In 2022, Latin pop thrived on innovation again

For the hitmakers this year, genre-hopping was a matter of musical curiosity, not crossover calculation. A review of the best albums

Pop in 2022 was unequivocally dominated by Puerto Rican star Bad Bunny. His latest album Un Verano Sin Ti (‘A Summer Without You’) was streamed billions of times, and it became the first release performed entirely in Spanish to receive a Grammy nomination for album of the year.

Unlike prior waves of Latin pop hitmakers who have reached a wider market with English-language crossover, Bad Bunny has stuck to lyrics in Spanish.

It’s also a hint of how much diverse, brilliant Spanish-language pop appeared in 2022: from forward-looking pop contenders like Rosalía and Rauw Alejandro to experimental composers like Lucrecia Dalt. Drawing freely and idiosyncratically on tradition, all have found ways to recast multigenerational lore.

Latin music — a loose category that encompasses countless national, regional and local styles — has always pointed toward joyful innovation, and historical forces including colonialism, and indigenous perseverance have forged music that is hybridised.

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In the era of streaming, Latin music has reconfigured the meaning of regional styles. A particular beat or a standard instrumental lineup — a cumbia by a mariachi band, or a bachata with electric guitar and bongos — still points clearly to a singular place of origin, to Mexico or the Dominican Republic.

Far more boundary-hopping is now taking place. Bad Bunny’s album, for instance, focuses on reggaeton but also dips into bachata, cumbia and merengue.

Spanish songwriter Rosalía jump-cut among styles in her 2022 album Motomami. The songs constantly use the flamenco along with reggaeton, bachata, piano ballads, jazz, hip-hop and salsa.

She also throws in some Japanese references, in case anyone thought she was limited to Europe and the Americas. Each allusion has clearly recognisable roots, but overall, they point to common humanity, Rosalía insists.

Puerto Rican singer, songwriter and producer Rauw Alejandro steered his pop-reggaeton toward electronic realms in his 2022 album ‘Saturno’. He deployed synthesisers to go hopscotching through styles like electro and hyperpop.

Eerie electronic backdrops merged with Latin rhythms to heighten the intimacy of 2022 albums like ‘Nacarile’ by Puerto Rican songwriter iLe (Ileana Cabra), and El Renacimiento by Mexican songwriter Carla Morrison.

ILe touched down in established styles like reggaeton and bolero but also created new hybrids while Morrison invoked traditional rhythms from a great distance. — NYT