Politics is a subject treated in the ceremonies of the world of entertainment and in the 22nd edition of the Grammy it will be when the subject ‘Homeland and life’ is mentioned.
53. That is the number of categories that will be awarded this Thursday, November 18, in the 22nd edition of the Grammy Latino.
Politics is a subject that in one way or another is addressed in the ceremonies of the entertainment world and for this year it will be addressed when the nominees song of the year and best urban song, since among them is Homeland and life, that it became the anthem of the protests in Cuba last July.
Homeland and life It is interpreted by Descemer Bueno, El Funky, Gente De Zona, Yadam González, Beatriz Luengo, Maykel Osorbo & Yotuel Romero.
Romero, in an interview for The Rolling Stone, said: “The idea was to make a song that was an outlet, to tell everything to people who are against the idea of homeland and life. We were saying it’s over, it’s over. People want a change ”.
“It’s over / you 1959, me 2020 / Sixty years locked dominoes / Drums and cymbals at 500 in Havana / while at home the casseroles no longer have ‘jama’ ”, says part of the lyrics of the song.
Yotuel, as he also calls himself artistically, in October he ran a campaign on social networks for two of the artists on the subject, the rappers Maykel Osorbo and El Funky, to attend the award ceremony.
Osorbo has been a prisoner in a Cuban jail since May, while El Funky arrived in the United States earlier this month. He “received an invitation letter from a group of artists against communism accepted by the immigration authorities.”
Gente de Zona concerned for the safety of their family after the song’s premiere
The title comes from the play on words for “‘Homeland or death,’ the slogan associated with Fidel Castro’s arrival to leadership in the late 1950s,” according to EFE.
“The Latin Grammys have never been ‘on the left,’ of course, but it is still striking that such a political piece is now being nominated,” says Sergio Burstein in an article in Los Angeles Times.
“And the most interesting thing is that it has a chance of winning, not only because its proclamation is in tune with the feelings of many members of the Academy and because it is a ‘serious’ composition, but because 2020 did not present us with a ‘hit’ absolutely devastating musical in commercial terms, ”adds Burstein.
Homeland and life It was released on YouTube in February of this year and has more than nine million views.
Concern for the life of the Cuban singer Maykel Osorbo; He has been in a Cuban jail since last May
Romero, 45, left Cuba at 18. He traveled to Paris. He currently resides in Miami and also spends time in Spain. Freedom is one of its flags, especially that of Cuba. He has excelled as an actor in productions like The house of messes (Spain), When I grow up issued in Peru. He also participated in A step forward, broadcast on Antenna 3, between 2002 and 2005. In this production he met his current wife, Beatriz Luengo, with whom he has three children. This year the artist participated in MasterChef Celebrity Spain.
What’s new and experience at the Latin Grammys
The new and the experience are the main figures in the list of nominees, since the Colombian singer Camilo Echeverry, 27, better known as Camilo, He leads the list, he has 10, and he is followed by the Dominican Juan Luis Guerra, 64, with six.
For Burstein, what happened with Camilo “is highly significant not only because his current facet as a recognized figure was only revealed in 2018, but because it proves that the voters of the Latin Recording Academy (who all belong to the industry) they favor the absolutely ‘mainstream’ and inoffensive style of an artist who has a very particular voice, who frequently resorts to urban rhythms and who loves to speak with diminutives ”.
He also points out that “it is a kind of indirect recognition of the Montaner family, of which Camilo is a part after having married Evaluna and whose members constantly collaborate on the songs they perform.”
Among the important categories in which Camilo opts for a gramophone are album of the year, song of the year, and record of the year.
Regarding Guerra, Burstein indicates that “he is recognized as a bachata artist but he also practices many fusions, he has six mentions, and not necessarily in minor categories, because one of them finds him in the album of the year, where he participates thanks to Privé, a production whose existence we did not know until now ”.
Latin music with global relevance
Elda Cantu, senior news editor, Latin America de The New York TimesIn an article published in the US media, he spoke with two experts about the award and one of the questions he asked is, do you think Latin music has acquired more global relevance? And if so, do you think that now, 20 years after its creation, the Grammy Awards have a greater cultural stature?
“… The reality is that Latin music has always had cultural stature and importance to the communities that created it, even if English-speaking audiences have not paid attention to it or have not validated it with conventional success metrics,” answered Isabelia Herrera, who is part of the newspaper’s 2021-2022 internship generation as an art critic.
Meanwhile Jon Pareles, chief critic of pop music at the Times since 1988, he pointed out: “The streaming, or streaming, showed the old guardians of the music business, such as record labels and radio, that the language barrier was not as great as they believed. It turns out that millions of people can enjoy Latin music – and K-pop and African rhythms – without understanding all the lyrics … ”.
Boycott of the Latin Grammys
The dissatisfaction of the Colombian singer J Balvin it was obvious. After the nominees were announced, the artist considered as “contempt of the organizers to the Latin urban musicians” and invited to carry out a boycott of the ceremony, from which an exchange of opinions with Resident emerged.
“The Grammys don’t value us, but they need us. It is my opinion and nothing against the other genres because they deserve all the respect. But the trick is already boring. We give them rating, but they don’t give us respect ”, had mentioned J Balvin, who is nominated in two categories for song of the year and best urban song with his theme. Water next to Tainy.
Last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ceremony was held in Miami and virtually. 2021 will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, in Las Vegas, United States. It will be hosted by actresses Ana Brenda Contreras and Roselyn Sánchez, and singer Carlos Rivera.
The show will be broadcast by Univision, at 20:00, Ecuador time. Also in cable by TNT and channel 5 of Televisa. (I)
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
