I remember as a teenager getting very excited to know the Latin Grammy nominations, I felt they were edgy, and they still are, even edgier than Los Premios MTV. It’s their 10th anniversary and bashing on the Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences year after year is an easy way out, and therefore boring, as they unveil their nominations this morning one can’t help but feel a bit depressed with the outcome. That’s if you care about them, which I’m sure most of you don’t, but from this side of the story it’s an important statement on pop culture, our pop culture.
Yes, the nominations suck for the most part, they’re all margined in conventions but before hating them we have to respect LARAS as a democratic group of professionals appreciating art as they feel. I could keep writing about the structure and why the nominations usually suck, but let’s start with the basics. If you’re a recording, commercial artist, (as in if you sell your music) you should become a member. If you released an album, how about you tell your label to get it into the competition? You can’t expect to see Juana Molina, El Guincho or Prietto Viaja Al Cosmos Con Mariano nominated if they’re not participating. But then again, LARAS shouldn’t make its members pay a yearly fee… and they shouldn’t exclude non-commercial music… too many things they shouldn’t do but I guess they need guidelines.
As usual, we got a chance to see the entry list in competition there was some very interesting stuff on there, like Gepe not only competing for Best New Artist but competing as Gepe Hungria. Also, the Alternative Music category is so rich and extensive and it seems like everyone wants to get in it. The General Rock category is once again abominable for the most part. The general category is way less ‘alternative’ than on previous years, but Calle 13 leads the nominations and that’s a good start, also, let’s give some props to a line of nominees we are extremely happy to find among the 50 or so categories. Full list of nominees here.
Calle 13, Café Tacvba, Chocquibtown, Natalia Lafourcade, Draco Rosa, Spinetta, Babasonicos, Kinky, Los Amigos Invisibles, Zoe, Hello Seahorse!, Camila Moreno, Juan Son.