I think I have found interest in award ceremonies once again. I had lost interest in them since the internet makes it possible for us to curate what we want to see. Rarely did any artist I like make it to red carpet events. But given the fury Bad Bunny caused in the 2026 Grammy Award ceremony, I became interested in the ins and outs of these award ceremonies once again.
The Latin Recording Academy was formed in 1997 because the Latin music universe had grown too big to be celebrated within the standard Grammy Award ceremony. The first award show was held in 2000. Most people, myself included, would believe that the Latin Grammys or the Latin Recording Academy are a celebration of Latin music and culture, at least prior to doing some reading.
The Latino ethnicity is made up of various different elements of identity: race, tradition, music, and of course language. To my surprise, and I am sure that for you as well, the Latin Recording Academy chooses language, almost exclusively, as the qualifying element of Latino identity. Past award winners like Rosalia have been controversial because they do not meet what the Latino community understands as Latino. And I am sure that there will be future controversies because the wording in the Rules and Guideline manual allow for these situations to occur.
Since language is the main identity element that the Latin Recording Academy uses as the qualifying factor I had a lot of questions. The first is, aside from Spanish and Portuguese, how are other Latin American languages considered? What happens with genres such as Classical, Electronic, or Jazz that usually do not incorporate spoken language? What about the Production Field? What are the identity requirements for these categories?
The Latin Grammys will be celebrated on Thursday, November 12th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Watch my Latin Grammy qualification breakdown on YouTube.
