In January, Bad Bunny\u2019s latest album, Deb\u00ed Tirar M\u00e1s Fotos, quickly topped the charts, dominating streaming platforms for months. Along with its hit status came an unequivocal declaration that tropical music, specifically salsa, was undergoing a renaissance spearheaded by some of the biggest names in reggaet\u00f3n and Latin trap.<\/p>\n
Deb\u00ed Tirar M\u00e1s Fotos, a love letter to Puerto Rico, also received a Latin Grammy nomination for album of the year, among other categories, in 2025. The project fuses an array of sounds from salsa to dembow to Puerto Rican bomba and plena, with songs such as \u201cNuevayol,\u201d which pays tribute to legendary salsa band El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico.<\/p>\n
More from The Hollywood Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n The music industry\u2019s positive reaction sparks the question: Could 2025 mark the first time Grammy voters recognize such stars as Bad Bunny and Rauw Alejandro as more than urban Latin acts, as cultural catalysts of traditional genres like salsa? This year, the answer is yes.<\/p>\n Regarding the album\u2019s 12 nominations, voter Eduardo Osorio, a longtime music industry insider, songwriter and artist manager, says: \u201cAs a member of the Latin Recording Academy, I value that artists are recording music of the genre. Salsa enriches all of us because it\u2019s part of our DNA.\u201d<\/p>\n Gabriel Abaroa, board of trustees member and former CEO of the Latin Recording Academy, is seeing a genre shift. \u201cA decade ago, people thought salsa had come to an end. Marc Anthony, Gilberto Santa Rosa, V\u00edctor Manuelle, La India, Rub\u00e9n Blades, Luis Enrique and Willie Col\u00f3n fought to keep it alive,\u201d he says, \u201cbut we couldn\u2019t make a new generation emerge in that rhythm until now.\u201d<\/p>\n Alejandro, one of the most popular performers of the past decade, announced to the world that he was a Latin artist in the broadest sense, not just relegated to reggaet\u00f3n, with his November release of Cosa Nuestra, which features tropical influences and salsa rhythms. For Alejandro, such salsa icons as Frankie Ruiz, H\u00e9ctor Lavoe and Col\u00f3n deserve homage, a risk that paid off in his first Latin Grammy nomination for album of the year. \u201cFor me, Cosa Nuestra was born from a deep desire to honor our roots. Seeing how people connect with the songs is the greatest reward,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s an essential part of our Caribbean identity. Older generations recognize it immediately, while younger generations have made it their own.\u201d<\/p>\n A Spotify report this year confirmed that Gen Z is leading the way in the rise of listenership for salsa music, with such next-gen salsa artists as Christian Alicea, Luis Figueroa, Moa Rivera, Luis V\u00e1zquez and Jonathan Moly releasing work steeped in traditional Latin sounds alongside hitmakers including Manuel Turizo, Danny Ocean and Karol G. And listenership has only grown. Salsa streams have increased by more than 140 percent worldwide in the past five years, nearly doubling in the U.S. Among the most-streamed salsa tracks worldwide the past year are \u201cBaile Inolvidable\u201d by Bad Bunny, \u201cLlorar\u00e1s\u201d by Dimensi\u00f3n Latina and Oscar D\u2019Le\u00f3n, and Frankie Ruiz\u2019s timeless hit \u201cT\u00fa Con \u00c9l.\u201d When it comes to the most-shared songs, Alejandro\u2019s version of \u201cT\u00fa Con \u00c9l\u201d stands out, as does Anthony\u2019s global anthem \u201cVivir Mi Vida.\u201d<\/p>\n Arnulfo \u201cAJ\u201d Ramos, head of artist partnerships, Latin music and culture for Google and YouTube, has a theory on what\u2019s driving the cultural shift. \u201cI think it\u2019s the nostalgia factor, a transgenerational bridge between generations. The power of platforms, of YouTube, of creators \u2026 if you\u2019ve noticed, it\u2019s a full circle: Everything comes back, now more than ever. Salsa and tropical music have been a soundtrack to our lives, and I think that\u2019s refreshing.\u201d<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Read more from\u00a0THR\u2019<\/a>s\u00a0Music Issue<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n This story appeared in the Oct. 1 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe<\/a>.<\/p>\n Best of The Hollywood Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n Sign up for THR’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In January, Bad Bunny\u2019s latest album, Deb\u00ed Tirar M\u00e1s Fotos, quickly topped the charts, dominating streaming platforms for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":479723,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3940],"tags":[82866,4080,159214,77,159213,159215,42518,159211,159210,10034,77433,159209,159212,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-479722","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-bad-bunny","9":"tag-celebrities","10":"tag-debi-tirar-mas-fotos","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-frankie-ruiz","13":"tag-gilberto-santa-rosa","14":"tag-hollywood-reporter","15":"tag-latin-grammy","16":"tag-latin-recording-academy","17":"tag-luis-enrique","18":"tag-puerto-rico","19":"tag-rauw-alejandro","20":"tag-tropical-music","21":"tag-uk","22":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115331298931658541","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/479723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}