minor: titans such as Adele, Kendrick Lamar and the great favorite, Beyoncé, are competing for the coveted award.
Bad Bunny’s triumph “would mean a lot for Spanish-speaking people and for our culture because it really says ‘look, Spanish music is as respected as English music, and there really are no barriers in music,” Colombian Sebastian Yatra told AFP.
On the other hand, Brazil’s Anitta, who last year had the whole world swaying its hips with her unstoppable “Envolver”, is making her first Grammy nomination, in which she seeks to impose herself as a new artist.
The last time a Brazilian was nominated for Best New Artist was almost 60 years ago, when Astrud Gilberto immortalized the classic “Garota de Ipanema”. But she lost to the Beatles, a gramophone that Anitta now hopes to take home.
The Carioca, in competition with, among others, the Italians Maneskin and the singer son of Mexican immigrants Omar Apollo, could become the first Latin American to triumph in this category.
Rosalía, the favorite
Despite having more than 10 years of career, the nomination comes when Anitta is making her way in the international market, something she has defined as a new beginning. “As a Brazilian and a Latina, a nomination like this means a lot to me, and fills me with pride,” said the “Girl from Rio” in an interview with AFP.
In the categories dedicated to Latin music, the specialists give as favorite the Spanish Rosalía with her “Motomami”, which shone at the Latin Grammy last year, to take the award for best Latin rock or alternative music album.
Carlos Vives, Maluma, Jorge Drexler and Cristina Aguilera are also in the running for Latin music gramophones, as is Daddy Yankee, famous for globalizing reggaeton, but who has not won a Grammy in more than two decades of career.
Is it Beyoncé’s night
All eyes tonight will be on Beyoncé, with expectations of whether her energetic, danceable “Renaissance” will take home the night’s top gramophones.
The 41-year-old leads the field with nine nominations, while Britain’s Adele is up for seven gramophones with her introspective “30”.
The tacit duel has prompted comparisons to the 2017 edition, when Adele swept the top awards at the music industry gala, knocking out Queen Bey’s “Lemonade.” But Beyoncé continues to make history.
The woman with the most gramophones (28), she could this Sunday become the most awarded artist in Grammy history, a title held by classical music conductor Georg Solti (31).
Despite her conquests, Beyoncé is seen as the contender and not the favorite when it comes to the main categories: best album, best recording and best song. Of these awards, she only won best song once, in 2008, with “Single Ladies”.
But specialists warn that this will finally be her night and that she will win the Grammy for Album of the Year.”I hope so beca use doesn’t she deserve it?” said Nile Rodgers, co-founder of the band Chic, who contributed to “Renaissance,”.
“She is without a doubt the most culturally important artist in the world,” said Merck Mercuriadis, Beyoncé’s former manager at the gala before the awards.
Other contemporary musicians such as Kendrick Lamar, Harry Styles, Brandi Carlile and Taylor Swift are also in with a good chance of winning the main awards, having accumulated a large number of nominations.
Rodgers, Supremes, Nirvana, among other artists, will also receive the Lifetime Achievement Award on Sunday.
