{"id":130273,"date":"2026-08-24T13:44:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T13:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/130273\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T13:44:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T13:44:10","slug":"for-santos-bravos-the-first-latin-american-group-to-play-kcon-pop-has-no-borders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/130273\/","title":{"rendered":"For Santos Bravos, the first Latin American group to play KCON, pop has no borders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Under the hot lights of the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, the five members of Santos Bravos stood center stage, ready to stake their claim to international stardom. It was the first night of KCON \u2014 a three-day festival of Korean pop culture, held every year since 2013 \u2014 and on Aug. 14, Santos Bravos became the first Latin American act ever to grace the bill.<\/p>\n

Despite the band having debuted less than a year ago, the crowd was buzzing with excitement, but its energy heightened as the slashing knife sounds of \u201cHooligan,\u201d a song off BTS\u2019 latest hit album, \u201cArirang,\u201d began to ring out. Because of their popularity, BTS songs are frequently covered by groups at KCON, but newcomers Santos Bravos, who are under the same parent label, Hybe, had more to prove to this audience.<\/p>\n

\"Santos <\/p>\n

Santos Bravos, a Latin American boy band based in Mexico City, performs on the Artist Stage on Aug. 14 at KCON at the Los Angeles Convention Center.<\/p>\n

(Arwen Clemans \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cHooligan\u201d was produced by Spanish producers Fakeguido and El Guincho (who worked on two records with Rosal\u00eda), as well as South Korean producer Ghstloop and American producer Jasper Harris. The multicultural song, with lyrics in both Korean and English, was an apt choice for Santos Bravos \u2014 between the five members, they speak and sing in three languages and represent several Latin cultures.<\/p>\n

For BTS fans, nothing less than near the performance level of the superstar group is acceptable. But as Santos Bravos sang the opening verses in English, the crowd roared with approval \u2014 especially as lead vocalist Kau\u00ea Penna, who hails from Brazil, slid onstage to take on the high parts of BTS lead Jungkook.<\/p>\n

While artists from different backgrounds working together is nothing new, Santos Bravos, like the Hybe x Geffen girl group Katseye<\/a>, are part of an effort to bring K-pop training, marketing methods and fandom culture to other regions of the globe.<\/p>\n

\"Fans <\/p>\n

Fans watch as members of Santos Bravos walk off the stage and into the crowd during a performance on Day One of KCON.<\/p>\n

(Arwen Clemans \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Off the global success of BTS, Hybe evolved from a mid-sized label into one of the biggest music and entertainment players in South Korea. Santos Bravos operates under a division called Hybe Latin America, which is based out of Mexico City, where the band calls home. They are the first Hybe group to be based in a region outside of the United States or Asia.<\/p>\n

Selected from 17 finalists on a 2025 competition reality show called \u201cSantos Bravos \u2014 La Serie,\u201d <\/a>the contestants had vied to become part of Santos Bravos. Along the way, they received feedback and coaching from Song Sun-deuk, BTS\u2019s longtime former choreographer and performance director. They also worked closely with Miami-based Cuban American choreographer Cultura, who has previously worked with Maluma, J Balvin, and Karol G, among others.<\/p>\n

The final five debuted as a group at the show\u2019s finale in October of 2025, where they performed before an audience of 10,000 at the Auditorio Nacional Mexico. Santos Bravos\u2019 members are Penna, 19, from S\u00e3o Jo\u00e3o de Meriti, Brazil; Kenneth Lav\u00edll,16, from Veracruz, Mexico; Gabi Berm\u00fadez, 21, from San Juan, Puerto Rico; Alejandro Arambur\u00fa, 22, of Lima, and Drew Venegas, 26, from L.A. County.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

The selected members were no starry-eyed amateurs: Both Lav\u00edll and Arambur\u00fa were professional actors in their countries, while the honey-voiced <\/a>Penna won the fifth season of \u201cThe Voice Kids, Brasil\u201d in 2020. Berm\u00fadez, the effusive mood-lifter of the group, was gunning for a career as a soloist when he entered the ring. Venegas, a dance specialist who had performed as a backup dancer for BTS, had a brief stint as a member of the Future X, a co-ed group formed by Simon Fuller that featured members of the queer community.<\/p>\n

Not even a year into their formation, Santos Bravos topped Billboard\u2019s new Latin music poll. In January, they performed alongside Mon Laferte and Feid in Willy Chavarria\u2019s Paris Runway show<\/a>, \u201cEterno.\u201d In June, their debut EP, \u201cDual,\u201d made it as high as No. 17 on the Billboard Top Latin Pop Albums chart. That same month, the group won its first award, the fan-voted artist duo or group at the 2026 Premios Tu M\u00fasica Urbano Mix.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very disciplined,\u201d said Venegas, who called West Covina home before joining the band. I met the band inside the Los Angeles Convention Center on Saturday, after their KCON breakout moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne day of training was equivalent to one week of training,\u201d he added. \u201cI think combining all of our cultures together, then keeping our Latin essence with the K-pop methodology, [brings] something very new and very fresh for the eye.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Santa <\/p>\n

1\/5 <\/p>\n

Santa Monica , CA – August 17: Drew Venegas of Santos Bravos at Hybe America on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026 in Santa Monica , CA. (Ronaldo Bolanos \/ Los Angeles Times)\u00a0 (Ronaldo Bolanos\/Los Angeles Times) <\/p>\n

\"Santa <\/p>\n

2\/5 <\/p>\n

Santa Monica , CA – August 17: Kaue Penna of Santos Bravos at Hybe America on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026 in Santa Monica , CA. (Ronaldo Bolanos \/ Los Angeles Times)\u00a0 (Ronaldo Bolanos\/Los Angeles Times) <\/p>\n

\"Santa <\/p>\n

3\/5 <\/p>\n

Santa Monica , CA – August 17: Ale Aramburu of Santos Bravos at Hybe America on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026 in Santa Monica , CA. (Ronaldo Bolanos \/ Los Angeles Times)\u00a0 (Ronaldo Bolanos\/Los Angeles Times) <\/p>\n

\"Santa <\/p>\n

4\/5 <\/p>\n

Santa Monica , CA – August 17: Kenneth Lavill of Santos Bravos at Hybe America on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026 in Santa Monica , CA. (Ronaldo Bolanos \/ Los Angeles Times)\u00a0 (Ronaldo Bolanos\/Los Angeles Times) <\/p>\n

\"Santa <\/p>\n

5\/5 <\/p>\n

Santa Monica , CA – August 17: Gabi Lopez of Santos Bravos at Hybe America on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026 in Santa Monica , CA. (Ronaldo Bolanos \/ Los Angeles Times)\u00a0 (Ronaldo Bolanos\/Los Angeles Times) <\/p>\n

Although the group doesn\u2019t perform in Korean \u2014 unless it\u2019s for fun<\/a> \u2014 they cater to K-pop fans, which is easy to do since they too are K-pop fans. They\u2019ve paid a visit to the Hybe headquarters in Seoul, collaborated with bands like Le Sserafim and BoyNextDoor and livestreamed to fans via Hybe\u2019s proprietary social platform Weverse. They\u2019ve even performed on Korean television.<\/p>\n

But for the members of Santos Bravos, the cultural exchange goes beyond marketing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Mexico,\u201d Venegas said, \u201cwhen you\u2019re eating we say, \u2018Buen provecho,\u2019 which is like \u2018Enjoy your food,\u2019 No matter who it is, no matter who you\u2019re walking by. Food is a big part of acknowledging somebody, and that\u2019s what we have in [common with Korean culture].\u201d<\/p>\n

Mostly talking to each other in Spanish \u2014 both Venegas and Penna learned to speak it as a second language \u2014 they occasionally forget which language they are speaking to each other in.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes I find myself talking to Kenneth or Kau\u00ea in English when I don\u2019t need to,\u201d interjected the soft-spoken Arambur\u00fa, who plays the guitar \u2014 and, in between his shifts as a pop star, is finishing up his music degree at USC.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that we learn so many languages opens so many doors for us,\u201d Arambur\u00fa said. \u201cPersonally, wherever we go, I love to learn the language. I\u2019m on Duolingo learning Korean right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Penna sees language as a way to not only open doors for Latin artists, but also reach people through their music.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank God Latin America is being watched,\u201d said Penna. \u201cYou know, people can see what we\u2019re doing, and people also are interested in in our languages, in our culture. And in every country we [visit], we try to learn as much as possible about the culture. Now we\u2019re focusing on Portuguese\u201d \u2014 a language they test-drove in the song \u201cVelocidade\u201d \u2014 \u201cand of course, English.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Venegas has found that his experience as a Mexican American who didn\u2019t grow up speaking Spanish resonates with some people.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were a couple of fans who came up to me who were of Mexican descent, but they didn\u2019t get the chance to learn like me growing up,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd immediately, they were at a loss for words and kind of filled with emotions. I started getting emotional because I can feel the heartache and \u2026 feeling scared, like you don\u2019t belong \u2026 and that\u2019s what I felt like. Being able to speak with them and hear what they say made me feel like I\u2019m not alone and like I do matter. Hearing, \u2018OK you didn\u2019t grow up getting spoken to in Spanish, but you were still called mijo like I was called mijo.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Asked why some people struggle to grasp multiracial Latino identity \u2014 Cardi B is brought up as an example \u2014 Penna weighed in.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing in Santos Bravos as an Afro Latino is something so important to me,\u201d said Penna. \u201cI feel like this \u2018thing\u2019 of being this or being that\u2026 It\u2019s just cultural differences. I\u2019m also working to understand how another culture sees me. As Brazilians, we are very mixed. Of course, I have my Afro side, my mom\u2019s side, I have my Indigenous side\u2026 but of course, I am very open and very proud [with] what I\u2019m representing in Santos Bravos.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople in general like to categorize,\u201d said Berm\u00fadez, who grew up idolizing Puerto Rican singer Chayanne. Raised in Puerto Rico by parents with both Boricuan and Cuban heritage, Berm\u00fadez bristles at attempts to divide Latinos.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe as Santos Bravos want to transmit to the world that Latin America is one,\u201d he said<\/p>\n

\"Santos <\/p>\n

Santos Bravos<\/p>\n

(Ronaldo Bolanos \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

On the Monday after KCON, I met up a second time with the members of Santos Bravos, who were milling about in the Hybe America offices in Santa Monica. Venegas scrolled through his phone while Penna shuffled past us to grab a drink from the office fridge. I ask whether he\u2019s tired. \u201cA little\u201d he replies, but he\u2019s good.<\/p>\n

Upstairs, walking past a large poster of BTS, I met with Juanse Arenas, president of Hybe Global Label Services, who promotes artists outside of their home markets. He said the company looked closely at data and research when conceptualizing the group.<\/p>\n

\u201cMexican regional music became really big, Bad Bunny himself went global,\u201d Arenas said. \u201cYou have Karol G, J Balvin, all these massive artists who come from our countries. Latin music is no longer just Latin; it\u2019s global, right? Now, there is a methodology that exists in K-pop that has produced very successful groups. But you can\u2019t just apply that methodology blindly to new regions and to new places \u2014 you have to [consider] where the members are coming from, what makes them tick, what drives them and the audience they\u2019re speaking to.\u201d<\/p>\n

After posing for individual promo portraits, they gathered for a group photo before singing an acapella version of the uptempo ballad \u201cMHM\u201d for social content. They also greeted their fans on the Weverse livestream, where they expressed sadness over leaving L.A.<\/p>\n

\u201cNos vamos pronto de L.A., mi gente,\u201d said Lav\u00edll to fans. \u201cY estamos tristes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Under the hot lights of the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, the five members of Santos Bravos stood…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130274,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[66376,29876,1598,23717,66374,66375,5939,6069,195,6406,3152,10611,66372,6920,63528,66373],"class_list":["post-130273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-korea","tag-alejandro-aramburu","tag-band","tag-bts","tag-fan","tag-fandom-culture","tag-gabi-bermudez","tag-group","tag-hybe","tag-k-pop","tag-kcon","tag-language","tag-member","tag-penna","tag-people","tag-santos-bravos","tag-venegas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}