Charis McGowan is a contributor to GRAMMY.com
Around five years ago, in the midst of the pandemic, Lido Pimienta received an unexpected invitation to score a piece of music for the New York Ballet. She’d just released her third studio album, Miss Colombia, which earned her a GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY nomination. "The album did well, but you didn’t really see it. I couldn’t tour when the…
Nathy Peluso's GRASA show opens with a flourish of drama. A video projection shows the Argentine-Spanish star on the run, suitcase in hand, with gun-waving agents chasing after her. Cue Peluso's entrance to the stage: her most ambitious live performance has begun. With a mob-style aesthetic infused with a distinctly Argentine twist, the GRASA Tour combines 1970s-style cinematography with thrilling…
It's hard to imagine any other artist impacted by a Tiny Desk appearance as much as CA7RIEL and Paco Amoroso. During their 17-minute set at the NPR mainstay last year, the duo transformed tracks from 2024’s BAÑO MARIA and two from earlier solo projects, swapping synthesized elements with live instrumentation. Replacing bouncy electronic drum beats for soft percussion, songs like…
The 2025 GRAMMYs, officially known as the 67th GRAMMY Awards, will air live on CBS and Paramount+ on Sunday, Feb. 2. Watch highlights from the 2025 GRAMMYs on live.GRAMMY.com. The 2025 GRAMMYs telecast will be reimagined to raise funds to support wildfire relief efforts and aid music professionals impacted by the wildfires in Los Angeles. Donate to the Recording Academy's…
In a time where pop balances between intimate vulnerability and brazen confidence, queer pop stars like Chappell Roan, Billie Eilish, Reneé Rapp, FLETCHER, and girl in red are spearheading a movement of their own: the lesbian pop renaissance. The unofficially coined cultural craze has seen a number of queer women sing openly and explicitly about their same-sex relationships. And they're…
In the early 1990s, a bombastic new type of music was emerging in the underground Black British scene of London. Jungle was a frantic mixture of breakbeats and reggae featuring fast beats that splintered into myriad directions, interspersed with vocal samples. Thanks to pirate radio stations, jungle saturated the streets of London’s predominantly Black, working-class neighborhoods. Jungle was a sound…
Álvaro Díaz has a twinkle in his eye — he knows he’s onto something special. "It’s crazy that it’s an alternative album, but also the most reggaeton I’ve ever made," Díaz says of his recently-released sophomore album, Sayonara. "It’s both worlds. I have my fingers crossed that people are going to love it." Díaz, who is 28, has been making…
The explosive Latin music scene is moving in many directions: from brassy corridos tumbados to pounding perreo tracks. Yet another, slower movement is quietly brewing: Latin trip-hop and downtempo. Trip-hop originated in the 1990s and typically refers to downtempo music with a degree of electronic experimentation and an elusive sense of eeriness. While it's a contentious term that has been…
Flamenco is undergoing a sweeping transformation. Propelled not by a single artist, but by a wave of creative talents, a new generation of artists are injecting fresh life into this storied genre. Six years after Rosalía's 2018 release, El Mal Querer, catalyzed a wider renaissance in the flamenco world with an approach inspired by the legendary Romani flamenco singer Camarón…
María José Llergo knows the key to her future is ingrained in the past. Demonstrating her fierce connection to her Andalusian roots, Llergo’s debut album Ultrabelleza, explores themes of home, tradition and family. Her music is distinctly personal, interweaving the classic flamenco she was raised with alongside contemporary electronic flourishes. Following her album release in October 2023, Llergo is gearing…
