The Latin Recording Academy announced the nominees for the 20th Annual Latin Grammy Awards on Tuesday (September 24), but some from the Latinx community say the show has become too European, as reported by mitú on Wednesday (September 25).
“The Latin Recording Academy continued to dismiss valid criticism from the Latinx community by nominating Spanish artists Alejandro Sanz and Rosalia,” Emerald Pellot wrote. “The two European artists received the most nominations, in the most prestigious categories of the bunch, while urbano artists were shut out or relegated to niche categories.”
Sanz led the nominations with eight, including nods for Album of the Year and Best Contemporary Pop Album for “#ELDISCO,” while Rosalia received five. Both were nominated for Song and Record of the Year.
“What makes these artists Latinx other than that they descended from the folks that colonized the Americas, raped and ethnically cleansed Indigenous people, initiated that Trans-Atlantic Slave route, created the casta system, then subjugated the resulting multi-ethnic communities they denied self-determination from for centuries?” Pellot wrote.
With no reggaeton artists nominated this year, some—including artists Daddy Yankee, Nicky Jam and J Balvin—are calling for a boycott of the awards show. Per Billboard, the Latin Academy responded: “We hear the frustration and discontent. We invite the leaders of the urban community to get involved with the Academy, to get involved with the process and to get involved with discussions that improve the Academy.” The Latin Grammys will air live on November 14 on Univision.
Here’s a sample of the backlash:
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A post shared by Daddy Yankee (@daddyyankee) on Sep 24, 2019 at 2:18pm PDT
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A post shared by NICKY JAM (@nickyjampr) on Sep 24, 2019 at 2:22pm PDT
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Por la cultura y el movimiento !!
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A post shared by J Balvin (@jbalvin) on Sep 24, 2019 at 2:17pm PDT
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? @JBALVIN & @maluma share their thoughts on the #LatinGRAMMY nominations… pic.twitter.com/CGVelt14Ks
rnt— Grecia S. Lopez (@grecialopez_LA) September 24, 2019
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@LatinGRAMMYs basura son ustedes. Boycott the #LatinGRAMMY #LatinGrammys pic.twitter.com/8OtSBtDZGo
rnt— Anthony Garcia (@garc8509) September 25, 2019
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no estan nominadas Lali, TINI, Cazzu, más mujeres LATINAS que lo merecían, y ponen otros que nisiquiera son latinos en estos premios, son un fraude #LatinGRAMMY pic.twitter.com/8j74cXcuKW
rnt— s (@esposneedy) September 24, 2019
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am i the only one who finds weird that a non-latin artist is the most nominated for #latingrammy ? https://t.co/Oa5ecFP5hF
rnt— leslie ? (@brunosIovely) September 24, 2019
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I’m just sayin’ ??♀️
rntt⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀#sinreggaetonnohaylatingrammy #latingrammy #latingrammys2019 #afrolatino #afrolatina #afrolatinx pic.twitter.com/vvzVC5qlBtrnt— BEMBONA (@djbembona) September 25, 2019
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Las colonizadoras de Aitana y Rosalia no pueden hacer esto #LatinGrammy pic.twitter.com/2lEzgjPxdL
rnt— r ? (@rrodree) September 24, 2019
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no estan nominadas Lali, TINI, Cazzu, más mujeres LATINAS que lo merecían, y ponen otros que nisiquiera son latinos en estos premios, son un fraude #LatinGRAMMY pic.twitter.com/8j74cXcuKW
rnt— s (@esposneedy) September 24, 2019
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