The Latin Grammys
Celebrating Latino success every year, the Latin Grammy Awards started in 2000, airing on CBS. It was the first prime-time Spanish-speaking program on network television.
This year, the Latin Academy announced the nominees on September 28. The award show had a variation of nominations from musicians like Maluma, J Balvin, Bad Bunny, Rauw Alejandro, and more. Every year the event dedicates it to a specific artist. On November 18th, the Latin Recording Academy dedicated its event to the one and only Ruben Blades, a Panamanian musician. Blades is one of the pioneers and the most successful and influential Salsa artists in the late 20th and the start of the 21st century.
After the list was released, J Balvin addressed an argument he made in the past: Reggaeton is often invited to perform at the ceremony. However, the genre isn’t noticed by the Academy in major categories.
“The Grammys don’t value us, but they need us.”, he tweeted in response. He also stated that it’s only his opinion and has nothing against the other genres.
The “In Da Getto” singer continued, “We give them ratings but they don’t give us respect. (Ps. I’m nominated, so don’t come at me because I’m hurt)”. In a now-deleted series of tweets.
This isn’t the first time Reggaeton artists have spoken against the Latin Grammys, pointing out the inequalities the Latin Academy has previously shown.
For instance back in 2019, Balvin, Nicky Jam, Natti Natasha, Karol G, Bad Bunny, and more voiced their sentiments. Moreover, they showed their distress through social media posting the same message “Without Reggaeton, there’s no Latin Grammy”.
Residente vs. J Balvin
When the list of nominees went public, J Balvin called on other artists to boycott and not attend the ceremony. But rapper Residente put Balvin in his place saying: “That if the Grammys don’t show equality then why do I have 31 Grammys?”
In a video on Instagram, the artist compared his music to be an equivalent of a hot dog cart stand, showing his mediocrity. Also saying that both had a private conversation with Balvin, but when he broke the agreement of confidentiality. Residente responded and exposed him.
