The 2024 Latin GRAMMYs celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Latin GRAMMY Awards — and 25 years of honoring excellence in Latin music. After a successful edition in Seville, Spain, last year, which marked the first-ever international show in Latin GRAMMY history, this year's ceremony returns to the United States, taking place on Thursday, Nov. 14, in Miami.
Much has changed for both the Latin GRAMMY Awards and the Latin music industry since the inaugural awards show took place at the turn of the millennium. Two and a half decades later, Latin music has broken boundaries and experienced an unparalleled global explosion. According to a midyear report by Luminate, a data and insights company focusing on the entertainment industry, Latin music was the fastest-growing genre in the United States in the first half of 2024. The report notes that the Regional Mexican genre, now the largest Latin subgenre in the U.S., is one of the primary drivers behind this trend.
Reflecting a commitment to evolve with the ever-changing musical landscape, the Latin Recording Academy will introduce two new Latin GRAMMY categories this year: Best Latin Electronic Music Performance, housed within the new Electronic Music field, and Best Contemporary Mexican Music Album.
Despite the genres' breakout success, incorporating these categories into the Latin GRAMMY Awards Process is not a response to a fleeting trend. "It's a thorough process to ensure, as much as possible, that the categories aren't the result of a momentary fad, but truly represent a movement that, while not permanent, is very solid," Latin Recording Academy CEO Manuel Abud told GRAMMY.com in an interview on the day before the 2024 Latin GRAMMY nominations were announced.
As the global authority on Latin music, The Latin Recording Academy and the Latin GRAMMYs have been at the forefront of Latin music's evolution from a niche genre to a global phenomenon. Now celebrating 25 years of Latin music history while building its innovative future, The Latin Recording Academy continues to honor and elevate the creators who have globalized Latin music.
"It should never be about us; it's about our members and the music," Abud reflected. "It's wonderful that after 25 years, our music is experiencing such amazing growth and that we have the privilege of working with our artists and creators, celebrating their successes. Their successes are our successes."
In this exclusive interview with GRAMMY.com, Abud discussed the 25-year history of the Latin GRAMMY Awards, the selection of Carlos Vives as the 2024 Latin Recording Academy Person Of The Year, and the integral role that the Best New Artist category plays in fulfilling the Latin Record Academy's mission of nurturing and elevating the future of Latin music creators.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
From the first Latin GRAMMY Awards in 2000 to now, Latin music has evolved and reached unimaginable heights. What have you discovered looking back at the award show's 25-year history?
There's been a clear evolution from a time when we were seen as niche music, where the recognized artists were those who made the famous crossover. Today, without presumption, I believe we're a global pop culture phenomenon in our language. Interestingly, what we're seeing now is an interest in reverse crossover. You have mainstream artists wanting to collaborate with Latin artists.
And in Spanish!
Exactly. I'd like to think we've been a fundamental part of that evolution. It's been an immense privilege to be part of this history while writing our own, where we've faced many challenges — from the shift from English to Spanish to the show cancelation due to 9/11 — then a growth process and then the pandemic, which also required reinvention. All these "obstacles" have strengthened us significantly, and now we're prepared for the next stage.
Speaking of Latin music globalization, last year's edition took place in Seville, Spain, the first time the Latin GRAMMYs left the United States. What conclusions can you draw from that ceremony?
First, an important reflection is that taking the Latin GRAMMYs abroad for the first time was part of a deliberate and clear globalization strategy. Our membership is already global with more than 5,000 members from 49 countries. We have been building bridges with creators and Latin music lovers alike and the next step in The Latin Academy’s evolution was to take Latin GRAMMY Week and the Latin GRAMMY Awards on the road to continue expanding this relationship.
Why bring the 25th anniversary of the Latin GRAMMYs back to the United States and Miami specifically?
Miami is our home; it's where The Latin Academy is headquartered. Also, Miami has become a confluence center for all Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries. After Sevilla, it was natural to move to Miami. There was also a clear intention and a very positive disposition from the Miami authorities to bring us here.
How will Miami's personality be reflected in this year's ceremony?
Last year when we were in Sevilla, the city became another character in the story told during Latin GRAMMY Week. The same will happen in Miami this year; the city will be an additional character to the story. You'll see it in the visuals and vibe of the ceremony.
Last year, we announced the nominations at the Real Alcázar of Sevilla, where we also held the Nominees Reception. This year, nominees were announced from the Frost Art Museum in Miami, where the 2024 Nominees Reception will take place. The Frost Art Museum boasts a spectacular view of the bay with sharks and turtles on one side, which is part of Miami's personality.
This year, The Latin Recording Academy announced the inclusion of two new Latin GRAMMY categories: Best Contemporary Mexican Music Album and Best Latin Electronic Music Performance. What was the process that led to these two new categories?
The process of adding a category is deliberate. Why? Adding a category is an additional commitment, both in resources and effort, but above all, in the commitment to support it.
It's quite an exhaustive process to ensure, as much as possible, that the categories are not the result of a momentary trend.
The case of contemporary Mexican music has been developing for a few years. Creators are clearly evolving their musical proposal by incorporating elements from other genres, which shows its current evolution.
[Regarding the Best Latin Electronic Music Performance], the process started earlier because there's a clear intersection with general market. Sampling is used, and a whole series of elements is used that make it difficult to classify. However, it was subjected to the same rigor and was already overdue.
Related: Meet The Gen Z Women Claiming Space In The Regional Mexican Music Movement
This year, categories like Best Ranchero/Mariachi Album, Best Banda Album, Best Tejano Album, and Best Flamenco Album have between three and four nominees each. Is this a cause of concern for the Latin Recording Academy?
Starting this year, we applied a rule similar to the Recording Academy: When a category doesn't have the minimum number of entries, the number of nominees is reduced. This is very important to maintain the award's relevance. We hope to receive more entries in the future. We don't want categories to disappear.
Carlos Vives was named the 2024 Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year. I know you have a peculiar way of delivering the news to the honorees. How was that encounter?
First, let me tell you that our Board voted him unanimously and happily, because we believe that Carlos represents The Latin Recording Academy's values. He's an artist who has been with us from the beginning and whose musical proposal has also evolved. He's a great reflection of The Latin Academy's values: a philanthropist, a music historian, and a great collaborator among his peers.
We gave him the news in person at breakfast with his wife and his manager as accomplices. I told him, "Look, Carlos, I want to thank you for everything you've done for The Academy over the years. What you did in Sevilla was spectacular; it was very nice." And he asked me where the ceremony would take place this year. I told him, "In Miami, you're going to have to have an important participation. We're going to put you to work." Carlos tells me, "Manuel, for The Academy, whatever you want." And I say, "How about Person of the Year?" Yes. The Board of the Latin Recording Academy voted you as this year’s Person of the Year.
👏🎵 18 veces ganador del #LatinGRAMMY y dos veces ganador del #GRAMMY. Con más de 30 años de carrera, @CarlosVives es una de las figuras más respetadas de la música en español, pionero de un nuevo sonido latinoamericano, que fusionó el vallenato tradicional colombiano con pop y… pic.twitter.com/bW0JDnsOIE
— The Latin Recording Academy / Latin GRAMMYs (@LatinGRAMMYs) May 22, 2024
About the 2024 Special Awards, how did you select this year's honorees?
These are very special awards voted on by our Board. The selection is deliberate and diverse because we look for representation of countries and genres. This is where you see Latin music's richness and our legends.
The Special Awards ceremony represents the diversity of Latin music across genres, geography, gender and generations, honors, and we are very happy to celebrate these creators' lifetime achievements.
The Best New Artist category is one of your favorites. Why?
It is, as I feel, we have the greatest capacity to impact the new generation of creators.
This category gives life to our mission. It is highly competitive; we had over 350 entries for this year's Best New Artist category. And this year, we have 10 nominees who reflect vast musical genres and geographic diversity.
This year, The Latin Recording Academy is also celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Latin GRAMMYs with exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles and Miami. Why bring The Latin Recording Academy and its history to museums?
We had to tackle the 25th anniversary celebration from all angles. One thing we sometimes don't pay as much attention to is the artifacts, which remain physically in addition to the music. The three exhibitions have different personalities.
The exhibit at the Paley Museum in New York City is focused on media. There, the Telecast content is the driver. It also celebrates Latin GRAMMY and GRAMMY winning [artists like] Celia Cruz and Rubén Blades, who, in addition to being very important to The Latin Recording Academy, have solid roots and presence in New York. So, you'll find artifacts ranging from a pair of Rubén's maracas from his personal collection, Celia's pink dress worn in performances throughout her prolific career, along with Shakira's harmonica and guitar.
Los Angeles differs in the curation of selected pieces. This exhibition is more artifact-driven because it is at the GRAMMY Museum, where we have a permanent exhibition.
The exhibition at the Gary Nader Art Centre in Miami is completely different because the Official Art commissioned for each edition of the Latin GRAMMY Awards will be the driver. For us, art is a form where visual and graphic expressions converge with music. When you see the [Latin GRAMMYs'] 24 posters, [you realize] how all artistic expression is a faithful reflection of what the artist is experiencing at that moment. You will see the artwork from our first show, created by Romero Britto, along with some unique pieces by artists from all over Latin America. You see the evolution of artistic expression.