Colombian author, music journalist and VP/Latin Industry Lead at Billboard Leila Cobo is a true resource and gem in the music industry. In her enthralling and informative new book, "Decoding 'Despacito:' An Oral History Of Latin Music," she unpacks 19 of the biggest Latin music songs that shook the U.S. pop world over the last 50 years. Her mission led her to speak with the people who made those major moments in music happen, including artists, songwriters, composers, producers, music execs, and managers.

The book, released on March 2 (with English and Spanish editions), is an enthralling read uncovering new truths and inspirations behind some of the songs we'll never forget, from José Feliciano's Christmas classic "Feliz Navidad" to Los Del Río's '90s anthem "Macarena" to Daddy Yankee's '00s reggaeton banger "Gasolina," up to Rosalía's groundbreaking Latin GRAMMY-winning nu-flamenco jam "Malamente."

After devouring the bop-filled page-turner, GRAMMY.com chatted with Cobo to learn more about the book and the songs and artists that went into it, the biggest thing she learned from working on it, and her advice she'd give to her younger journalist self.

What was your inspiration for writing the book?

Well, I confess that the book came to me. In other words, the publisher was thinking of doing a book on the history of Latin music, and someone contacted me and said, "Would you be interested in doing something like this?" And I said, "I would because that's my subject matter, I know it intimately. But I don't want to just do a history."

I have a lot of histories in my bookshelves of Latin music, of Latin rock and corridos. I wanted to do something that was different and that was really readable and that didn't sound like a history. After much back and forth, we came up with the idea of doing an oral history of songs, which I love.

I love to ask artists, "How did you write this song? What inspired you?" I love to hear the stories behind the songs. And when they get really generic, saying things like, "Oh yeah, we went to the studio and I wrote it with my friend." I always say, "No, but why? What were you thinking about this day? What kind of song did you want to write? Who wrote this? Who wrote that?" I really like to get super detailed when I tell those stories, and I replicated that in the book. And I love hearing from the different players. That's how the story of the book came along.

Once I started doing the reporting on the songs— 90 percent of it is fresh reporting—you start to see that there's really a connection between all of them. They're not just standalone songs, one thing that leads to another, and I found that fascinating. I love that. The fact that you can tell one story and say, oh wow, that's really similar to this other story and I never thought there would be.

You can talk about José Feliciano saying, "I decided to put a line in English so they would have to put me on the radio," and then you have J Balvin 45 years later saying, "You know what, I'm not going to sing in English. I'm going to do it all in Spanish and they're going to have to put me on the radio." There are all these intertwined threads, and I thought that was fascinating.

It's a really fun read, to feel like you're sitting in the room with the producer, the songwriters and the artists. For "Smooth" and "Livin' La Vida Loca" [both released in 1999], the songwriter of "Smooth," Itaal Shur, said it was one of the last popular songs where they recorded all of the instruments live. And with "Livin' La Vida Loca," producer/songwriter Desmond Child was talking about how it was one of the first songs created all in Pro Tools. That's something that I would have never known.

Me either, and it's one of those things that makes you go back to the song and hear it with new ears, doesn't it? I went back to "Smooth" after he told me that—I had interviewed Carlos [Santana] and Rob Thomas years ago—and then I re-interviewed Carlos and I interviewed Itaal for the first time. When Itaal told me that I was like, "Wow really? Is this how this happened?"

And when Desmond talks about how he did it "in the box" and how all the Latin artists back then had all this reverb, but he wanted it to sound really dry. It's all these engineering terms, but it's really fascinating. And when you realize all the thought that goes into a song—people think they're sitting here, putting them out as if they were bread, and they're not. They're really thinking a lot about how they want things to sound.

Thankfully in the past couple of years we've been talking more about diversity and inclusion, and what that really looks like. And when we have more women, more people of color in positions of power in the music industry, it allows for more diverse artists to come through the pipeline.

And it gives listeners the choice. If they don't like the music, they don't have to listen to it. I always try to tell people by including you're not taking away, you're simply adding. I'm not taking away something from the buffet, so to speak. I'm simply putting different things in the buffet. And If no one likes them, then we'll retire them from the buffet. We do that every day with everything we do. We choose, okay, this doesn't happen. We don't like this and things go out of business because people are not responding to it. But this notion that somehow I'm taking away from you by adding something else is just not right.

The reason I think I see it differently than many people in my position is because I grew up in Latin America. Hearing music in English was so inspirational, and you got so excited when this music played. I loved Queen, that was my favorite band of all time. Oh my God, every time a new album came out and if it wasn't available in Colombia it was like, "Oh, can somebody bring it to me from the States?" And people, whole populations that didn't speak English, learn phonetically how to sing these songs, and it's beautiful. So when the reverse happens, I'm like, why isn't this a good thing? This is a great thing. It's a cultural exchange.

When I was a kid, I was obsessed with Ricky Martin, Enrique Iglesias, Shakira and J.Lo. Looking back at the millennium, a "crossover" required them singing in English, that's what the music industry thought. Now in this new generation—J Balvin, Rosalía and Bad Bunny—they all sing primarily in Spanish. Do you feel like that's important and significant, that now artists can be who they are and speak their native language and be popular?

I think it's huge. I have to tell you, I didn't think it was going to happen, just because language is really important. I always thought that. And you have these one-off [hits] with a song in Spanish or in German—remember "99 Red Balloons?" After, people always say, "Oh, language doesn't matter." I didn't believe that, I always thought it did matter, a lot. So when J Balvin in an interview five years ago told me, "We're going to end up with a No. 1 in Spanish on your Hot 100 chart." I honestly did not see that, I have to admit. I've been very surprised at this turning of the tide.

And I think in part it's because of streaming, because now everyone that is Spanish speaking can stream the music, and they can contribute to that volume that you couldn't see before. And also much to my surprise, I think people are just more open to it. But I think it all builds on itself, it's a snowball rolling downhill. I think people are more open because they're streaming, and because they're streaming, they can hear music in other languages and they start to get used to it.

Also, I say this a lot and I don't think I said it in the book and I wish I had; Zumba was very key. You have people all over the world in all these different countries, in Russia, in India, dancing Zumba with music primarily in Spanish. So I think people got used to the language. I've had people tell me, "Oh, maybe the next wave is going to be from India," and I always say it could be. Never say never. I think with Spanish, we're very lucky because it's spoken in so many countries. I don't see any other language like that besides English.

I feel like in 2017 when "Despacito" happened, a lot of the conversation felt reductive or removed from this larger context of Latin music. The timeline, which you very elegantly lay out in your book, is all these other pieces that led to "Despacito" and this current moment we're in. Why do you think the U.S. mainstream media and the pop music machine so often sidelines Latin artists and Spanish language music?

It's so frustrating to me and I think language was a big factor. I think the fact that it was in Spanish and that you couldn't understand what they were saying was a big, big barrier. That's my personal opinion. It's the fear of the unknown. I don't think that it was deliberately, "Let's not include them," but it's, "Oh, that's music in another language. That's for Latins, it's in Spanish, they speak Spanish, we don't have to worry about it."

I think, too, the fact that you didn't have Latin representation in those rooms has a lot to do with it. It took me a lot of time to settle into this one. I watched the documentary about Ruth Bader Ginsburg the other day. She was at Harvard [Law School] and walks in, and she looks around and there are three women. I turned to my husband and I said, "That's how I felt through the years!" I'll be in a newsroom and I'm the only one. And it's great because you're the only one and so you get some leeway and on the other hand, it's not great because you have to constantly explain why this is important.

The thing that I think is very different now, is that before you had to explain why this is important and you had nothing to substantiate it. It was just "Trust me." "Trust me, this is important. Trust me, I saw their tour and they're playing 20 sold out arena dates in the United States." You saw them on the Latin charts, but you didn't see them in the big charts, but now you do have those numbers. So that's also a factor.

When Bad Bunny was the most streamed artist for Spotify around the world in 2020, and you're a media company and you ignore that, you're an idiot. Where are you living? You can't pretend it's not happening anymore. So the numbers are key, but the streaming made the numbers possible. I hate to say that, but it did. It really did, because otherwise they had to sing in English to make those charts and those numbers, or they had to do so phenomenally well in Spanish. Even "Despacito."

When [the original version of] "Despacito" was happening, I remember that every week we would watch it climb the [Hot 100] chart. I remember it hit a point where I thought, "Oh my God, this song is going to become No. 1!" All this time I'm saying, "This song is really big, we should be writing about it. "It's No. 1 everywhere [else]." People really weren't paying that much attention [here] until Justin Bieber got on the song. And I think that was in a way, a little bit of the last barrier. Now we don't wait for a Justin Bieber to jump on a song. Maybe Taylor Swift tomorrow decides to do a song with Maluma, we're going to be all over it. But we don't need her to do that for us to pay attention.

It does feel like things are so different now, with streaming and just the internet as it is, where you can find articles about everything, and so many translations, and music from everywhere. I know YouTube is popular in Latin America, and it's finally showing on the charts. Because before, the only way you could get on the charts was through radio and album sales, correct?

Yes, and it was so difficult. There were a lot of handicaps. It was radio. It was the fact that Latin music was not sold everywhere because not every store catered to a Latin audience. It was also that Latin music was disproportionately pirated when we had CDs. It was all these things.

On the other hand, to be perfectly fair, when you compete in what we call the "mainstream" world, the competition is fierce. You're competing with everything: country, rock, hip-hop and R&B. You really need to have something special to rise to the top. While I do love about what's happening now, I don't think the music is necessarily better. There's an opportunity for some of it to rise and I think that the responsibility that we have in the Latin music industry is to continue making music that's really good.

That's the flip side of our modern era, that technically anyone can put music on SoundCloud. It has created a lot of careers, including Bad Bunny's, but there's also a lot of noise. Thinking about some of the songs in the book, even just back to "Despacito," which felt like the song of 2017, you heard it everywhere. Now it feels like songs cycle more quickly because there's so much music out there and our attention is getting even shorter.

I still have "Despacito" on my workout playlist. And I have to say, I tried to pick the songs in the book like that. I thought, okay, which songs are really emblematic of the time? Not just that they were humongous hits, but that they were songs that to this day I still listen to them, and I still marvel at them. And "Livin' La Vida Loca," you couldn't not have that song.

And I always feel that there's so many anthologies of great American hits, the great American song book, and great British rock hits, and we all know those songs and they're great songs. And why can't we have an anthology of great Latin hits? I think every song in this book can go toe-to-toe with a great American song.

What was your selection criteria? I'm sure there were so many songs that you wanted to include or thought about including, so how did you narrow it down?

Well, I wanted people who were alive so they could tell me the story, that was super important to me. And I really wanted Selena, who's clearly not alive. When I spoke about it with my editor, I said, "I'll put Selena on if I can get either her dad or her brother to speak. Otherwise, I can't do it." Celia Cruz is not in the book. I would have loved to include her, but the story wouldn't work because the people that brought it alive aren't there. That was a criteria, and that's why I finally settled on 1970 as a starting point.

The process was a group effort. I would send emails and say, "What do you think of this song?" We wanted songs that really had cut through, all those big "crossover songs," they were in the running. "Livin' La Vida Loca" was very key. "Feliz Navidad" was so very key. "Macarena," even though it could even be a silly song, but it connected to such a degree that it had to be there. I wanted to include these big, epic, global hits to draw the reader in. I wanted to have the players, I wanted songs that I felt had made a difference, culturally, that somehow had moved the needle forward for the music and for the culture.

It doesn't mean that every song that should be here is here because there were some songs that I should have brought in but I couldn't because I ran out of time, I ran out of space. Or I couldn't find the right people at the right time so I had to say, I'm letting it go, and I hope we do a part two, and then I can bring them all back here.

Más: GRAMMY Rewind: Shakira Wins Her First GRAMMY For Best Latin Pop Album In 2001

How long did it take to compile and write it? 

It took a while. But once I got into it, I would say about a year. And it was a lot of doing the interviews. Then it was [editing] those interviews because I didn't want the book to repeat itself. I didn't want Shakira saying something and then Tim Mitchell and Tommy Mottola or Emilio [Estefan] saying the same thing, so it was important that each narrator brought something different to the table. That's also why I don't have more than one producer, or more than one arranger, I wanted the different points of view in the chapter as much as possible.

And if you notice too, some of the later chapters have more players. And this has to do with people dying. Los Tigres Del Norte were around, but the composer and the producer [of their 1974 breakout song "Contrabando y Traición"] weren't around, they had died.

Read More: José Feliciano On 50 Years Of "Feliz Navidad," New Album 'Behind This Guitar' & Hitting The Big Screen

Why did you start with "Feliz Navidad?"

I thought it was such a great beginning because it was a bilingual song. I just think it's amazing how [José Feliciano] had the presence of mind in 1970 [to do that], being as young as he was then, at a time when no one [in the U.S. pop market] was doing anything in Spanish. First of all, his arranger, Rick Jarrard was the one who said, "Let's do something in Spanish." And José kind of did it as a joke, but then he did have the presence of mind to say, "Rick, if we're going to do it in Spanish, let me put a couple lines in English so that they don't have an excuse not to play it."

I think maybe I started to make the list in December and "Feliz Navidad" was playing. To me, it was the first big crossover song in my mind that was bilingual. I just thought everything about it was kind of perfect. It was bilingual and it was all those years ago, José Feliciano is still active. And then it just so happened that the song had its [50th] anniversary, which I wasn't planning; the book got delayed because of the election and the pandemic. I just thought it was the perfect bookend to begin with that song.

And I was going to end with J Balvin's "Mi Gente" in 2017. After I turned it all in, Rosalía kind of exploded and I felt I needed more women to end the book. And everybody started asking me, "Why don't you include a Rosalía song?" And I said, "Okay, that's a great idea." And I think "Malamente" was been absolutely groundbreaking. I didn't have time to interview the video producers, which I would've loved to do, but [that final chapter] was done very quickly.

What's one of the biggest things you learned from your research for the book?

Well, I learned A: I don't know everything.

But I'm saying that with the utmost respect because a lot of the songs and the people in this book, I have interviewed a lot. Some I hadn't, but most of them, I had interviewed at least once, but there are some artists here that I've interviewed quite a bit. And I would say the only song that I really knew the story to was "Despacito." It did inspire the book. When the book proposal came, I had just done an oral history of "Despacito" for Billboard. So that format and that song were in my head.

For each chapter, I learned the real story behind each song, and each is beautiful. So overall, what I learned that I didn't know before, A: that every song had so many influences from so many places, even the most apparently regional song fed off many different things. And that surprised me. It surprised me to speak with somebody like Juan Luis Guerra, who I know loves The Beatles because he says this a lot, but it surprised me to have him kind of explain in detail how the Beatles guitar influenced "Burbujas de Amor."

I had no idea, for example, the guy who discovered Los Tigres del Norte was a Brit. [He's] telling me this story and I'm thinking, "How did I not know this?" I googled it and found they spoke about it 35 years ago. I never heard that story before. That really surprised me. I loved that.

Related: How Gloria Estefan Crossed Latin Music Boundaries On Her Second Spanish-Language Album, 'Abriendo Puertas'

I'm sure all the conversations are just so illuminating.

They were, and you know what else I really loved? When you sit down to interview artists on a normal day-to-day, it's because they're doing something, promoting something. But in this case I said, "I just want to talk how you make this one song. I want to know everything about the song." Once they sat down and realized what the interview was, they were, "Oh, let me tell you this. And did you know this?"

I think that it also made me realize how much artists love their art. I mean, it sounds like a stupid thing to say, but they're very proud of what they do. Well, I think anybody who'd had a song like this would be really proud as well. It's something to be incredibly proud of. I felt very happy to give those bragging rights, so to speak.

And in the current digital media cycle, it's onto the next song. Anniversary pieces for bigger albums or bigger songs are popular, but there's so much music that probably means a lot to an artist that they never get to talk about again, you know? So it's always cool to have deep dives.

I want to think that they loved telling the stories. I hope they did. And also, you realize how important this is to them. I think as writers, as music journalists, we're moving fast, too. So it's easy to sometimes forget that you're covering intimate manifestations of self, if you will. And they do mean a lot to the people that make them, whether we like them or not. If you have a song in this book, these are meaningful songs. These are songs that had a lot of reach. So to understand that they were made thinking they were important makes it all the more meaningful. That's important because it also kind of gives value to what we do.

If you could go back and give your younger self, when you were like starting out in the industry, any piece of advice, what would it be?

Oh my God, I have so many pieces of advice. I would tell myself first and foremost, you have to always thank people that help you. And you have to thank people that give you an opportunity because they don't have to. Being thankful is very important.

I would tell myself you have to be more diplomatic with everyone that you work with. I think this is something you learn with time. This is a small industry, you're going to run into everybody again at some point. You have to remember to be diplomatic, kind and thankful.

And if you're going to have side projects, you have to have a lawyer read your contracts. And even though I was always very measured in it, I tell people you have to be careful with your social media. I have a lot of opinions I keep to myself because they can be misrepresented, misheard, mis-whatever. And while I always tell people that, listen, it's your social media. You feel completely sure of what you're saying if you don't care what anyone is going to say in return, dalé. But if you are even remotely concerned what people are going to say, then you have to think how you're going to say things before you post them.

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When Shakira’s "Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53" was released in January of 2023; its success seemed like a freak incident, explainable as a perfect but isolated storm. 

Their virulently catchy track — which happens to spill scalding tea on her breakup with retired Spanish soccer player Gerard Piqué —  set streaming records and took home a Latin GRAMMY for Song Of The Year. Today, the song's success looks more like the first crashing wave of a massive comeback for Shakira. 

The three-time GRAMMY winner followed her Bzrp Session with another hit single, "TQG," collaborating with Karol G. That song went to No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200, and the duo cleaned up at the Latin GRAMMYs. 

In hindsight, all of this was a mere preamble to the announcement of Shakira's Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran (Women Don't Cry Anymore), due March 22. The album will be her first in seven years, but the sound is very much of the moment, leaning into a high-gloss urban Latin pop sound that delves in reggaeton, bachata and corrido. 

The album is no comeback. With a star as big as Shakira — one who performed at the Super Bowl in 2020 and had her own exhibit at the GRAMMY Museum — it's hard to make the case that she ever left the public eye. Yet the Colombian superstar has put out only a trickle of singles since 2017, when she released her GRAMMY-winning album El Dorado. Prior to the BZRP session, her last major hits were in 2016 with "La Bicicleta," a collaboration with Carlos Vives, and "Chantaje," featuring Maluma, which went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs. 

It’s impossible to talk about this period of retreat, or her new album, without talking about the personal upheavals Shakira has gone through in recent years. In June of 2022, Shakira and Gerard Piqué, with whom she has two sons, publicly announced the end of their 11 year relationship. Starting with 2022’s "Monotonía," featuring Ozuna, nearly every song she has released  since then deals directly with the split and the emotional turmoil she has felt because of it. 

The singer and songwriter herself is not shying away from the fact that her music has been a therapeutic outlet. "I feel like in this moment of my life, which is probably one of the most difficult, darkest hours of my life, music has brought light," she told Elle in 2022. 

Case in point: her Bizarrap session. "Someone should have taken my photo the day I worked on the 'Bizarrap Session 53,' a before and after. Because I went into the studio one way and left in a completely different way," Shakira told Mexican television channel Televisa. "He gave me this space, this opportunity to let it out and it really was a huge release, necessary for my own healing, for my own recovery process."

That feeling of catharsis continued in her work on Las Mujeres. "Making this body of work has been an alchemical process. While writing each song I was rebuilding myself. While singing them, my tears transformed into diamonds, and my vulnerability into strength," the artist said in a statement on Instagram.

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Shakira is styling the album as a testament to resilience in the face of adversity, tapping into an understanding that her experiences have a broad resonance. While accepting Billboard’s 2023 Woman Of The Year award, Shakira discussed her "year of seismic change."

"I've felt more than ever — and very personally — what it is to be a woman," she said. "It's been a year where I've realized we women are stronger than we think, braver than we believed, more independent than we were taught to be." 

Indeed, with strength and bravery, Shakira proceeded to channel her individual hurt into a message of universal empowerment. Ahead of her album release, she’s even more explicit about the details of her separation and the impact the relationship had on her career. "For a long time I put my career on hold, to be next to Gerard, so he could play football. There was a lot of sacrifice for love," recently told The Sunday Times.

As she told Billboard for her 2023 cover story, settling down in Barcelona with Piqué and their two children, far from music industry centers, made it difficult for her to work. "It was complicated logistically to get a collaborator there. I had to wait for agendas to coincide or for someone to deign to come," she explained. 

Shakira has since relocated to Miami, a location that played a major role in making her new album possible.

One of the hallmarks of a true pop star is the ability to evolve with the culture without losing their identity. Over decades, and with each release, Shakira has broken a barrier or risen above an obstacle to succeed beyond expectations – whether it’s leading the first Spanish-language broadcast on MTV with her 2000 "Unplugged" concert, or learning English to write her own crossover pop debut. Each move has felt authentic.

It is not an easy task, but Shakira accomplishes this alchemy beautifully every few album cycles, starting with her debut as an alt-leaning, brunette singer/songwriter in the mid '90s. At the turn of the millennium, she made the jump to international fame with a cascade of golden curls and Laundry Service, the English-language album that capitalized on the first wave of crossover Latin pop. She closed out the decade in a whirl of high-gloss dance pop with the Pharell produced She Wolf. Along the way, there was one platinum selling album after another and the No. 1 hit "Hips Don’t Lie," among several Top 10 singles, setting the stage for her to blaze through much of the 2010s. 

Shakira is well-aware of how hard she has had to work even after crossover success. 

In 2019, she told Billboard, "This whole new world had opened up to me, and with it came so many great opportunities, but I continued to pursue impossible goals such as making a song like 'Hips Don’t Lie,' for example—that had a Colombian cumbia and a mention of Barranquilla in the middle of it—play on American radio. I remember I said to [then Sony Music Chairman] Donny Ienner, ‘You have to trust me on this one. This is going to happen, this song is going to blow up.’" 

With El Dorado, she caught the second wave of Latin pop crossover, the one tipped off by Luis Fonsi’s now-infamous 2017 earworm "Despacito." El Dorado, is one of Shakira’s more Latin leaning albums in the long history of her bicultural and bilingual music career. The songs are sung largely in Spanish and her choice of features on the album are almost entirely Latin pop and reggaeton artists: Maluma, Nicky Jam, Prince Royce and Carlos Vives. The album's May 2017 release coincided with a rising global interest in reggaeton.

Shakira wasn’t following a trend; she was just in touch with the moment as usual. She released "Chantaje" months before "Despacito," and "Bicicleta," her song with Carlos Vives, which combines elements of reggaeton and vallenato, came out in 2016. 

With the continued mainstream global success of Latin artists, Shakira may no longer see a need to release an English-language album for every album in her mother tongue. Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran breaks with tradition in that it is her second Spanish-language album in a row. It's also loaded with features from the world of Latin music, including Ozuna, Rauw Alejandro, Manuel Turizo, and Karol G. The moment could not be better for an album that explores forward looking pop reggaeton, assisted by some of the brightest young stars in the genre.

If the past is any indicator, this era is going to be another step up for the artist. Beyond the album release, Shakira is teasing another tour. As she told Billboard, "I think this will be the tour of my life. I’m very excited. Just think, I had my foot on the brakes. Now I’m pressing on the accelerator­ — hard."

Every Year Is The Year Of Shakira: 10 Songs That Prove She's Always Been A Superstar

Over the course of nearly four decades, Shakira — born Shakira Isabel Mebarak in Barranquilla, Colombia — has become the best-selling Latin female artist of all-time, and in turn one of the most influential female artists of her time.

In honor of Women's History Month, revisit a few of the massive moments in her career that paved the way for the international market of other Latin artists.

She famously invited Latin flow to the Western music industry with her global breakthrough album, 2001's Laundry Service. Five years later, she broke the record for the most-played pop song in a week with "Hips Don't Lie."

Since the beginning, Shakira has used her powerful performances to uplift other women. Her lyrics often emphasize themes of self-reliance, independence, and female strength, most notably in her 2009 hit, "She Wolf."

More than three decades into her career, Shakira is still empowering women with more history-making feats. In 2020, she co-headlined the Super Bowl LIV halftime show alongside Jennifer Lopez, celebrating Latin culture in front of more than 100 million viewers; it's now the most-watched halftime show on YouTube, with more than 308 million views as of press time.

Now, at 47, Shakira continues to use her voice to encourage women to shape their own path, as a mother of two balancing her colossal career. Her forthcoming twelfth studio album — Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, which translates to "Women No Longer Cry" — is a testament to that.

In celebration of Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran's March 22 arrival and Women's History Month, press play on the video above to learn more about Shakira's achievements. Check back to GRAMMY.com for more new episodes of Run The World.

Listen: GRAMMY.com's Women's History Month 2024 Playlist: Female Empowerment Anthems From Beyoncé, Ariana Grande, Jennie & More

March is Women’s History Month, and women in music are more powerful than ever. 

The month begins with the comeback of several queens, starting with Kim Gordon’s The Collective and Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine. Later, country darling Kacey Musgraves will unveil Deeper Well, and Shakira will drop the empowering Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran. Long-awaited debuts by GRAMMY-winning singer Tyla and singer/bassist Blu DeTiger will also join the lineup, with their respective Tyla and All I Ever Want Is Everything. Wrapping up March on a high note, Beyoncé will drop her highly-anticipated Act II on the 29th.

Men will release music in March as well: Expect new releases by Justin Timberlake, Bleachers, the last record from pop-punk band Sum 41, and (allegedly) Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign’s Vultures 2.

To make the most of this prolific time, GRAMMY.com compiled all the must-hear albums dropping March 2024.

Schoolboy Q - Blue Lips

Release date: March 1

On Feb. 1, Schoolboy Q’s website was updated with a mysterious countdown and a 37-second video. In it, the rapper finally unveiled the setlist and title of his much-awaited sixth studio album, Blue Lips, as well as its release date — March 1.

Blue Lips is Q’s first full record since 2019’s Crash Talk, although he had been teasing the album since 2020. Hopefully, it was worth the wait: Blue Lips holds 18 tracks and participations by Rico Nasty, Freddie Gibbs, and more. Q has also started a new vlog series on social media called "wHy not?," where he takes the viewers behind the scenes of making the album and previews snippets of the songs.

So far, the rapper shared tracks "Blueslides," "Back n Love" with Devin Malik, "Cooties" and "Love Birds" with Devin Malik and Lance Skiiwalker, as well as lead single "Yeern 101."

Bleachers - Bleachers

Release date: March 8

Fronted by 10-time GRAMMY winner and 2024 Producer Of The Year Jack Antonoff, rock band Bleachers will release its eponymous fourth studio album on March 8.

In a press release, Bleachers is described as Antonoff’s "distinctly New Jersey take on the bizarre sensory contradictions of modern life." The self-titled record will blend sadness and joy into "music for driving on the highway to, for crying to and for dancing to at weddings."

The band shared four singles so far: lead track "Modern Girl," "Alma Mater" featuring Lana del Rey, "Tiny Moves" and "Me Before You." Through serendipitous melodies and soulful writing, Bleachers commit to "exist in crazy times but remember what counts." 

Bleachers will tour the U.K. in March and the U.S. in May and June.

Kim Gordon - The Collective

Release date: March 8

Former Sonic Youth vocalist Kim Gordon will release her sophomore LP, The Collective, on March 8. The album is a follow-up to her 2019 debut No Home Record, and furthers her collaboration with producer Justin Raisen, as well as additional producing from Anthony Paul Lopez.

"On this record, I wanted to express the absolute craziness I feel around me right now," said Gordon in a press statement. "This is a moment when nobody really knows what truth is, when facts don’t necessarily sway people, when everyone has their own side, creating a general sense of paranoia. To soothe, to dream, escape with drugs, TV shows, shopping, the internet, everything is easy, smooth, convenient, branded. It made me want to disrupt, to follow something unknown, maybe even to fail."

Back in January, the singer unveiled the album’s moody first single, "Bye Bye," and a music video starring her daughter, Coco Gordon Moore. The second single, "I’m A Man," came out in February. Gordon will play six concerts in support of The Collective, starting March 21 in Burlington, Vermont.

Ariana Grande - Eternal Sunshine

Release date: March 8

It’s been almost four years since Ariana Grande’s last studio album, 2020’s Positions. The starlet spent the past few years filming Wicked, an adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name, and declared that she wouldn’t be releasing any new records until it was done.

The wait is finally over, as Grande announced her seventh studio album, Eternal Sunshine. The album’s first and only single, "Yes, And?," dropped in January, followed by an Instagram video of the soprano singer explaining the concept of the album to her Republic Records team. 

"It’s kind of a concept album ’cause it’s all different heightened pieces of the same story, of the same experience," she said. "Some of [the songs] are really vulnerable, some of them are like playing the part of what people kind of expect me to be sometimes and having fun with it."

"I think this one may be your favorite," Grande wrote of Eternal Sunshine on her Instagram Story. "It is mine." The 13-song collection will reportedly explore house and R&B, and will have only one feature: Grande’s grandmother, who appears on the last track, "Ordinary Things."

Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign -Vultures 2

Release date: March 8

After a series of delays, Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign’s first collaborative album, Vultures 1, ultimately dropped on Feb. 10, 2024. Set to be the first installment of a trilogy, the album was released independently through West’s YZY label, and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, with all of its 16 tracks also charting on Billboard’s Hot 100.

Billed as ¥$, the duo plans to release Vultures 2 on March 8, and follow up with Vultures 3 on April 5. Although any other info about the upcoming volumes is still unclear, Timbaland recently shared on X (formerly Twitter) that Vultures 2 is "OTW." (Timbaland produced Vultures 1’s "Keys to My Life" and "Fuk Sumn" with Playboi Carti and Travis Scott.)

In the past month, West and $ign held a few listening parties for the album in the U.S. and Europe, but additional schedules are yet to be revealed.

The Jesus and Mary Chain - Glasgow Eyes

Release date: March 8

To celebrate their 40th anniversary, alt-rock band the Jesus and Mary Chain will release their eighth studio album, Glasgow Eyes, on March 8.

As it can be seen on lead single "Jamcod," the Scottish group still runs strong on the distorted synths and electrifying guitars that shaped their sound. "People should expect a Jesus and Mary Chain record, and that’s certainly what Glasgow Eyes is," vocalist Jim Reid said in a statement. "Our creative approach is remarkably the same as it was in 1984, just hit the studio and see what happens. We went in with a bunch of songs and let it take its course. There are no rules, you just do whatever it takes."

Glasgow Eyes also mends a six-year gap since the Jesus and Mary Chain’s latest album, 2017’s Damage and Joy. To further commemorate, the band will also release an autobiography and embark on a European tour throughout March and April.

Justin Timberlake - Everything I Thought It Was

Release date: March 15

Justin Timberlake is back with his first studio album since 2018’s Man of the Woods. The new record, Everything I Thought It Was,  is spearheaded by singles "Selfish" and "Drown."

"I worked for a long time on this album, and I ended up with 100 songs. So, narrowing them down to 18 was a thing," said Timberlake in an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1. "I’m really excited about this album. I think every artist probably says this, but it is my best work." The Memphis singer also shared that there are "incredibly honest" moments in the album, but also "a lot of f—ng fun."

To celebrate his return, Timberlake announced his Forget Tomorrow World Tour. Set to kick off on April 29 in Vancouver, the tour will cross through North America and Europe until its final date on Dec. 16 in Indianapolis.

Kacey Musgraves - Deeper Well

Release date: March 15

Fresh off winning Best Country Duo/Group Performance at the 2024 GRAMMYs for the Zach Bryan duet "I Remember Everything," Kacey Musgraves announced her fifth studio album, Deeper Well..

"My Saturn has returned/ When I turned 27/ Everything started to change," she sings in the contemplative title track, exploring how she changed over the last few years. The single sets the tone for the rest of the record, which was co-produced by longtime collaborators Ian Fitchuk and Daniel Tashian. 

Featuring 14 tracks, Deeper Well was mostly recorded at the legendary Electric Lady studios in New York City. "I was seeking some different environmental energy, and Electric Lady has the best mojo. Great ghosts," the country star noted in a press release.

On social media, Musgraves wrote: "it’s a collection of songs I hold very dear to my heart. I hope it makes a home in all of your hearts, too." Deeper Well follows 2021’s star-crossed. 

Tierra Whack - World Wide Whack

Release date: March 15

When rapper Tierra Whack released her first album, 2018’s Whack World, she quickly garnered the admiration of both critics and fans. Comprising 15 one-minute tracks and music videos for each, the release was a refreshing introduction to a groundbreaking artist.

In 2024, the Philadelphia-born star is preparing to release World Wide Whack, labeled her official debut album in a press release. The cover artwork, created by Alex Da Corte, was inspired by theater character Pierrot, fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli and Donna Summer, and represents "the first reveal of the World Wide Whack character, an alter ego both untouchable and vulnerable, superhuman and painfully human, whose surprising story will unfold in images and video over the course of the album’s visual rollout."

The album follows Whack’s 2021 EP trilogy — Rap?, Pop? and R&B? — and is foreshadowed by the poignant "27 Club" and the eccentric "Shower Song."

Tyla - Tyla

Release date: March 22

After a glowing 2023 with viral hit "Water," South African newcomer Tyla started 2024 with a blast. Last month, she became the first person to win a GRAMMY for Best African Music Performance, and the youngest-ever African singer to win a GRAMMY Award at 22 years old.

Next month is poised to be even better: Tyla’s eponymous debut LP drops on March 22, featuring "Water" and other hits like  "Truth or Dare," "Butterflies" and "On and On," as well as a guest appearance by labelmate Travis Scott.

"African music is going global and I’m so blessed to be one of the artists pushing the culture," Tyla shared on Instagram. Her unique blend of amapiano, pop and R&B is making waves around the world, and the star will rightfully celebrate by touring Europe and North America throughout this spring.

Shakira - Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran

Release date: March 22

The title of Shakira’s new album, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, is a nod to her 2023 hit "Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53" with Argentine DJ Bizarrap. In the lyrics, she states that "las mujeres ya no lloran, las mujeres facturan" — "women don’t cry anymore, they make money."

The single is a diss to Shakira’s ex-partner, footballer Gerard Piqué, and, like the rest of the record, served as a healing experience after their separation. "Making this body of work has been an alchemical process," the Colombian star said in a statement. "While writing each song I was rebuilding myself. While singing them, my tears transformed into diamonds, and my vulnerability into strength."

Las Mujeres will feature 16 songs, including her Bizarrap collaboration and singles "Te Felicito" with Rauw Alejandro, "Copa Vacía" with Manuel Turizo, "Acróstico," "Monotonía" with Ozuna, "El Jefe" with Mexican band Fuerza Regida, and "TQG" with fellow Colombian Karol G.

Sheryl Crow - Evolution

Release date: March 29

Back in 2018, Sheryl Crow said that the LP Threads would be her last — fortunately, she changed her mind. "I said I’d never make another record, though there was no point to it," the singer shared in a statement about her upcoming album, Evolution. "This music comes from my soul. And I hope whoever hears this record can feel that."

According to the same statement, "Evolution is Sheryl Crow at her most authentically human self," and its music and lyrics "came from sitting in the quiet and writing from a deep soul place." 

The entire album was written in a month, starting with the title track, which expresses Crow’s anxieties about artificial intelligence and the future of humans. From then on, Crow and producer Mike Elizondo found bliss. "The songs just kept flowing out of me, four songs turned into nine and it was pretty obvious this was an album," she said.

In addition to the album's title track, Crow also shared singles "Do It Again" and "Alarm Clock."

Sum 41 - Heaven :x: Hell

Release date: March 29

After nearly three decades together, punk-metal mavericks Sum 41 are parting ways. Their final release will be a double album. Heaven :x: Hell, set to drop on March 29.

Heaven is composed of 10 pop-punk tracks reminiscent of the band’s early years, while Hell is 10 tracks of pure heavy metal, reflecting the direction they took more recently. "Once I heard the music, I was confident enough to say, ‘This is the record I’d like to go out on,'" frontman Deryck Whibley said in a statement. "We’ve made a double album of pop punk and metal, and it makes sense. It took a long time for us to pave this lane for ourselves, but we did, and it’s unique to us."

The band shared singles "Landmines," "Rise Up" and "Waiting on a Twist of Fate," and proved that they’re leaving on top of their game. "I love Sum 41, what we’ve achieved, endured, and stuck together through, which is why I want to call it quits," Whibley added. "It’s the right time to walk away from it. I’m putting all of my energy into what’s ahead."

But before embarking on new ventures, Sum 41 will spend the rest of the year touring throughout Asia, North America, and Europe.

Blu DeTiger - All I Ever Want Is Everything

Release date: March 29

At only 26 years old, Blu DeTiger has already toured with Caroline Polachek, played bass for Jack Antonoff’s band Bleachers, partnered with Fender, and appeared on the 2023 Forbes 30 Under 30’s music list.

Now, she prepares to release her debut studio album, All I Ever Want Is Everything. "This album is about growing and becoming, settling into yourself and learning to love where you’re at through it all. It’s about learning how to be your own best friend," the bassist and singer wrote on Instagram.

"Dangerous Game," the lead single off the album, showcases DeTiger’s effervescent energy and potential for pop stardom. Starting April, she will also headline a U.S. tour across Boston, Washington D.C., New York, Toronto, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego.

Beyoncé - Act II

Release date: March 29

What better event to announce a new album than the most-watched TV program ever? That’s what Beyoncé did during Super Bowl LVIII, on Feb. 11. At the end of a Verizon commercial, the singer declared "Okay, they ready. Drop the new music," while simultaneously releasing Act II’s lead singles, "16 Carriages" and "Texas Hold 'Em," on social media and streaming platforms.

Coming out March 29, Act II is the second part of Beyoncé’s ongoing trilogy, which was written and recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic. The album is preceded by 2022’s acclaimed Act I: Renaissance, but instead of house and disco, the singer will reportedly take a deep dive into country music.

This isn’t Queen Bey’s first foray into the genre — in 2016, she released Lemonade’s "Daddy Lessons," and her 2021 IVY PARK Rodeo collection was inspired by "the overlooked history of the American Black cowboy," as she told Harper’s Bazaar. It was just a question of time for Beyoncé to enter her country era, and it is finally upon us.

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Puerto Rican rapper Residente wants to embark on new adventures.  

The artist born René Pérez Joglar has dreams of directing movies and acting, writing books, and making for pleasure — not to pay the bills. These goals reflect a new attitude, one resulting from time spent reflecting on the passage of time and the presence of death.

Residente's sophomore album, Las Letras Ya No Importan (Lyrics No Longer Matter), echoes this transitory period. An extensive body of work, featuring 23 tracks, with several songs surpassing the five-minute mark. Las Letras is an act of deeply intimate rebellion.

"It’s a very personal album, and I sought to connect with myself in many moments throughout," Residente tells GRAMMY.com. 

While Las Letras explores topics already a hallmark of his music — the music industry, political systems, Puerto Rico — it's also exceedingly vulnerable. The 28-time Latin GRAMMY and four-time GRAMMY winner opens up about depression and personal relationships, and confronts mortality.

Lead single "313" is inspired by Residente's late friend Valentina, whose voice appears in the first interlude. As Residente recounted to El País of Spain and GQ Spain, Valentina was a violist, and the last messages they exchanged on WhatsApp were at 3:13.

The song begins with a French verse, fulfilling Valentina’s wish, expressed in the first interlude, to do something in that language. "Les paroles n'ont pas d'importance," (words no longer matter), a female voice whispers, followed by a spectacular string arrangement.

Residente revisited older works during this period of creative transition, and the record features previously released tracks  "René," "This Is America," and "Quiero Ser Baladista."

 Las Letras Ya No Importan features many collaborations, with actress Penélope Cruz, Spanish singer Silvia Pérez Cruz, Rauw Alejandro, Ricky Martin, Christian Nodal, Arcángel, Jessie Reyez and others making appearances. Hip-hop icon Busta Rhymes is featured on "Cerebro," while Big Daddy Kane makes an appearance on "Estilo Libre" with Vico C.

GRAMMY.com spoke with Residente via Zoom about the process that led him to his second album, the symbolism behind "313" and the artistic connection to Spain.  

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What inspired you to create Las Letras Ya No Importan?

It’s an album that marks a musical transition for what’s coming for me. It feels diverse; it also has songs with which I may not feel as connected [to] now because several years have passed since I made them. There are newer songs with which I do connect, which have a bit more to do with the way I want to start working on my music in the future.

"René" is part of this album, even though it came out four years ago. This is an album I was going to release during the pandemic. 

We have "René," which is very personal; we have "313," which I also feel is personal; then "Ron en el piso," [a song about the passage] of time, the collaboration with Nodal ("Pólvora de Ayer") also touches on the theme of time, of enjoying everything.

You confront death in several songs. In "René," you sang about losing a friend; in "Ron en el piso," you see your funeral; and in "313," you draw inspiration from your late friend Valentina. What is it about death that inspires you?

It’s something I’ve been going through in recent years. I lost many people I love, and it made me much more reflective when it comes to understanding time, the things I want to do, and the things I’ve stopped doing.

That’s why I’m also transitioning to cinema. I’ve always wanted to make films, directing, being behind the scenes, not being on stage.  I’m crazy about dedicating myself entirely to that.

I discovered acting now in a movie I starred in [In the Summers] that won the Jury Award at Sundance. When I saw it, I didn’t know I was the protagonist until I watched it. [The film] encouraged me to follow that too, and I’m going to want to act, direct; I want to dedicate myself to that for a while fully.

The album has a lot of life, and even though the lyrics no longer matter, you still have much to tell. You already said the album is very personal, but how would you describe it?

I can describe it in two years, not right now. It’s transitional. That’s what happened with Calle 13; everything was a musical and lyrical change from the second album onwards.

Residente represented a fusion of world music and rap. Now, in this one, I’m using a lot of strings, cellos, and double bass. I’m going to experiment a lot with different instruments in different ways. I’m going to be creative without the need to balance the album.

What’s coming next doesn’t have that artistic pressure. The only artistic pressure I want to have is to do the highest I can, which happens organically, not feeling pressured but naturally.

I want to do art as I did in college [at Savannah College of Art and Design]. I was never thinking about people or trying to convince anyone, and I was completely free, and that’s what happened with "313." I had the freedom I always wanted to have.

There’s substantial symbolism in "313," from the faceless dancers, the color pink. What was your vision with the visuals?

The dancers represent time. Penélope [Cruz] can represent many things, from life to Valentina, my friend, who inspired me to make the song. Penélope controls me, holds me, flies me, brings me back, and then I decide to control my life and time. That’s why I raise my hands, and everyone raises them, and time is running out, and then you see a sunset.

Sunset marks the end of something. The colors of the costumes also have some dusk elements. You can see at the end when I’m disappearing; it fades and blends with the end of the sunset.

These are decisions I make that are both aesthetic and technical. I put masks on the dancers because I liked it aesthetically. It also helped me speed up the process with makeup. I had to find creative ways to maintain the video’s aesthetics and make everything more agile because in filming, everything is time, and I had little of it.

What’s the idea behind the song "Las Letras Ya No Importan?"The arrangement is magical, with a numerical sequence from one to eight in different languages and a voice spelling of the alphabet.

That was the initial track. Before "313," I had this idea that I dreamed of with some basic notes, and it turned into something big.

There’s a voiceover of Penélope [Cruz] that says that we were eight [people in the studio], we are on an 8th street in New York, in studio B, which, if you look at it, it resembles the number 8. Everything connected with eight and [that number] also at a time level can mark infinity. So, I connected all that with the immensity of letters and languages. That piece’s runtime is five minutes. I think it’s pleasurable. I like that music, which resembles what I want to do.

Leo Genovese, an excellent musician and musical genius, made the arrangements. I greatly respect him.

In "Cerebro," you showcase your skill and vocal speed; what was it like collaborating with Busta Rhymes, whose own flow is iconic?

We met, and he loved the concept of what I was working on. He was a very humble, good person to me. After we met in person and talked for a while, he went to write after I sent him everything I had written in English.

I created ["Cerebro"] a while ago…. That’s why I tell you that the album has several concepts that I had to let go of because it was too much, and a lot of time had passed. I had a previous concept when I released the song "René" [in 2020], which is why it’s on the album. [At that time] I was working with the brain waves of different animals and people, and I made music with those brain waves.

This song ["Cerebro"] is part of that, and that’s why it’s called "Cerebro." The album was originally going to go that route. Then I didn’t do it; maybe I’ll connect to it in the future because I loved that idea.

What has Spain meant to you? The country has been so prominent in the trailers you’ve released and in the collaborations in your latest songs.

I've been making frequent trips to Madrid. This past year, I was there a lot; I was more in Madrid than at home. I traveled, wrote, and filmed videos like "Problema cabrón" and "313."

 I grew up with Spanish cinema by Almodovar and a bunch of directors I admire, and I wanted to collaborate with the actors I grew up watching in movies.

This album has many personal elements, and cinema is very intimate for me. I saw [Penelope Cruz] in [the movie] Abre los ojos when I was a kid; working with her now is a dream. The same goes with Javier Cámara and Najwa (Nimri) [who is in the film] Lovers of the Arctic Circle by Julio Medem. I saw all these people, and now being able to collaborate with them, be friends with them, talk to them is a dream. Everything is very connected to my life.

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