As Latin music continues to make extraordinary inroads in the American mainstream — from breaking historic records on the global pop charts to setting new ones in streaming — the festival circuit has also seen a tremendous increase of Latin artists.
More Latin acts than ever performed at top-tier events like Coachella in 2022, a year that also debuted half a dozen exclusively Latin music festivals in the U.S. New events include reggaeton-heavy fests like Chicago's Sueños and Más Flow, and the classic-line-up Bésame Mucho in Los Angeles — all revealing an unprecedented moment for Latin music.
"It's a new era. There's never been this big of a crossover," says Aaron Ampudia, co-creator of Sueños and Mexico’s Baja Beach Fest (BBF). "There's never been a Latin artist like what Bad Bunny is right now, crushing all the records in [the] history of streaming, beating Drake and American artists. That's never happened for Latinos."
Entrepreneurs Ampudia and Chris Den Uijl founded Baja Beach Fest in 2018 in Rosarito’s storied beach venue Papas and Beer, just 20 miles south of San Diego. During that time, there were no sole reggaeton and Latin trap festivals in the region — the closest being 2018’s Latinx indie-heavy Tropicalia in Long Beach. The pair tapped an open market, attracting prospective attendees from both sides of the border all the way up to Los Angeles.
With now-icons Bad Bunny and "Pepas" singer Farruko as headliners, BBF was billed as the "West Coast’s largest Latin trap and reggaeton music festival." By betting on established and upcoming música urbana stars, BBF managed to become a competitive player on the global festival market, doubling in attendance from 15,000 to 30,000 in its first two years and expanding to two weekends, à la Coachella.
"We birthed Baja Beach Fest because we wanted to create an inclusive event for Latinos, specifically young Mexican Americans on the West Coast, and that turned into this movement. It was almost the perfect storm," Den Uijl says. "As the brand has grown, we are now bringing it to the United States. Since Chicago has a massive Latin culture population, we wanted Latinos to have something to celebrate." And their gambit has paid off.
On Memorial weekend, Sueños kicks off in partnership with C3 Presents, the production empire behind Lollapalooza. The festival's expanded genre roster now includes new corridos from Natanael Cano and Fuerza Regida, as well as reggaeton staples Ozuna, J Balvin and Sech. "Having Banda MS come out with Becky G last year [at BBF] was really big," says Den Uijl. "Aaron really pushed it [with the regional stuff] like, ‘Hey, this is something that our culture celebrates.’ It was the moment of the whole entire festival [last year]."
Promoted as "Chicago’s Official Reggaeton Fest," Más Flow debuts in July, focusing its attention on legacy acts, with headliners Don Omar, Zion & Lennox, Tego Calderón and Ivy Queen, among others.
Other música urbana fests in the U.S. that are making a huge splash include Vibra Urbana, which has positioned itself as "The Biggest Reggaeton Festival in the U.S." The festival grew from a backyard reverie in Orlando to an indoor Miami venue in 2020, and will be held in Orlando this June.
"[We started Vibra Urbana] out of love for the music and seeing an empty gap where we felt like we could provide for our city," says festival co-founder David Adan, a Miami-born Cuban American. "Miami is full of Latinos, full of the love for Latin music. Everywhere that you go out, you'll see clubs playing Spanish [language] music. Everyone's talking in Spanish. We needed to make something happen."
The Vibra Urbana team found their niche — and built a significant audience — by gathering some of the hottest new talent of el género. Jhay Cortez, J Quiles, Rauw Alejandro and Myke Towers, who were still in the early stages of their U.S. breakthrough, all performed at the festival’s inaugural year. Such support has contributed to artists' superstar trajectory: Rauw Alejandro graced the cover of Rolling Stone earlier this year, while Jhay Cortez's steady growth continues to uptick by a stream of viral hits.
"We try to put forth the best fan experience, and we put together the artists that we know and who connect with the fans," says Cuban-Lebanese music organizer Kirk Taboada, and partner at Vibra Urbana. The partners' most ambitious festival took place over two days this spring in Las Vegas, where two decades of reggaeton brilliance were on display — from emerging (Dalex, Cauty) to superstar (Anuel AA, Sech) and legendary acts (Don Omar).
"Hopefully in the next five years, we’ll expand it across the globe, to make an impact globally," Taboada adds. "But right now we want to make a huge impact here locally and on the West Coast."
More Latin Talent, More Latin Music Consumption
The 2020 Super Bowl halftime show with Jennifer Lopez and Shakira was a turning point for Latin music, opening more doors for the genre and Latin acts in the live music television space. Since, the presence of Spanish-language acts has increased tremendously on late night television alone, with Kali Uchis, Karol G, the Marías, Nicky Nicole, Natanael Cano, Carlos Vives, Rauw Alejandro, Thalia and Anitta, among others, appearing on the small screen. \
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The Latin music market has experienced double-digit growth over the past six years. According to the RIAA’s 2021 year-end report, U.S. Latin music revenue generated an all-time high of $886 million, growing by 36 percent year-over-year. Music Business Worldwide predicts that the recorded music market for Latin artists in the U.S. will generate more than $1 billion in 2022.
Read more: 5 Women Essential To Reggaeton: Ivy Queen, Natti Natasha, Karol G, Ms Nina & Mariah Angeliq
The exponential rise of Latin music consumption parallels Latin music festivals’ ascent, with música urbana taking the lead in both. This success opened up more pathways for diverse Latin genres to be (re)introduced to U.S. audiences, as well as the impressive growth of events like Viva! L.A. Music Festival, a compellingly varied fest rooted in Latin indie, inclusiveness and a DIY approach.
"I started with a little music festival in Pomona because I wanted to bring people to the city I grew up in," recalls 31-year-old founder René Contreras, who created the festival as Viva! Pomona a decade ago.
For the first annual Viva! L.A. Music Festival, which will take place at the Dodger Stadium this June, the Chicano entrepreneur partnered with Goldenvoice, the creators of Coachella and Stagecoach. Viva!’s 2022 iteration boasts one of the most eclectic line-ups of the Latin music festival circuit, appealing to a multi-generational audience: J Balvin, Los Tucanes de Tijuana, Carla Morrison, Omar Apollo, Kali Uchis, Willie Colón, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs and Devendra Banhart are among this year's performers.
"[It’s about] bridging different subcultures and subgenres of music, and bringing it all together in one place," says Contreras of the line-up diversity. "You could go to see Eslabon Armado and then you can go and watch Chicano Batman. We have the indie Latinx bands that are really big in L.A., and legends like Daddy Yankee, Ivy Queen, and Paquita la del Barrio, as well as corridos and corridos tumbados. I feel like people listen to all styles of music now. Music is such a big part of our culture and it's really exciting."
"I think it's important to research and try to understand a genre of music from its roots to the top," he adds holding a book called Remixing Reggaetón: The Cultural Politics of Race in Puerto Rico (2015) by Petra R. Rivera-Rideau via Zoom. "You could just book someone and call it a day. But I want to understand the music and its background. Also, going to shows and hanging out after with the artist or manager has helped me understand what it's like to live the creativeness that they're making."
"What Was Once Alternative Is Now Mainstream"
No stranger to alternative Latin music and culture is Nacional Records CEO Tomas Cookman, who also runs the Latin Alternative Music Conference (LAMC) in New York City. Cookman has been championing Latin music in the U.S. since the ‘90s (including briefly through his own festival, Supersónico), and has made a business of betting on indie and niche Latin styles.
In ‘90s, music festivals that held conferences were limited: South by Southwest, CMJ, and New Music Seminar. Hence the birth of LAMC, the first live music/conference space to spotlight a Latin underground that didn’t get shine via radioplay or TV airtime, but resonated loudly in the streets. It also coincided with the first internet boom which, decades later, enables marketing of non-mainstream music and events.
"If a song was a big hit record in London or New York, it probably took six or nine months to hit Mexico City, Bogota, or Buenos Aires [back then]. Nowadays, something comes out, and it's immediate everywhere," says Cookman. "Nowadays, [artists] record in their backyard if they want to. There's still money being spent on recording. But it's so much easier to have a quality of music that resonates on a global level."
The LAMC’s 20th anniversary coincided with the Latin GRAMMYs own, and in 2019 both organizations joined forces at SummerStage to present ChocQuibTown, Guaynaa, Macaco and Vicente García. "Luis Dousdebes from the Latin GRAMMYs came up with that quote," Cookman notes, referring to LAMC's new slogan "What was once alternative is now mainstream."
But the award for ultimate from-alternative-to-mainstream transition goes to Bad Bunny, Rosalía and C. Tangana, who were all featured in LAMC’s 2018 three-CD compilation — when those artists were still independent. "Now it’s a playlist," Cookman says, chuckling.
Although LAMC takes place in New York, Nacional Records’ headquarters is located in Southern California — the area with the U.S.' most concentrated Latin population — where Coachella also takes place and the Bésame Mucho festival.
From the founders of Tropicalia fest, Bésame Mucho arrives in December, with a roster that capitalizes on grupera, banda and rock en español’s glory days, as well as Spanish-language vintage pop. The lineup features legendary performers like Caifanes, El Tri, Los Tigres del Norte, Los Angeles Azules, Sin Bandera and La Oreja de Van Gogh.
"I feel like [nostalgic Latin acts] has been something that's been missing from the [current] festival space. Not just in Southern California, but throughout the U.S.," says Adrian Hernández, founder and creative director of Need Pastel, who designed art for Bésame — as well as the cover for Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti. "I feel like L.A. is the best place for that kind of representation [...] It's almost like a family event, somewhere I could go to with my abuelos."
Siguiendo La Luna: Latin Music’s Next Stop
With the global embrace of Spanish-language and Latin songs, it’s safe to say that American dwellers are truly experiencing a more accepting and diverse moment in history — a new cultural epoch.
"There are lots of similarities to where Latin music is going, where urban music has been for the last 20 years, where it found its important and well-earned space in the market," Cookman says. "I think when people hear Rosalía, J Balvin, or Bad Bunny, they go, "Oh yeah, that could be Drake."
Just the fact that Coachella’s roster doubled in Latin acts since 2020 is a testament to the popularity of today’s Ibero American artists, where Brazil’s Anitta, Colombia’s Karol G, and Mexico’s Grupo Firme and Banda MS were among this year’s performers. "Hopefully, more and more Latino professionals within those companies will have a bigger say in what is important," Cookman adds.
"The growth is unstoppable," Adam chimes in. "I think everyone is noticing now. For reference, Bunny creates songs in a different language [Spanish], and now you have [Hispanophone artists] singing this language, and they have no idea what he’s saying. It’s as simple as that. It's bringing acknowledgement that this genre is here to stay, and ready to keep growing."
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