So even if we are all the way over here in Australia, the Latin Grammys have never mattered more!
Lets face it, El Tiny which launched in 2021 by the good folk at NPR has delivered some of the most exciting and authentic live performances in modern history. I personally return to Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso every couple of weeks! I still return to Ca7riel and Paco Amoroso every couple of weeks because nothing else hits quite like it.
Bad Bunny sits in that same cultural space, a once in a generation artist who has done for Puerto Rico and for global pop what The Strokes once did for rock and roll. Except his rise is happening in one of the most polarising periods in modern American life, where culture itself feels under threat from bigotry and the steady creep of fascism. His music cuts through that noise with colour, pride and ambition, reminding the world what a truly global sound looks and feels like.
So even if we are all the way over here in Australia, the Latin Grammys have never mattered more.
Latin Grammys 2025 landed with the energy of a scene that knows it is no longer operating on the fringes. From the opening performance to the final trophy, the night felt like a showcase for a global movement rather than a regional celebration. The cross-pollination of genres was impossible to miss. Salsa, urbano, reggaetón, regional Mexican and forward-leaning pop all sat comfortably next to each other, reflecting how Latin music now moves across the world without translation or compromise.
Bad Bunny stood at the centre of it all. Fresh off another year of chart domination, stadium runs and cultural moments that seem to appear as fast as he can create them, he walked into the MGM Grand as the face of modern Latin music and walked out with armfuls of hardware to match. His album Debí Tirar Más Fotos cemented its status as a cultural marker, sweeping major awards and cutting through old category lines that once boxed artists into tidy definitions. It was the kind of victory lap that feels bigger than the artist himself, representing a generation that has redrawn the borders between Latin sounds and global pop.
His presence throughout the night showed why he remains the genre’s most influential figure. His performance of Weltita was cinematic and self-assured, blending theatrical visuals with the ease of an artist who knows he is performing for the world, not just the room. The crowd treated him like a hometown hero, and in a very real way, he is one for the entire Latin diaspora.
What made this year’s ceremony feel different was the scale of the moment. The big categories cracked wide open, with younger artists, veterans and genre hybrids all sharing time in the spotlight. Regional Mexican music continued its meteoric rise. Urbano continued to define the energy of the night. Traditional voices held their ground. It wasn’t a pivot so much as a panorama, a full view of how broad and deep Latin music has become.
For Australian audiences, the ripple effect is already here. Latin music has been steadily reshaping global charts, festival bookings and streaming culture, and the Grammys simply made that shift impossible to ignore. The momentum behind Spanish-language releases is real, and artists like Bad Bunny are proof that the world is listening with open ears..
