A Spanish-language album took the Recording Academy’s most prestigious prize for the primary time ever
When Dangerous Bunny’s album “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” received album of the 12 months at this 12 months’s Grammy Awards, the second modified historical past.
For the primary time, a Spanish-language album took the Recording Academy’s most prestigious prize in an business that has lengthy handled Latino music as a class, not a centerpiece.
For thousands and thousands of US Latinos, the win from Dangerous Bunny — who on Sunday will headline the Tremendous Bowl halftime present — is greater than a musical milestone. It’s an affirmation of visibility, and proof of belonging.
“It is past inspirational,” stated Jeffrey Vargas, a Nuyorican from Bushwick, Brooklyn.
“It is validating and ground-shifting in a second when it seems like we’re all underneath assault. The album was greater than a vibe. It was a religious uplift and a balm for the aching soul,” Vargas advised CNN.
Throughout social media and Latino communities nationwide, related sentiments poured in: satisfaction blended with reduction, celebration layered with resilience, after Dangerous Bunny clinched three Grammys complete this weekend, together with greatest world music efficiency.
“As a Puerto Rican girl, I’m past proud to see our tradition, language, and historical past elevated globally. We’re joyous, defenders of humanity, and our music is infectious,” stated Lucria Ortiz, a Puerto Rican neighborhood chief from New Bedford, Massachusetts.
For a lot of Latinos, Dangerous Bunny’s success has at all times felt intimate. The Puerto Rico-born celebrity by no means switched languages to interrupt into the mainstream. He by no means softened his accent. He by no means diluted his musical and cultural references.
“As a substitute of watering himself right down to be extra palatable, he added extra sofrito to the pot,” stated Liz Arreola, a Mexican-American content material creator based mostly in Houston, referencing the favored Caribbean/Latino seasoning mix used to construct taste.
In her social media publish, Arreola stated she was extremely pleased with Dangerous Bunny’s win and the dignified approach he’s representing Puerto Ricans and Latinos on the worldwide stage.
“You may earn the world’s respect by being genuine to your self, your individuals, your roots, your tradition, your music, your island. That album was so genuine and so actual, and it was exactly that authenticity that made the remainder of the world join and fall in love with it,” Arreola stated within the publish.
For many years, Latino artists have been advised that “crossing over” required crossing out elements of themselves: much less Spanish, fewer regional sounds, extra “common” themes.
However Dangerous Bunny did the precise reverse. He centered Caribbean rhythms, avenue slang and political commentary in an unapologetic celebration of Latino and Puerto Rican satisfaction, which carried over into his acceptance speeches on Sunday night time.
