\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div> \t\t\t\t\tLos Tigres del Norte perform onstage during the 26th Annual Latin Grammy Awards.<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKevin Winter\/Getty Images for The Latin Recording Academy<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tLos Tigres Del Norte Stand Up for Latinos<\/strong> \t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n \n\tThe Duets Do It for Us<\/strong> \n\tKakalo, DannyLux, and Ivan Cornejo Change the Game<\/strong> \n\tPepe Aguilar Doesn\u2019t Quite Nail It<\/strong> \t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n \n\tHow Many Voters Again?<\/strong> \n\tWe Need More Love For Alt Acts!<\/strong> \n\tThe Big Sanz Upset<\/strong> \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tPaloma Morphy accepts the Best New Artist award onstage at Latin Grammys.<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJohn Parra\/Getty Images for The Latin Recording Academy<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tPaloma Morphy Is Our New Rising Queen<\/strong>
Of course, Los Tigres del Norte were the ones to deliver a powerful political statement, defending Latinos in this country on the Latin Grammy stage. The Mexican music legends \u2014 who\u2019d already won a pair of awards for their Loter\u00eda<\/em> EP earlier in the night \u2014 performed in front of a screen flashing images of Latinos protesting for immigrant rights, immigrant-crossing signs, and clips of families celebrating and students graduating, \u2014 a vivid reminder of the deep impact immigrants have on this country. Hern\u00e1n Hern\u00e1ndez pulled out his signature guitar, adorned with the flags of every country of Latin America, as Jorge walked around the stage pointing into the crowd, which included Gloria Estefan, Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso, and Karol G, watching closely as they performed. \u201cIt always breaks your heart to leave your homeland \/ Because the tree no longer casts a very good shade,\u201d Jorge sang. They were the night\u2019s lone act to make a direct political statement \u2014 and it left quite an impression. More of this, please. \u2014T.M.<\/em><\/p>\n\n
There have been a few times some of the duets at the Latin Grammys left us scratching our heads (we\u2019re still thinking about Bon Jovi and Pitbull last year.) Luckily, most of the performances and onstage mash-ups were a pleasant surprise in 2025: Karol G and Marco Antonio Solis<\/a> felt like a tasteful way to bring together generations of audiences, and Fuerza Regida with Grupo Frontera<\/a> was a solid way of showing the many sides of musica mexicana. We were also huge fans of Carin Leon and Kacey Musgraves<\/a> coming together for a cross-genre moment, and cheered on the energy when Gloria Estefan and Nathy Peluso sang together. \u2014J.L.<\/em><\/p>\n
Musica mexicana doesn\u2019t always get the love it deserves on the telecast, but the show featured a solid moment honoring the rising generation of acts from the genre. Kakalo, DannyLux, and Ivan Cornejo each took the stage to show how they\u2019re adding a new spin on things, performing their own tracks. Kakalo launched into \u201cTierra Tr\u00e1game,\u201d DannyLux showed his honeyed tone on \u201cSirena,\u201d and Corenjo closed things out with a grounded performance of \u201cAtenci\u00f3n,\u201d putting his vulnerability and melancholy sound on display. \u2014J.L.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\t\tMissed the Mark\t<\/h2>\n
For an awards show that largely got it right spotlighting the future of Latin music, Pepe Aguilar\u2019s traditional charro, ranchera performance felt like a left-field choice, and not exactly a necessary one. After roughly two years of the Aguilars dominating tabloid chatter \u2014 from \u00c1ngela Aguilar and Christian Nod\u00e1l\u2019s strange relationship timeline to Pepe\u2019s son Emiliano publicly calling out their estrangement time and again \u2014 Pepe\u2019s appearance (with just one nomination, which he ultimately lost to Nod\u00e1l) landed as a miss. The show would\u2019ve been better served by pairing Aguilar with a younger artist helping evolve the very genre Aguilar is working to preserve. (But handing over the spotlight would\u2019ve been smart for the Aguilar image, even.) \u2014T.M.<\/em><\/p>\n\n
We\u2019re all for the Academy giving us glimpses into how their voting process works and what leads to the decisions of the night. But in nearly every category introduction speech, the hosts and presenters mentioned that \u201cone million voters\u201d had weighed in \u2014 to the point where the phrase felt like it lost all meaning by the end of the night. Guys, we get it; there are a lot of voters! \u2014J.L.<\/em><\/p>\n
It was already a bummer that a new wave of Latin alternative artists, like Mexican\u00a0trio Latin Mafia<\/a>, Spanish singer-songwriter Judeline<\/a>, and artist-producer Rusowsky, didn\u2019t make it into the bigger categories, despite how boundary-pushing their releases were. Still, they were all up for Best Alternative Album and Best Alternative Song. Though zany Argentine duo CA7RIEL and Paco Amoroso deserved plenty of wins, they snagged both categories, where it would have been nice to see a slightly different energy. Latin Mafia, Judeline, and Rusowsy later met up and took a few photos together, including a cheeky one with everyone flipping off the camera. Maybe this snub might lead to the Latin Mafia, Judeline, and Rusowsky collaboration that we need. \u2014L.V.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\t\tOMG!<\/strong>\t<\/h2>\n
When Alejandro Sanz apologized to Bad Bunny and Karol G for winning Record of the Year, it felt like a reminder that the Latin Grammys can be\u2026 kind of old-school. In a category stacked with two of Bad Bunny\u2019s biggest songs, Ca7riel and Paco Amoroso\u2019s \u201c#Tetas\u201d and \u201cEl D\u00eda del Amigo,\u201d and even Liniker\u2019s \u201cAo Te Lado,\u201d his win suggested the Academy might still be playing it safe with what its older voting base knows best. Part of the problem may have been that multiple nominations in one category meant some of the votes were split, but Sanz\u2019s Record of the Year win was still a shock. \u2014T.M.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>
Paloma Morphy took home the Best New Artist award and we\u2019re here for it. In the same vein as Latin Mafia and Nsqk, Paloma Morphy is reshaping the Latin alternative scene with her genre-bending sound. Earlier this week, the Mexico City native shared her reaction to being nominated for Best New Artist with Rolling Stone<\/em><\/a>. \u201cWhen I started making music, I quit my other job,\u201d she said. \u201cI was doubting if this was something for me. Life is giving me signs that I have made the right choice.\u201d This win is making it clear that Morphy takeover is imminent. \u2014L.V.<\/em><\/p>\n