2024 Latin GRAMMYs: Best Latin Electronic Music Performance Nominations

Latin music is driven by rhythm and beat, with percussive instruments defining genres from samba to salsa, champeta to tango. As music evolves in an ever-technological age, artists have increasingly turned to computer and synth-powered instrumentation to explore Latin styles through an electro lens.

Latin and electronic fusions have opened new genres by blending organic instrumentation into electronic hardware. From Latin house, electro-cumbia and trip-hop-flavored tango, Latin electronic music is accelerating at an exhilarating pace, dominating the airwaves from the radios to the clubs.

At the 2024 Latin GRAMMYs, artists, producers and DJs in the Field are being recognized in the brand-new Best Latin Electronic Music Performance Category. Find the list of the first-ever nominees for this exciting new Category below, and be sure to tune into the 2024 Latin GRAMMYs, officially known as the 25th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards, on Thursday, Nov. 14, at 8 p.m. ET/PT (7 p.m. CT) on Univision, Galavisión and ViX to see who wins.

Ale Acosta is a producer from Spain’s Canary Islands, widely known as one-half of the pop/flamenco duo Fuel Fandango. His debut solo EP, El Porvenir, an electronic project dedicated to his Lanzarote home and named after a famous nightclub on the island. The album’s artwork features a piece of volcanic rock — symbolic of the rugged island terrain — transformed into a disco ball.

Album single "La Ceniza" features the quivering vocals of fellow Canarian Valeria Castro and was born from an informal studio session between the two artists in 2021. The song centers on a lyric that translates as "the ash burns more than what I think," and the line turned out to be hauntingly prophetic. Shortly after the studio session, the Cumbre Vieja volcano erupted in La Palma, one of the lesser-populated islands in the Canarian archipelago. The eruption lasted for months and devastated thousands of homes, and "La Ceniza" was subsequently put on hold.

A few years later, Acosta rediscovered Castro’s vocal track and began experimenting. Inspired by house producers like Bonobo and Four Tet, as well as the distinctive percussive elements from the Canary Islands, the song combines a pop melody with a danceable beat to create a gorgeously layered, introspective track.

Alok is a heavyweight DJ from Brazil who has collaborated with pop icons ranging from Ellie Goulding to John Legend, and is regularly mentioned in the same breath as top DJs such as David Guetta, Martin Garrix, and Steve Aoki.

With the 2024 album, The Future Is Ancestral, Alok has turned his focus to the musical traditions of his country. He honors Indigenous styles of music by collaborating with over 50 Indigenous musicians from eight Brazilian ancestral communities.

The track "Pedju Kunumigwe" exudes hope and collectivism, and weaves in the sounds of birdsong. It is sung by the Guarani Nhandewa, who live in the Mato Grosso do Sul and Paraná states in southern Brazil, along the Paraguay border. Their optimistic lyrics invite children to listen to the birdsong with the lyrics: "Come, let’s see together! He is singing and we are walking along the bird path.."

The track was recorded at a time when the Guarani Nhandewa’s homelands were threatened by industry-favoring bills under the Jair Bolsonaro government. The group saw Alok’s project as an opportunity "to bring to the greatest number of people the knowledge of our struggle and our resistance that we have been doing for 524 years."

The Future Is Ancestral has been recognized by UNESCO for its relevance to the International Decade of Indigenous Languages. In 2022, Alok launched the Instituto Alok to support philanthropic projects in Brazil, India, and Africa. All royalties from The Future Is Ancestral are given to Indigenous musicians.

"Drum Machine" is a testament to Alok’s versatility as a DJ. The Brazilian artist teams up with the elusive masked DJ Pickle to ensure dance floor mayhem.

He strips his music back to basics, getting to the heart of pure EDM frenzy through beat alone. The track starts with a thudding core beat set at 128 BPM, driven by a pounding bass drum, which is then layered with snares, cymbals, and claps.

While instrumental and almost clinically rhythmic, the track is a sonic rollercoaster that packs in multiple drops and build-ups — all despite its concise running time of under three minutes. The pureness of "Drum Machine" offers nostalgia for early 2010s EDM, where artists emphasized beat, energy and adrenaline-inducing drops.

It’s an extraordinary challenge to breathe new life into a globally massive hit, but Tiësto has managed to do just that with his remix of Bizarrap & Shakira’s record-breaking session, "Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53."

The veteran Dutch trance DJ has been increasingly collaborating with Latin artists. In 2021, he remixed Farukko's "Pipas," and this year he collaborated with Karol G on "Contigo" and remixed Myke Towers’ "La Falda." On "Vol.53 (Tiësto remix)", the Dutchman speeds up the tempo and underscores the track with ravey synths central to his trademark anthemic style.

First released in January 2023, the original "Vol. 53" rocketed to No. 9 on Billboard’s Hop 100 and became the fastest Latin track to reach 100 million views on YouTube, thanks to Shakira’s hard-nosed diss lyrics coupled with Biza’s infectiously catchy beats.

The track won the coveted Latin GRAMMY Song of the Year at the 2023 Latin GRAMMYs, bringing Shakira’s Latin GRAMMY wins up to 14 awards (she has also won three GRAMMYs), and Bizarrap’s at three Latin GRAMMY Award wins. The track inspired the title of Shakira’s 2024 album, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, which includes the Tiësto remix as a bonus track.

When the new Category for Best Latin Electronic Music Performance was confirmed earlier this year, Mexican American DJ Deorro was ecstatic. He told GRAMMY.com that the new Category "shows that what we’re doing is working, we’re breaking down doors, and we’re creating more opportunities for artists like us in the future."

Together with Miami-based, Cuban Ecuadorian vocalist Vikina, Deorro has earned a nomination for "BAMBOLE," a house track that veers into heavy EDM drops. Melding Spanish and English lyrics, the song is an ode to the dance floor, with Vikina singing "we’re losing control" as Deorro revs up the beat.

Both artists are no strangers to the Latin electronic scene. Deorro has hits that fuse regional Mexican styles with party beats and has collaborated with Los Tucanes de Tijuana, while Vikina has worked with artists including Pitbull and Robbie Rivera.

Watch: Deorro On His Ultra Music Fest Debut, Connecting With The Crowd | On The Road