The GRAMMY for Best New Artist speaks to one of the most crucial aspects of the music community — without new artists, and great ones, the music industry would cease to exist.

Whether they've been humming beneath the surface for a minute or are truly new, talented artists at the beginning of their mainstream journeys are precious to the Recording Academy.

For the 2023 GRAMMYs, Recording Academy Membership has spoken: Anitta, Omar Apollo, DOMi & JD Beck, Samara Joy, Latto, Måneskin, Muni Long, Tobe Nwigwe, Molly Tuttle, and Wet Leg are those emerging names — and one will win a golden gramophone for their debut on the global stage.

Here's a rundown of the nominees for Best New Artist at the 2023 GRAMMYs.

The 2023 GRAMMY nominations are officially here. See the complete list of nominees across all 91 GRAMMY categories.

Anitta

A few months back, J Balvin interviewed his friend Anitta, calling the singer/songwriter "one of the greatest artists of history in Brazil." The data can back it up: she recently set a Guinness World Record as the first Latin solo artist to reach No. 1 on Spotify.

But rather than revel in her achievements — as virtually anyone in her position would do — the artist born Larissa de Macedo Machado struck a note of humility.

"Most times I'm very worried about everyone, caring about everyone, thinking about my family and making sure everyone is good," she told J Balvin, when asked about her personal life. "I'm actually very much the opposite of this powerful, invincible person that I sell as an artist."

This dichotomy of bravado and vulnerability is central to Anitta's artistry, and her boundary-busting appeal on the global stage.

Just watch her perform "Envolver" at the VMAs: visually, she's busting sultry moves, clad in scarlet. She can seem larger-than-life, and in some ways, she is. But that voice contains deeply human hues of sensitivity and resilience.

In April 2022, Anitta released her fifth album, Versions of Me — and it was a sensation, hitting 1 billion streams on Spotify. It's a starmaking turn, both due to the caliber of songs like "I'd Rather Have Sex," "Boys Don't Cry" and "Gimme Your Number" and startling messaging; just look at the album art, which features various plasticine permutations of Anitta's face.

"Even after millions of plastic surgeries, doctors and interventions... my inside just stays the same," Anitta stated. "I could see through all the pictures everyone is posting wishing me happy bday that my soul kept all the important things I had inside since I was a kid."

With her artistry in full flower on Versions of Me, those "important things" haven't been simply unleashed — they've fundamentally altered the music landscape both in Brazil and stateside. Talk about it paying off to open your heart.

Omar Apollo

Omar Apollo is a walking, breathing example of the iceberg theory — that the exposed tip belies a gargantuan foundation beneath the waters.

Born to Mexican parents and raised in Indiana, Omar Apollo began charting his course through highly variable sounds by working a day job and uploading music to SoundCloud.

All the while — true to his generation reared in the iPod era — he soaked up the wildly variable sounds of Prince, Rick James, Paul Simon, the Internet, and beyond. Back in 2019, while planting the seeds for his debut album, IVORY — which dropped last April — the bilingual singer/songwriter hinted that future music would be as multifarious as his influences.

"I love dancing, and I love funk. But I don't think it will ever be just one thing," he told the website Lyrical Lemonade, while also expressing a desire to incorporate rapping Spanish lyrics.  "I think the album will have a lot of elements, and be really diverse."

He wasn't kidding: the labored-over IVORY was a swing for the fences, and Apollo connected.

Touching on styles as disparate as Latin trap, psychedelia, traditional Mexican music, funk, and electro-pop — while embracing his Latinx and LGBTQ+ identities — IVORY can go toe-to-toe with the classics that galvanized him, like Nirvana's Nevermind, Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

Partly produced by the Neptunes and featuring Daniel Caesar and Kali Uchis, IVORY is a sterling gateway into Apollo's creative vision; on highlights like "Invincible," "Evergreen" and "Bad Life," he breezes from mood to mood, and style to style.

All that woodshedding paid off: Apollo is an artist everyone should watch — no matter which genre sphere you might occupy, it's all in his universe.

DOMi & JD Beck

Despite the constant, hurtling innovations in jazz throughout the 20th century and young 21st, that world can often seem fenced off, relegated to the sidelines of the music industry.

While crossovers have always existed, DOMi & JD Beck are a brand-new kind — plugging jazz virtuosity into the zoomer sphere of memes, TikTok soundbites and all-caps song titles.  "It's us growing up and being around all that stuff. We're just used to making memes and we like stupid videos," Dallas-reared drummer Beck told SPIN in 2022. But as the band told GRAMMY.com, "Most music isn't about music anymore. It's just used as a tool for money and selling bulls—. Hopefully we can help change that."

Indeed, Beck's partnership with French-born keyboardist DOMi is ultimately art-forward — despite the abundant silliness within their act. ("SNIFF," from their 2022 debut NOT TIGHT, was initially titled "u can sniff my butt," after all.)

Both youngsters are virtuosos in every sense — and even more profoundly than that, they're on a mission to make virtuosity cool again.

By Beck's admission, they've never recorded in a proper studio; NOT TIGHT was recorded in a small room with a 49-key MIDI keyboard, drum set and coffee table. Despite the freedom of recording separately and without the constraints of a live setup, this is ultimately the sound of two humans making music.

Despite the extreme technical facility, NOT TIGHT is eminently catchy and listenable — and as such, could get kids who don't know Herbie Hancock from Kurt Rosenwinkel into America's Music — at the very least, because both those luminaries appear on the album.

Purists and neophytes alike are advised to leave the "cool" factor at the door, and enter DOMi & JD Beck's colorful, goofy and creative world. Because if jazz lives or dies based on whether younger generations embrace it, then this is the future of the music. Now that's tight.

Samara Joy

Young jazz singer Samara Joy arrived on the map proudly wearing two primary influences on her sleeve: Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald. But it only takes one gig to show that Joy's art is new — for the mere reason that it's her doing it.

Sure, Joy might take direct inspiration from the approaches of Vaughan, Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae and the rest — from phrasing to vocalese and beyond. But nobody on earth has possessed her charm, her flair, her communication style.

Joy's 2021 self-titled debut on Whirlwind Recordings was suffused with buoyant charm and technical facility; her 2022 follow-up for Verve, Linger Awhile, only ups the ante.

With TikTok sway, heavy touring and "The Today Show" under her belt, Joy only matured as an interpreter of standards — and on Linger Awhile, she tackles tunes like Nancy Wilson's "Guess Who I Saw Today," a reimagined version of Ronnell Bright's "Sweet Pumpkin" and the Frank Sinatra- and Nina Simone-popularized "Can't Get Out of This Mood."

"There's such an incredible and rich history of Black female singers. I see so much of myself in them and see the way they paved the way so I can do what I'm doing," Joy said in a recentinterview. "And then the way that they sing and the songs they sing, I can relate to and hopefully carry it and pass it down so that nobody forgets those Black female singers who have such an impact and influence on music as a whole."

Watch Joy lay waste to a club, and you'll know she's here to stay. And given the momentum of her incline over the past handful of years, who knows who she'll inspire in turn — to make a song their own with heart, flair and panache.

Latto

Can we all agree that it's been a tremendous few years for hip-hop? Not only has the work been widely excellent, but what was once a male-dominated genre is now making space for people of all gender expressions and walks of life.

Not that it's always been easy. Since young Atlanta rapper Latto broke out in 2020 with her maximum-blustery "Bitch from the Souf," she's been clear that navigating the music industry as a woman has been challenging — to say the least.

"Female rappers are being silenced in the industry and bullied behind closed doors," the MC born Alyssa Michelle Stephens told Complex in 2022, just before releasing her watershed album 777. "A lot of times we're bullied behind closed doors by these corporations or male artists or male producers or billion-dollar businesses and labels going against you."

No matter whoever's assailed Latto in her career, she'll inarguably have the last laugh: 777 is a beast of a hip-hop, pop and R&B album, augmented by high-profile guests from 21 Savage to Childish Gambino to Lil Wayne. From the ultra-catchy lead single "Big Energy" to the effervescent, Pharrell-produced "Real One," 777 is an extremely effective calling card for this emerging talent.

"I think I'm just on the cusp of my break, and it's just difficult to watch if you're not a fan," Latto said in the same interview. "If you're a hater and you're watching me win and getting more and more accomplishments under my belt, it's got to be frustrating to watch."

If you're a member of the online peanut gallery, perhaps that's the case. But for everyone else — including Recording Academy Membership — it's been thrilling.

Måneskin

Måneskin may have brought a 55-year-old song, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons' "Beggin'," to the TikTok generation — but that's just one part of the story when it coems to this deeply, thrillingly weird glam-rock sensation.

In many ways, they represent the "return to rock" that so many have longed for after a long minute of trap hats and autotune. But they don't look or sound like the return of Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath; singer Damiano David's studded codpiece alone might disabuse you of that fantasy.

The Italian band with a Danish name meaning "moonlight" sounds more like 2000s indie bands like Franz Ferdinand or the Bravery than Soundgarden or Aerosmith — although Steven Tyler is a cardinal influence on David.

Read More: Here's The Rundown On Måneskin, The Italian Glam-Pop Heroes Who Just Brought The 54-Year-Old Song "Beggin'" Back Into Vogue

The ex-street-buskers hit the national stage in 2017 on the Italian "X Factor," where they performed a handful of covers that were awfully telling. Naturally, they did Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out" and the Killers' "Somebody Told Me" — both right in their wheelhouse. But then they also performed something out of time: "Beggin'," which was released during the Summer of Love.

After winning second place on "The X Factor," "Beggin'" picked up steam on their debut 2017 EP, Chosen, Since then, it's become a TikTok sensation, sweeping the charts worldwide. 

For more entryways into Måneskin's universe, check out the snotty "I Wanna Be Your Slave," redone with Iggy Pop in 2021. And they performed the outrageously horny "Mammamia" on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon."

Really, any direction you come at this flamboyant, gender-bending band is bound to be rewarding, as they play by nobody's rules but their own.

"We're just doing music. If it's considered rock or pop or whatever, it's entirely not important to us," bassist Victoria De Angelis told Loudwire in 2021. "The main thing is I think people should just listen to the music and judge the music without having preconceived notions."

Muni Long

With each passing year, the Recording Academy makes a more concerted effort to highlight music makers behind the scenes — as seen in their new Songwriters & Composers Wing and Behind The Record initiative.

So it's worth noting that Muni Long has a very special presence among the 2023 GRAMMYs nominees for Best New Artist — she was behind the curtain, and is now very much at the fore.

If you're a liner-notes sleuth, you might remember Muni Long (pronounced "money long") from her work on H.E.R.'s Back of My Mind — which was nominated for a golden gramophone for Album Of The Year at the 2022 GRAMMYs.

But that's just the beginning: Long has co-written with Rihanna, Fifth Harmony, Kelly Clarkson, and Ariana Grande, among many other leading lights.

Now, she's consolidated her decade-plus of stellar work on 2022's Public Displays of Affection, where old tunes from previous EPs — including her viral smash hit "Hrs and Hrs" — commingle with new tracks.

“I am learning to search myself for answers before I go outside and seek others. No additional approval or validation or help, because if you pay attention you will just make decisions based on the purest intention,” Long told GRAMMY.com in 2022. “Versus making a decision that's going to make things faster for you or bring you the most money… because you're blinded by your ambition.”

After her impassioned work in a less visible space, everyone deserves to know Long's name. With her nomination for a GRAMMY for Best New Artiat, the world just might.

Tobe Nwigwe

Arguably one of the most positive developments in the last decade of music has been the even further elevation of Nigeria on the world stage — in all its facets and permutations.

And that's come by way not only by heralded Afrobeats artists like Wizkid and Burna Boy, but by straight-up hip-hop — like that from the Houston MC Tobe Nwigwe.

A college football player with NFL aspirations, Nwigwe's life path was diverted by a foot injury in 2009. After pivoting to starting a nonprofit for Houston youth, Nwigwe got attention by way of videos of himself rapping with his kids and wife, Ivory "Fat" Rogers, on social media.

One thing led to another, and Nwigwe hit the ground running as a recording artist, releasing a whopping nine EPs between 2017 and 2021.

During the summer of 2020, Nwigwe got the spotlight by way of "I Need You To (Breonna Taylor)," a song of resistance against racist police violence. 

His latest project, 2022's moMINTS, exudes love for Houston through  tunes that stick in the brain, like "DESTRUCTION," "LORD FORGIVE ME" and "CATFISH BLACKENED." Beyond love for his hometown alone, Nwigwe's work has a feeling of earthiness, of family bonds, and fidelity of vision.

"I think I've gotten a lot of clarity on just how I want to do things, how I want to present myself, not necessarily who I am," he told XXL in 2022. "[B]y the grace of God, I was able to know what my purpose was before I started doing all this, but just how to present what I'm doing and in a way that is uniquely me."

Molly Tuttle

Representing the Newport Folk-adjacent pantheon — the world that includes strummers and pickers from the indie-folk, bluegrass and Americana communities — is Molly Tuttle. 

The banjoist, guitarist and songwriter hails from a musical lineage via her musician father and grandfather.Her latest album, 2022's Crooked Tree, takes a heartfelt inventory of her earliest experiences — she even revisited her family farm while conceptualizing the album.

"My family doesn't own the farm that my father grew up on anymore, but my grandma and I drove out there last spring and walked around and reminisced about the old times," she said in a statement.

"As a kid growing up in the suburbs of San Francisco, I loved being in this completely different landscape and spending so much time out on the porch," she continued. "Just talking and playing music and watching the lightning bugs at night."

During her childhood , Tuttle initially played violin, but swiftly fell in love with the guitar, soaking up the bluegrass records that filled the air at home. Her tutelage at Berklee College of Music led her to Nashville — ground zero for roots music that practically grows from the ground.

After two studio albums on Compass — 2019's When You're Ready and 2020's But I'd Rather Be With You — Tuttle has become a Nonesuch signee, and a GRAMMY nominee for Best New Artist, before her 30th birthday. 

In a way, as a bearer of the bluegrass flame, the whole tradition has led to her. Whatever she sings or strums next, it's the Recording Academy Membership's pleasure to bear witness.

Wet Leg

The witty, lusty, needle-sharp duo of Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers was impossible to ignore in 2022; their self-titled debut landed in the industry like a water balloon.

"I went to school and I got the Big D!" the post-punkers announced in their breakout single "Chaise Longue," a song everybody had some extreme reaction to — chief among them, jaw-dropping relief that wackadoo fun was back in indie rock.

DOMi and JD Beck, their fellow GRAMMY nominees for Best New Artist, once described themselves as "anti-everything," which aptly describes Wet Leg as well — something must be in the water as 2023 approaches. 

The pair formed Wet Leg on a lark while riding a Ferris wheel; their songs take aim at pretentious rock-arteest attitudes of all stripes —  and what a relief it is to hear songs that are, by design, about nothing.

It's anyone's guess where Wet Leg's irreverence and cheek will lead them — they could take the template of Wet Leg and go full pop, or even more deconstructionist and dadaist.

But whatever happens, you can't say it won't be interesting — as it doesn't get much more interesting than this deeply satirical, always catchy, very welcome anomaly of a rock band.

2023 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Complete Nominees List

 The 2023 GRAMMYs, officially known as the 65th GRAMMY Awards, returns to Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023, and will broadcast live on the CBS Television Network and stream live and on-demand on Paramount+ at 8-11:30 p.m. ET/5-8:30 p.m. PT.

The eligibility period for the 65th GRAMMY Awards is Friday, Oct. 1, 2021 – Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. All eligible awards entries must be released within this timeframe.

The Recording Academy and GRAMMY.com do not endorse any particular artist, submission or nominee over another. The results of the GRAMMY Awards, including winners and nominees, are solely dependent on the Recording Academy’s Voting Membership.

After establishing herself as a global pop star, Brazilian singer Anitta is bringing the music of her country to the forefront. On the just-released Funk Generation, the Latin GRAMMY nominee puts a spotlight on funk carioca — Brazilian funk.

On the 15-track album, Anitta sings in Portuguese, Spanish, and English over funk carioca beats, which are Brazil’s aggressive and hyper spin on genres like hip-hop and Miami bass. As with her previous releases, Funk Generation has elements of EDM, reggaeton, and pop, but the rhythms also known as baile funk are the star. The album represents a new era for Anitta, which she first kicked off in June with "Funk Rave," a single and video that captures the spirit of Brazil's favelas where funk carioca was born. 

Anitta later introduced Brazil's melodic funk subgenre to her global audience with the dreamy "Mil Veces." Now Anitta is expanding her funky world by bringing artists like Sam Smith, Brray, and Bad Gyal into her funky world.

"I'm going to accomplish making a lot of artists and people like funk," Anitta tells GRAMMY.com, adding that she hopes listeners "start embracing this rhythm that's very good, that invites you to dance, and that has an energy that's very unique to Brazil."

Funk Generation follows Anitta's rise to international stardom. Following a decade of making her mark in Brazil and later Latin America, Anitta went fully international with her 2022 album Versions of Me and the viral hit "Envolver." The album helped Anitta garner a GRAMMY nomination for Best New Artist in 2023 and a Latin GRAMMY nomination for Record Of The Year. She later told GRAMMY.com that "dreamed" of putting out a Brazilian funk album.

Anitta has made that dream come true with Funk Generation. Here are five takeaways from her genre-bending album, including insight from the Brazilian superstar herself.   

Anitta Said Making A Funk Carioca Album Was A "Challenge"

In March 2023, Anitta revealed that she was trying to get out of her contract with Warner Music, alleging a lack of support from the label. After parting ways with Warner in April, she signed a new deal with Republic Records and Universal Latin shortly after. It seems that her new label home offered the support she was looking for: She released "Funk Rave" in June 2023. 

"This funk album has been a challenge for me because it's not a rhythm that people are doing out there," she says. "It's something that’s very new that I'm going to introduce to people so they like it, listen to it, and try to do it as well."

She Wants to Continue To Breaking The Divide Between Latin America & Brazil

While Brazil is a part of Latin America, there still exists a bit of a cultural divide with Spanish-speaking Latin American countries because of language differences. On Funk Generation, Anitta aims to bridge that gap by featuring Latin music acts who embrace her  Brazilian funk vibes. 

On the sultry "Double Team," she is joined by Puerto Rican singer and rapper Brray and Barcelona-based artist Bad Gyal, who performed with Anitta for the first time at awards ceremony Premio Lo Nuestro in February. They get into the groove in Spanish with no problem alongside Anitta.

"It's been many years since Brazil has gotten to this international level, that a lot of people are listening to Brazilian songs, and I know I've worked a lot for this to happen," Anitta says. "More Latin artists coming to Brazil, who are curious and interested in making a career there.

"It's been very important for me to create this cultural exchange because the Latino countries and Brazil are side-by-side, but it's like there's a big barrier between them because of language," she continues. "With music, we can break through."

Sam Smith Embraces Funk Carioca For The First Time 

It’s not only Latin music acts who are getting in on funk carioca with Anitta. British superstar Sam Smith joins Anitta for the freaky "Ahi," and Smith's soulful voice soars over the sleek Brazilian funk rhythms. The collaboration shows how determined Anitta is to push the music of her country into the mainstream with Smith being one of most prominent pop artists from the UK to embrace the genre. 

The song also marks an important moment for LGBTQIA+ representation with Anitta, who is bisexual, teaming up with the non-binary GRAMMY winner.

Funk Generation Spotlights Brazilian Talent 

Anitta shares her platform with more Brazilian acts in the alluring "Joga Pra Lua," an EDM-infused funk banger that invites the listener to a block party where they get lost in the music. 

Translated to "play for the moon," the track is produced by fellow Brazilian DENNIS (who recently scored a global hit with the remix of "Tá OK" featuring Kevin o Chris, Karol G, and Maluma). Anitta is also joined on the track by Brazilian hitmaker Pedro Sampaio, who sings in Portuguese.

Anitta Is Looking Toward The Future Of Funk Carioca

Despite the few features, Funk Generation is an album where Anitta largely shines solo. She not only puts a spotlight on the Brazilian genre with this LP, but pushes it to new places. One of the standouts is the frenetic "Grip" where Anitta blends Brazilian funk with elements of Miami bass music that’s reminiscent of the ‘90s. She sings in Portuguese, English and Spanish throughout the song.

Whereas funk carioca played second fiddle to many other genres in her previous album, now the tables are turned in Funk Generation. She seamlessly blends pop with funk carioca in the fully English track "Love in Common" that could sneak those rhythms onto Top 40 radio. Anitta also finds a common thread between Brazilian funk, reggaeton, and Afrobeat in the multicultural banger "Aceita."

 The future of baile funk looks bright in Anitta’s hands.

Meet The First-Time GRAMMY Nominee: Anitta On The "Insane" Success Of "Envolver," Representing Brazil & Reshaping Global Pop

Danna Paola feels comfortable coexisting with her shadows. 

The Mexican singer, model and actress first appeared on television at age five, and has spent recent years dwelling on memories of her youth. Now 28, Danna is dismantling the myths and taboos around her artistic persona.

This process resulted in CHILDSTAR, which arrives April 11. Danna's seventh LP is her most authentic production and one where she makes peace with her childhood.

Accomplishing this freedom took her two years of therapy, the singer confesses to GRAMMY.com. "I deconstructed myself and my beliefs and unlearned many things to learn new ones. The pandemic also opened Pandora's box. That's where everything came out."

Through that self-discovery process, Danna knew she had to break with a constant that had accompanied her for two decades: acting. The last character she portrayed was Lucrecia in the Netflix series "Elite," a popular role that led her to reignite her music career after an eight-year hiatus. Beginning to live authentically, without the vices that fictional characters can leave behind, was the crucial step that led the Latin GRAMMY-nominated singer to CHILDSTAR.

CHILDSTAR follows a lengthy depression and a break from her management team, which Danna has described as controlling. On the new album, she embraces indulgence — singing about female pleasure for the first time in her career — and draws inspiration from her after-hour encounters. CHILDSTAR's darkly powerful electronic rhythms and synth-pop, tell a tale about a weekend of partying, alcohol, and sex to create the perfect escape from "your demons, your life, and your reality." 

Ahead of her album release, Danna Paola discussed the processes that led her to break with her past, how her boyfriend was instrumental to her return to the studio, the synthesizer that inspired the album's sound, and the gift that Omar Apollo left for her. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Tell me about the process that led you to co-produce for the first time.

This album is made with a lot of love, many hours, but above all, a lot of freedom. It's a very energetic and aggressive album, liberating.

It was a journey of introspection, empowerment, and self-confidence. Beyond being a sad story, the complete meaning of the album is not to talk and throw shade at my childhood. [It's about what] I have discovered since that first therapy session to find and make peace with my past, and that instead of being a place of embarrassment for me, it empowered me.

CHILDSTAR is the first album in my entire career where every inch, detail, and decision are curated and made by me. That's something that I am very proud of. I made an album for myself and that little Danna who has always wanted to do this. 

It is energetic, super intense, and sexual. Electronic music, funk, dance, synth-pop, and R&B lead me to drain all these emotions. The choice of each song, and the details and creating them from start to finish, [has] been very cathartic.

In "The Fall," you sing, "You don't know me, you don't know s–– about me. I'm not a shooting star." Was it painful to relive the memories of being a child star?

Yes. I grew up in 2000s television. Back then, creating a child's image came from a lot of machismo: being the perfect girl, the girl who doesn't speak badly, the girl who smiles for everything, and whose characters are all good. She can't do bed scenes, can't talk about sex. 

With this project, I embrace that [version of] Danna. I told that girl that everything would be fine. It's OK if you make mistakes, and it is OK to fall in love. Falling in love terrified me because I've been on different projects… every six or eight months; the longest a project lasted for me was a year. I made relationships with people and friends, [but] people always left my life. I built a pretty lonely life; I almost did not spend time with my family. I poured my life into work.

I had this distortion of reality where Danna Paola was the superheroine, and I forgot who Danna was. That's why I stopped acting; creating characters and being in someone else's skin was moving me further and further away from discovering myself as a human being in the ordinary course of life, of creating myself based on situations, emotions, and relationships. 

In therapy, of course, I understood that. I made peace, and today, I am discovering many beautiful things about myself as a child that were precious, happy, and full of love. Of course, I don't blame my parents because they did their best. Nobody teaches you how to be a child star from age five.

The album led you to shine a light on your darkest sides. What did you discover about yourself and Danna as a person and artist?

I was terrified to take risks, to speak, or to create. [To me] creating a project takes a long time, at least with music. I discovered that, for me, [making music] is a spiritual act. It is an everyday practice. It is to continue to discover and continue to learn. It's falling in love again with my profession and giving the industry another chance.

I also learned that our capacity for reinvention is infinite so we can start over. Today, I also begin to be a little more human. However, I don't aspire to be an example for anyone. I want to share my experiences and the lessons I have learned so I can move forward, continue to love what I do, and not lose myself. I used to say that I wouldn't make it to 27. That was in my head.

I'm making a wonderful balance between my personal life and my work. I'm also building my family at home with my boyfriend [artist Alex Hoyer], my two little dogs, my friends, and my chosen family. It's making peace and creating the life of my dreams.

Do you like who you are now?

I love it. I continue to polish many things about my personality. I work hard to be a better human being. Life is about learning and transforming yourself. I can release another album in a couple of years; I may release another this year. I don’t want to stop making music. [I want to] continue transforming myself through my art. 

In the first two tracks, "The Fall" and "Blackout," you repeat that people don't know you. How would you describe the Danna of this record? 

She's a woman who is very sure of who she is, and nobody has given anything to me. I'm in love with my project, my music, and my life, and I'm enjoying it a lot.

I struggle a lot with fame, but today, I present myself as a liberated woman in a good headspace. I don't pretend to be perfect or an example for anyone. Quite the opposite; all I do is share experiences, lessons, and music.

I'm an artist in every sense of the word. I'm a creative, honest person and have a lot of love to give, and I love receiving it, too. That should be mutual. It's an energetic practice that when one really does things with love, the universe always rewards it.

In songs like "Atari" and "Platonik," you openly sing about female sexual pleasure. Is it the first time in your career that you sing about your sexuality? 

Yes. This album is very sexual. There's a taboo when it comes to women talking about sex. In reggaeton, there are thousands of ways in which we can talk about sexuality. In my case, I had always considered it forbidden. 

It's what I told you about the kid [actress] who doesn't [about sex], who's a virgin until marriage. There is no richer pleasure than sex and the sexual pleasure you can have as a woman. There's liberation, to feel good about yourself, with your body, and also the sexual education that I can also share with generations.

This liberation with my femininity is something that I also discovered: The pleasure of being a woman and having many experiences in my life that have led me today to enjoy who I am, to have a happy sex life, and to share it through my music.

In "Platonik," you discuss sexualizing a platonic relationship with a woman and sing "I can't help what I think in my bed." Why was exploring that relationship important to you?

I had a platonic love with a girl at a stage of my life. I kept this to myself; it was a personal experience that opened the conversation to a beautiful story.

I wrote this song with [producer and songwriter] Manu Lara. We made it in half an hour. This song has something unique because, besides talking about a personal experience that is also super sexual, it talks about universal love.

That's why I say that CHILDSTAR is an album of many stories that have marked my life and beyond, talking about only the childhood stage, which is what everyone speculates, but that's not the case.

You’re flirting more with synth-pop in this album. What caught your attention about this genre?

It comes from this aggressive part of saying, here I am. For me, electronic music connects and drains emotions. Every time I've been out partying, electronic music has been liberating for me, and when I put it together with pop and these lyrics, it has become a new way to enjoy the genre.

While creating CHILDSTAR in Los Angeles, I fell in love with a Jupiter [synth] we found at Guitar Center. That synthesizer is in every song. The inspiration [to use the instrument] comes from John Carpenter's synth album [Lost Themes III: Alive After Death]. In it, I discovered synthesizers had a way of incorporating sound design and darkness into the album. 

[Synth-pop is] the expression of that need to bring out the energy I had stuck through music. It’s an emotional purpose, the connection I have with electronic music.

Your boyfriend, Alex, was instrumental in making "XT4S1S" when you didn’t want to enter a recording studio. How was reconnecting with music with help from your romantic partner?

"XT4S1S" is the song that, to both of us, as a couple and as producers, connected us on a hefty level.

I was super blocked. It took me several years to get out of my depression hole. We returned one day from [La Marquesa park] here in Mexico, and started chatting. Alex opened his laptop and started pulling out a beat.

I started throwing melodies, and [shortly] we had the chorus. It brought me back to life. I started crying with excitement because I finally felt again these desires and this emotion that you feel when you create a song, and you can’t stop moving forward and keep creating.

I remember we recorded my vocals on a voice note and sent it to [the production software] Logic. Then, it took us four months to produce this song because it was a lot of discovery, in this case, for me as a producer.

Alex is a great musician, artist, a genius — and I don’t say that because he’s my boyfriend. Artistically, there’s a fascinating world inside his head that I have learned a lot from. 

The track "Amanecer," which features Omar Apollo, breaks dramatically with the story you tell in the album. Why did you end that party cycle with a more folksy, chill song?

"Amanecer" is a track that has us all in love. It was the last song I recorded for the album. 

I wrote it to my ex. On my birthday, he called me — I was already with Alex — and it was super weird. I always feared running into him on the street, seeing him with someone else, and feeling something. And it was the exact opposite. I had already healed internally, and that wound had stopped hurting. I stopped feeling all the emotions I had gone through in K.O., [the album nominated for Best Vocal Pop Album at the 2021 Latin GRAMMYs].

This song talks about knowing how to make peace and understanding how to let go. It’s the dawn of the album. It’s perfect to release all the drama, and all the intensity, and aggressiveness that is the entire album itself.

[The song invites you] to hug yourself and say everything will be fine. There is always an opportunity to start over. 

It also has a beautiful story. Manu [Lara] taught Omar Apollo the instrumental parts of the song, and he made some melodies. At the moment of receiving them, [Omar] agreed we would make a song together, [but] it was almost impossible to record together.

[Instead, Omar] told me "You can use the melodies I made" and left me the last part of "Amanecer." He left us with that magical essence.

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From commanding stages to blasting through stereos, countless women have globally graced the music industry with their creativity. And though they've long been underrepresented, tides are changing: in just the last few years, female musicians have been smashing records left and right, conquering top song and album charts and selling sold-out massive tours.

This year, Women's History Month follows a particularly historic 66th GRAMMY Awards, which reflected the upward swing of female musicians dominating music across the board. Along with spearheading the majority of the ceremony's performances, women scored bigtime in the General Field awards — with wins including Best New Artist, Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Album Of The Year.

Female empowerment anthems, in particular, took home major GRAMMY gold. Miley Cyrus' "Flowers" took home two awards, while Victoria Monét was crowned Best New Artist thanks to the success of her album Jaguar II and its hit single "On My Mama." As those two songs alone indicate, female empowerment takes many different shapes in music — whether it's moving on from a relationship by celebrating self-love or rediscovering identity through motherhood.

The recent successes of women in music is a testament to the trailblazing artists who have made space for themselves in a male-dominated industry — from the liberating female jazz revolution of the '20s to the riot grrl movement of the '90s. Across genres and decades, the classic female empowerment anthem has strikingly metamorphosed into diverse forms of defiance, confidence and resilience.

No matter how Women's History Month is celebrated, it's about women expressing themselves, wholeheartedly and artistically, and having the arena to do so. And in the month of March and beyond, women in the music industry deserve to be recognized not only for their talent, but ambition and perseverance — whether they're working behind the stage or front-and-center behind the mic.

From Aretha Franklin's "RESPECT" to Beyoncé's "Run the World (Girls)," there's no shortage of female empowerment anthems to celebrate women's accomplishments in the music industry. Listen to GRAMMY.com's 2024 Women's History Month playlist on streaming services below.

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Who better than Tom Hanks to say it best?

"Clive Davis has provided us with the soundtrack of our lives, our emotions and our inspirations," the legendary actor said of the night's premiement host; the legendary music executive, passionate advocate for the power of song and noted discoverer of artists. 

"Music is the food [of the soul], give us excess of it," said Hanks in his passionate opening soliloquy packed with approbation. "And tonight is a night of excess."

It's the stuff of legend, a topic of lore and an evening that regularly rockets itself in the pages of music history. For nearly 50 years, the annual Pre-GRAMMY Gala, presented by the Recording Academy and Clive Davis, has been a star-making opportunity for the music industry to celebrate their past monumental year, highlighting both veteran acts and tomorrow's superstars. For the 2024 Pre-GRAMMY Gala — sponsored by Hilton, IBM and Mastercard and held on a rainy night at its regular home at the equally iconic Beverly Hilton Hotel the night before the 2024 GRAMMYs, its usual slot on the calendar — the grand master of music's party continued to provide a beacon of light for jaw-dropping performances and starry shoulder-rubbing. 

But before the party is the cocktail hour; a curious affair where music past and present collides. In one corner finds Producer Of The Year nominee Dan Nigro, the pop whisperer behind acclaimed acts ranging from Chappell Roan, Conan Gray and the multiple-Grammy nominated Olivia Rodrigo. A couple people away was Frankie Valli, last year's Pre-GRAMMY Gala opener who is currently in the midst of what he bills as a farewell tour. Looking around the room, the star power is abundant: Dianne Warren, the aforementioned Hanks with wife Rita Wilson, MusiCares' 2024 Person Of The Year Jon Bon Jovi, longtime Gala guest Nancy Pelosi alongside husband Paul. 

Just beyond the cocktail hour lies the red carpet, which boasts a head-snapping array of personalities. Megan Thee Stallion strutted in flaunting a gold-colored dress, while last year's Best New Artist winner Samara Joy sauntered in an equally dazzling gown. The list of guests includes an eclectic array of who's who in music: pop star Ellie Goulding, the dance-pop-country artist and producer Diplo, country-pop icon Shania Twain, recent Black Music Collective honorees Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz, the producer David Foster with wife Katherine McPhee, eventual three-time GRAMMY winners Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus, and Phoebe Bridgers (the trio otherwise known as Boygenius), and the following night's GRAMMY opener Dua Lipa, among countless others.

As the esteemed guests (which also included Kenneth "Babyface" Edmunds,  Janelle Monáe, Troye Sivan, Motown founder Berry Gordy, Smokey Robinson, the members of Earth, Wind and Fire and Charli XCX) settled into their seats in a ballroom with a stage outfitted with the bash's signature twinkle lights sparkling on the stage, a countdown on the monitors appeared. 3, 2, 1…

"We're going to play a game of word association," said Hanks, who was bestowed the honor of introducing Davis and to mark the occasion, he managed to recite a massive list of artists Davis had a hand or hands in making superstars, from Janis Joplin to Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, right up to Whitney Houston and Alicia Keys. "The only reason why Mozart, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky weren't mentioned is because they all died before Clive Davis had a chance to introduce them," he joked.

"I've gotta tell you, the emotions run high," said Davis. "I look out among you and I see so many familiar faces. The whole thing began as long ago as 1976 and I really have to pinch myself that it's going so, so strong. I'm happy to say that music is alive and well."

Tennis great Serena Williams introduced the night's opening act, Green Day. "In 2022, Clive Davis and I were honored together when we were inducted into the National Portrait Gallery," she recalled. "I said to him, 'You've got to remember to invite me to your gala. I'm so thrilled to be back here to introduce my favorite band. To know me is to know my love for them."

The punk gods are currently making a comeback with their 14th studio album, Saviors, and celebrating the 30th anniversary of their breakout album Dookie and 20th anniversary of their massively successful LP American Idiot. The group honored both anniversaries with a song from each, "American Idiot" and "Basket Case."

In years past, the night's performers ranged a wide gamut; but to prove Davis's point and regenerative effects of the industry, this year a large portion of the roster of surprise performers were plucked from the 2024's crop of Best New Artist nominees. There was the singer-songwriter Noah Kahan, who busted out a rousing rendition of his own breakout "Stick Season," while Ice Spice hit the stage to deliver her 2023 solo hit, "Deli." 

Rising country star Jelly Roll was also bequeathed a coveted slot, proclaiming his excitement by saying he had "only read about the party in books and magazines." With that, he delivered rousing versions of his candid single "Need a Favor" backed by a choir, as well as his equally affecting "Save Me," on which he brought out duet partner and eventual GRAMMY winner Lainey Wilson.

In fact, it was Wilson who provided one of the most surprising moments of the night when she appeared to perform a special version of Barbie's "I'm Just Ken" accompanied by songwriter Andrew Watt on piano and Mark Ronson on guitar. Of course, Davis was the architect of the moment, an idea he said came to him last week; Ronson suggested Wilson after the song's original performer, the actor Ryan Gosling, was unavailable. 

"To look astound and to see some of the greatest musicians and record-makers, it's really an honor to be here," Ronson said. "This is a song we wrote for the movie Barbie about the beauty of being the runner-up sometimes, which is a lesson I know very well," he said to laughter. "It's pretty cool to be second sometimes."

Fresh off his starring role on Broadway's Sweeney Todd, Josh Groban delivered a subtle tribute to the legend behind the Broadway musical by performing "Children Will Listen," before paying tribute to Davis himself with a gospel-tinged performance of Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water," which Davis had a hand in releasing. Joining him was another Best New Artist nominee, The War and Treaty frontman Michael Trotter Jr., and the pair's joint vocal power brought the audience to its feet. 

Musical whiplash ensued with additional performances courtesy Maluma and Isley Brothers, the latter of which performed their instantly-recognizable "Shout" as a tribute to Chairman and CEO of SONY Music Publishing Jon Platt, the evening's Icon honoree. An award which in years past has gone to heavyweights including David Geffen, Mo Ostin, Ahmet Ertgun and Jerry Moss to name a few, Platt was touched by the honor and delivered a 40-minute speech chock full of stories and reflections. Not even a beeping fire alarm, which at one point blared and flashed through his speech, tripped up Platt.

"It's funny because Harvey called me and I thought he needed help with something," said Platt, recalling the moment the Recording Academy's CEO Harvey Mason jr. informed him of the honor. "But he said I was selected as this year's industry icon and I was like, 'Wow, man.'" 

Noting he needed convincing to accept the honor ("I'm [just] seeing so many other people doing great things," he relented), Platt's contributions to music, from his work with everyone from Isley Brothers to Beyonce to Jay-Z, and even Oliva Rodrigo, makes him both a genre and decade-spanning force. 

"You'll see a consistent thing with me is that I'm a music nerd-fanboy," Platt said, noting how a kind word from the composer Gerald Busby made this evening a full circle moment for him. "[One day in 1998] I saw him and we were making small talk and he said, 'Someone was asking me who I see in the industry today that can achieve the things that I can achieve. I told them that Big Jon's gonna run the whole thing one day.' For someone to share the belief they have in you is incredibly powerful. From that day, I changed the course of my focus. Everything had a purpose after that."

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Another one of the artists Platt fostered performed in his honor as well: Public Enemy. "We're here for you and here for all of our heroes and hero-ettes," Chuck D declared before the group dove into an energetic medley of "Can't Truss It," "Bring the Noise" and "Fight the Power." 

It wouldn't be a Clive Davis bash without one final surprise. As 1 a.m. neared, Gladys Knight and Dionne Warwick hit the stage, with the former belting out a passionate version of "(The Way We Were) Memories" and the duo joining together for Warwick's endearing staple, "That's What Friends are For" alongside Andra Day. 

But from the electrified crowd, guest Stevie Wonder just couldn't help himself, getting up on stage to assist on harmonica. "This has been such a wonderful blessing to meet all of these people in my life; to meet Dionne, to meet Gladys," Wonder said, cueing up an unrehearsed and on-the-fly version of "What the World Needs Now Is Love" with the entire group. 

"I know this is what we need in the world," he continued. "There are many people that for so many years have been dividing people, not understanding the purpose that God has given us to come together."

It was a moving way to wrap up the night — and a fitting one at that, bringing together stars young and old to offer an inspiring message, and remind just how powerful music can be.

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