We are celebrating Hispanic and Latin American Heritage Month, and what better way to do that than dive into the music world? My favorite. The 2024 Latin Grammy nominations are shaping up to be an all-star reunion this week. The Latino Recording Academy announced this year's contenders, and they span across 58 categories. Producer and songwriter, Edgar Barrera, a Colombian singer, Carol G. And Bad Bunny, leading the pack with the most nominations. Rolling Stone also taking a look at some of the most exciting and game-changing stars in the industry as genres continue to evolve. Joining me now with more on all of this is Deputy Music Editor at Rolling Stone, Julissa Lopez. Julissa, thanks so much for taking the time on a Saturday. I'd love to start by talking about how all these genres and artists are now really global in a big way. Many will say you don't even have to understand what the lyrics are saying. You don't have to understand whatever language it's in to get what the music music is trying to get across. How did this latest global explosion begin? Because I remember the late '90s, early 2000s when Ricky Martin and Shaqira all came, and there was an explosion then, too.
Absolutely. Latin music is bigger and more global than ever. The Luminate mid-year report just came out in 2024 and showed that this is the fastest streaming genre in the US right now. Other reports have shown us that it's top $1 billion in revenue the last two consecutive years. So it hit $1.1 billion in 2022, $1.4 in 2023. So just the commercial growth of Latin music continues to be incredibly impressive with artists like Bad Bunny, heritage, as well as being among the most streamed artist in the world. I would argue that Latin music has always been massively, massively popular. We're just seeing some incredible numbers as it continues to grow.
Yeah, and also the way we're listening to music and the we stream now. Talk to us about this new project you worked on with Rolling Stone. How did it come about and what are you hoping to showcase?
Yeah, so we really wanted to capture this growth. Hispanic Heritage Month started on September 15th, and we thought, what better way to celebrate than to highlight how massive Latin music is becoming? We're calling this project, Amilo Latino. We decided to capture a few of the emerging scenes and rising artists all across Latin America who could be the next big thing, who could be the Bad Bunny, the next Carol G. Some of the areas that we wanted to explore are the Dominican Republic, where we're seeing a lot of growth in the merengue space with artists like Lé Tompé, El Ruba Cordillon, also in Mexico. Mexico has really been impressive with the growth of regional Mexican music, but there's also a really impressive reguetón scene there. We wanted to highlight some artists like El Malia, Young Lucas, and we've also captured a few other places like Venezuela, Argentina, where we might see the next big thing.
All right. I'd like you to just take a second and get your crystal ball out. We want to go back to the Latin Grammys. There are so many categories, but the most coveted are obviously Best Artist, Best Album, a Song of the Year as it is in most of these award shows. Give us some insight. Who do you think will win in each of these categories in November? Who has the best shot?
Absolutely. I mean, Edgar Burr, again, for the second consecutive year, is the person with the most nominations. He won 13 nominations last year, nine this year. A lot of this is because he works with some of the biggest artists in the industry, including Maluma, Grupo Frontera, Shakira. I think we're going to see a lot of wins for him. And then, Carol G. Carol G won Album of the Year last year for her amazing record, Mañana Será Bonito, which broke records all over the place. And so she released a second part, a continuation of that album called Mañana Será Bonito, Bichota Season, which is up for eight nominations this year. I think she'll also continue to have a huge year. Then, of course, there's Bad Bunny. Bad Bunny had an incredible year, one of the highest grossing tours in the world last year. His album, Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana, is also up for eight nominations. I think we're going to keep seeing those names over and over.
Julissa Lopes from Rolling Stone. Thanks so much for taking the time. Do appreciate it.
Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.
Producer and songwriter Édgar Barrera, Colombian singer Karol G and Bad Bunny lead the pack with the most nominations.