Those who follow underground Spanish music have known the name Nathy Peluso for a while, but in 2020 the Argentine-Spanish artist came to the attention of a broader audience. That year,  the rapper and singer released her official debut album Calambre, which won a Latin GRAMMY for Best Alternative Album and received a GRAMMY nomination for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album in 2021. 

Four years later, Peluso is back with Grasa [Grease]. Out May 24, the 16 track follow-up is simultaneously bolder, more vulnerable and more revealing than its predecessor, crystalizing the artist's iconoclastic and often cinema-inspired vision.

At Legacy Records, a hotspot for haute Mediterranean fare in Manhattan's Hudson Yards neighborhood, Nathy is draped in an oversized blazer and pants. She looks like a relaxed, elegant CEO and the style becomes her, especially as she balances it with ultra-feminine touches. Today, its long nails tipped in fire-engine red.

Her fashion choices are as pointed as her manicure, on and off stage. In the recent video for "Aprender a Amar," she raps ferociously into a mirror, sharply dressed in a pin-stripe tie, a jacket with exaggerated shoulders, and delicate black lace gloves. These sartorial choices ask, Why settle for a mob-wife aesthetic when you can be a don yourself?

Both visually and aurally, Nathy Peluso is part cinematic diva and part underworld kingpin, with a fair amount of Missy Elliott swagger. Her tough, independent persona was on full display on her now-multimillion streamed 2020 Bizarrap session, which smoldered and crackled with her bombast. It was fully formed on "Business Woman," from Calambre, and returned with a roar on her 2021 single "Mafiosa," a high drama salsa track.  

Her powerful energy is pure hip-hop in steel-toe Timbs, but she performs with the generous spirit of a burgeoning pop star ministering to a big house of fans. On Grasa, Nathy Peluso brings humanity to her braggadocio. This doesn’t stop her from picking up the mafia saga where she left off on Calambre. The opening track is titled "Corleone." 

Ahead of the release of her first album in four years, Nathy Peluso spoke with GRAMMY.com about overcoming creative burnout, taking inspiration from mob movies, and the true meaning of "grasa."

This album is more personal than your previous releases. What led you to open up more lyrically?

I think it just happened because I am growing. I am learning and I need to tell my truth. The way for me to do that is music. It’s been four years, but, when the moment came, I was ready.

Speaking of four years ago, 2020 was a very big year for you. A lot happened. What are your most vivid memories from that time?

Calambre was the moment. It was really special for me. Winning the GRAMMY was the moment, and then touring with that album was an amazing learning experience for me. I grew up on the stage. 

I grew up as a woman, as an artist, as a performer, maybe as a lover too. You are traveling around the world with so much pressure. Physically, it was a difficult show. I was alone on stage, with my musicians, but no dancers. It was a challenge. 

I grew up in so many ways, but when I finished that tour I was broken. My soul was broken. I was empty. I started looking for myself. It was very tough. 

It sounds like you were experiencing creative burnout.

Yes, my brain was broken, but it was necessary in order to start again. I did an album then, but I decided not to go with that album and to start again. So, it was a very long path. 

You wrote a whole album and then discarded it? What wasn’t working about it?

It was working, but it wasn’t the feelings I wanted to share and the music I wanted to share. Sometimes there are projects whose purpose is just to learn from. It was a process of learning for me. That was a very special moment. 

You start feeling like a failure, but no. It was necessary to go through that to get to Grasa. The things I learned were exactly the things I needed to know to then make this music. 

So, how did you overcome this period of burnout and get to the point where you were feeling creative again?

A lot of therapy. A lot of working on my s— and confronting it.

Is there one song on Grasa that is more intense to perform, or more emotional for you than the others?

"Envidia" is talking real s—. Things happen around you and you need to know who you are and what your intention is. You have to be focused on what you want to bring to the world and not care about anything besides your craft. People are going to talk. Things are going to be crazy. You’ve got to know your choice, your path.

Can you tell me about the song "Corleone"? How do gangster movies inspire you?

I have a song called "Mafiosa." It’s a character I love to perform and I see myself in that character. It’s relatable. The mafia have codes that represent me — not everything [laughs] — but, you know, the family, the legacy, working hard, respect. That kind of feeling in music, in cinema, is what I was looking for. I love the aesthetic. I love Tarantino. I love Tony Montana, the character. On stage, I feel like him sometimes. 

I love for a woman to be that type of character. I think it’s interesting. Usually, those kinds of feelings in music or cinema are represented by men. It’s always that way in salsa. If you look at Celia or Gloria, they were always more romantic. Maybe La Lupe was dangerous. For me, it’s important to bring that energy to the music, like, rude, strong, dangerous. Be careful, bitch!

What were some of your specific musical influences while working on this album?

Always folklore and roots, salsa and bolero, but then I was paying attention to Kendrick Lamar and Kanye West. They are a big inspiration for me. 

How do you bridge the gap, or find the connections among your different influences?

I don’t even know. I just do music, really. I go to the studio and I start singing. I just feel it.  I go to the studio, and suddenly I want to sing, and I want to cry. And then another day, I feel powerful and I want drama and aggressive stuff. It’s very honest. The starting point is always the way I feel.

Is it important to you to make music that empowers other women?

Yes. For sure. But it wasn’t ever a strategy, like, "I want to do music for empowering women." I just did my music without direction. Then I discovered people were feeling the power and using it. I feel inspired by that, but it wasn’t the point. 

What does the word "grasa" mean to you?

I chose that word because it’s the strongest word. It’s dirty. It’s funky. But it’s a word that, at least in Spanish, has a lot of meanings. So, I want people to choose the meaning. After listening to the album, you can choose the meaning and maybe redefine it with the album.

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Electronic music is embedded within the diverse world of Latin music and, for the first time, will be recognized in a new Field and Category at the 2024 Latin GRAMMYs. Within that field, the award for Best Latin Electronic Music Performance was created to shine a light on DJs, producers, and artists blending proudly blending electronic music with the sounds of their cultures.

Electronic music embodies various subgenres like house music, techno, trance, electronica, and many others rooted that have been popularized by DJs and producers. Latin artists have long enriched those subgenres: Mexico's Belanova globalized the electro-pop wave, while Bomba Estéreo blended cumbia with electronica in Colombia. 

The explosion of EDM in the 2010s also allowed the careers of Latinx DJs to flourish. Mexican American DJ Deorro has showcased both cultures during sets at music festivals like EDC, Coachella, Tomorrowland, and more. Arca's music pushes the boundaries of electronic music through a Venezuelan and Latin American lens. More recently, Colombian producer Víctor Cárdenas bridged the gap between EDM and reggaeton with the global hit "Pepas" by Farruko. Since then, electronic music has seeped through the work of Latin hit-makers like Tainy, Caleb Calloway, Bizarrap and Diego Raposo. "Pepas" and many of Bizarrap's music sessions crossed over onto Billboard's Hot Dance/Electronic Songs.

"That’s something that’s very big for us," Deorro tells GRAMMY.com about the new category. "How beautiful that this is happening, because it shows that what we’re doing is working, we’re breaking down doors, and we’re creating more opportunities for artists like us in the future." 

In honor of the Latin Recording Academy's new Field and Category, here are eight must-hear Latin electronic music essentials.

Belanova - Cocktail (2003)

Belanova revolutionized the Latin music space with their 2003 debut album Cocktail, an atmospheric LP that seamlessly blends Latin pop with electronic music. In the dreamy deep house of "Tu Ojos," singer Denisse Guerrero sang about getting lost in her lover's eyes. The trippy techno of "Barco De Papel" was reminiscent of the music from Madonna's Ray of Light album. Electronic music on the ambient level wasn’t common in Latin music until Belenova changed the game in Mexico, which later reverberated into the rest of Latin America and the U.S. 

The trio — which includes guitarist Ricardo Arreol and keyboardist Edgar Huerta — later delved into electro-pop on 2007's Fantasía Pop, which won a Latin GRAMMY for Best Pop Album by a Group or Duo the following year. 

Arca - Kick I-II (2020)

Venezuelan producer/artist Arca is a pioneer in the Latin electronic music space. Arca first began producing her experimental electronica in Spanish with her 2017 self-titled album.

Arca then masterfully mixed the diverse sounds of Latin America and beyond with EDM throughout her Kick album series. 

For Kick I, she combined Venezuelan gaita music and reggaeton with a cyberpunk edge in "KLK" featuring Spanish pop star Rosalía. Arca then blended electronica with neo-perreo on Kick II's "Prada" and "Rakata." Both albums garnered Arca GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY nominations. 

As a trans and non-binary artist, she is also breaking boundaries for the LGBTQ+ community in the genre. Arca is just not creating more space for queer artists in Latin music, but also in EDM at large by embracing the totality of herself in song.  

Bomba Estéreo - Deja (2021)

Bomba Estéreo, which is comprised of core members Simón Mejía and Liliana "Li" Saumet, has masterfully melded the music of Colombia’s Caribbean coast with electronic music. Since breaking out in 2008 with their sophomore album, the group has often reimagined the African and Indigenous rhythms of their country like cumbia through dance music. Bomba Estéreo’s folkloric approach to EDM has led to collaborations with Bad Bunny, Tainy, and Sofi Tukker.    

In 2021, Bomba Estéreo released its most ambitious album Deja, which garnered a GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY nominations. The title track put a funky spin on the band's signature electro-tropical sound. House music collided with the Afro-Colombian rhythms of champeta in "Conexión Total" featuring Nigerian singer Yemi Alade. Their album that was based on the four classical elements was a breath of fresh air in the Latin music scene. 

Bizarrap - "BZRP Music Sessions #52" (2022)

Argentine producer Bizarrap launched the BZRP Music Sessions on YouTube in 2018, first remaining behind the console for freestyle rapping sessions with local acts. The sessions quickly went viral, and have featured increasingly larger names in music.

Over the past five years, Bizarrap worked elements of electronic music into his hip-hop productions. In 2022, he fully delved into EDM with his global hit "BZRP Music Sessions #52" featuring Spanish singer Quevedo. The traptronica banger peaked at No. 4 on Billboard's Hot Dance/Electronic Songs and earned Bizarrap his first Latin GRAMMY Award. 

Since then, his music sessions have become a global event. Bizarrap later infused electro-pop with a trap breakdown in "BZRP Music Sessions #53" with Shakira, which garnered him two more Latin GRAMMY awards. 

Javiera Mena - Nocturna (2022)

Javiera Mena first debuted as an indie act in 2006 with Esquemas Juveniles. With that freedom as a producer and artist, the Chilean star pushed Latin music into the electronic space with her 2010 album Mena. 

She fully immersed herself into Latin electronica on her latest album, 2022's Nocturna — an album filled with nighttime club bangers that invite everyone to dance with her. Mena also proudly sings about being part of the LGBTQ+ community in the alluring "La Isla de Lesbos" and the fierce house music of "Diva" featuring Chico Blanco. Considering the influence of queer artists in the formation of electronic genres like house, it’s refreshing to see an artist like Mena remind people of those roots and bring that into Latin music.  

Deorro - Orro (2022)

Mexican American producer Deorro has established himself as one of the world's top DJs, and is known for mixing both of his cultures into his music festival sets. Even before the música mexicana explosion last year, he was one of the first mainstream EDM acts to bring the genre to music festivals around the world through his songs and remixes.   

With his debut album, 2022's Orro, Deorro fully bridged música mexicana with house music. He collaborated with Latin acts like Mexico's Los Tucanes De Tijuana and Maffio in "Yo Las Pongo," which blended the band's norteño sound with EDM. Deorro also explored cumbia with deep house in the sweeping "Dime" featuring Los Ángeles Azules and Lauri Garcia. In his recent sets, he is spinning a fiery remix of "Ella Baila Sola" by Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma

Sinego - Alterego (2023)

Sinego first broke through in 2019 thanks to his house bolero sound like in "Verte Triste," which put a refreshing spin on an age-old Cuban genre. With traditional genres within the Latin diaspora often falling to the wayside as the years go on, he is reintroducing them to new audiences through EDM reimaginings.   

For his debut album, 2023's Alterego, the Colombian producer pushed his electronic music to another level. Sinego traveled to different Latin American countries and Spain to record with local musicians, reimagining genres like cumbia, tango, and mambo through Sinego's EDM lens. With the sultry "Mala," he blended Venezuela's variation of calypso with house music. He also gave Brazilian samba a house music makeover in "Boa Noite" featuring Tonina. 

Diego Raposo - Yo No Era Así Pero De Ahora En Adelante Sí (2023)

Dominican producer Diego Raposo has helped Latin acts like Danny Ocean, Blue Rojo, and Letón Pé embrace elements of electronic music. In 2018, Raposo released his debut album Caribe Express, which demonstrated his knack for mixing the sounds of the Caribbean with EDM. 

Raposo took that inventive mix into overdrive with last year's Yo No Era Así Pero De Ahora En Adelante Sí. The otherworldly "Si Supieras" featuring Okeiflou blended house music with reggaeton, while "Al Contrario" with Akrilla aggressively mixes drum 'n 'bass with dembow. Rapaso also channels Dance Dance Revolution-esque electronica in the spellbinding "Quédate" with Kablito. 

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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."

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It is safe to assume that as a teenager growing up in Guadalajara, Peso Pluma harbored dreams of stardom. But the 24-year-old singer/songwriter could never have anticipated that 2023 would find him leading a historic música Mexicana boom, with millions of fans singing along to his songs all around the world.

It was the infectious "Ella Baila Sola" — a stirring, strangely addictive and quintessentially Mexican collaboration with the group Eslabón Armado — that changed everything. Peso was quick to react, branching into other sounds like the almighty reggaetón, and establishing himself as a quirky, likable, and astoundingly prolific Latin pop icon.

It all happened at a dizzying speed — but in the process, he showed an unusual gift for recording duets with artists from disparate genres. Peso’s breakthrough third album, GÉNESIS, is nominated in the Best Música Mexicana Album Category at the 2024 GRAMMYs and contains a bevy of featured collaborators. 

Ahead of Music's Biggest Night on Feb. 4, read on for 10 of Peso Pluma's most exciting collaborations.

"Por Las Noches" with Nicki Nicole (Remix)

The first sure sign that Peso Pluma could generate extraordinary duets with female singers happened in early 2023, when Argentine urbano chanteuse Nicki Nicole reached out about recording a revised version of Pluma's 2021 single "Por Las Noches." 

Her instincts were right. Boosted by subtle elements of ranchera, and enhanced by Nicole’s soulful vocals, the remix was not only a hit, but it also stands as one of the most delicate moments in Peso’s repertoire.

"Ella Baila Sola" with Eslabón Armado

"Ella Baila Sola" is the song that launched a thousand ships. It launched Peso Pluma as a global star, and will also be remembered as the track that exposed the entire planet to authentic Mexican music in 2023. 

A collaboration with California group Eslabón Armado, "Ella Baila Sola" captures in only three minutes the genre’s joyful spirit. It is also the first música Mexicana song to reach one billion streams on Spotify. The duet was among the featured performances at the 2023 Latin GRAMMYs.

"Chanel" with Becky G

Peso Pluma was a natural choice for Esquinas, Becky G’s classy tribute to her grandparents and her Mexican roots. He sounds right at home in a tune that begins with thick tololoche accents, then finds him trading lines with Becky about a romantic relationship that has sadly deteriorated beyond the point of no return.

"Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 55"

From Quevedo and Arcángel to Residente and Snow Tha Product, Argentine producer Bizarrap collaborated with a gallery of rap icons on his viral Bzrp Sessions. Released in May of 2023, "Vol. 55" in the series marked Biza’s first foray into música Mexicana terrain, and the song was an instant hit. 

A sympathetic collaboration, it merges Peso’s sound with the kind of epic EDM flourishes that Bizarrap is celebrated for. The singer gets extra points for his euphoric energy on the accompanying video.

"Plebada" with El Alfa

Peso Pluma goes dembow? Following the Bizarrap session, the singer gave further proof of his versatility by guesting on an unhinged slice of hardcore Dominican dembow alongside genre king El Alfa. Peso is up to the challenge, opening the procedures with a furious bit of rapping, followed by Alfa’s delirious-as-usual flow (he even quotes a line off salsa classic "Químbara.") One of the singer’s most carefree — and fun — duets.

"Tulum" with Grupo Frontera

In April of 2023, Grupo Frontera — a young band from Edinburg, Texas — contributed to the globalization of música mexicana with "Un x100to," a duet with Bad Bunny. A few months later, Frontera appeared on the deluxe version of Peso’s GÉNESIS.

A romantic tune with lyrics urging a beautiful girl to leave her good-for-nothing rich boyfriend in favor of genuine erotic bliss, "Tulum" anchors the warm vibe of its chorus on zesty accordion lines.

"Pancake" with Natanael Cano

Marked by their heavy corridos tumbados sound and glorification of crime, Peso Pluma’s collaborations with 22 year-old rapper Natanael Cano became viral. Even though Peso has branched out into a wider variety of sounds, he still contributed vocals to "Pancake," one of the best cuts in Cano’s 2023 session Nata Montana. The delicate piano line at the end adds a welcome touch of refinement.

"Qlona" with KAROL G

Peso’s gruff delivery blends beautifully with the bouncy reggaetón groove of this steamy track culled from Karol G's mixtape MAÑANA SERÁ BONITO (BICHOTA SEASON.) The exchanges of fleshy innuendo with the Colombian diva are appropriately reckless, and the production of longtime Karol collaborator Ovy on the Drums brims with elegance. Not surprisingly, "Qlona" was a huge hit.

"La Chamba" with Arcángel

By the second half of 2023, Peso Pluma had become an in-demand guest of honor on records by Latin stars outside the confines of música Mexicana. Included in the eighth album by Puerto Rican rapper Arcángel — Sentimiento, Elegancia y Más Maldad — "La Chamba" juxtaposes Arcángel’s virtuoso flow and witty wordplay with Peso’s down-to-earth singing in a track about working class ethics over a reggaetón beat. Extra points for Tainy’s futuristic production and the inclusion of Danny Trejo on the visual.

"Igual Que Un Ángel" with Kali Uchis

Culled from the Colombian American star’s fourth studio album, 2024's Orquídeas, this clubby track with deep bass lines and shimmering synth effects showcases Peso at his most cosmopolitan — and miles away from his comfort zone. Kali Uchis takes the lead with a powerhouse first verse, followed by Peso’s guest spot, silky and romantic. The blend of their voices in the chorus works particularly well.

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Hip-hop has always been a part of Argentina's musical output, simmering in the country's underground for decades while rock and pop music dominated national charts and album sales. Yet over the past 15 years, Argentine hip-hop has begun to enter the country's mainstream — and reach a global audience.

Argentinian hip-hop began gaining traction in the 2010s,  due in part to the popularity of freestyling competitions. One of the most popular competitions, El Quinto Escalón, became a YouTube show which tens of thousands of people watched live. Also vital to the scene was the rise of the much celebrated producer Bizarrap, who took home three golden gramophones at the 2023 Latin GRAMMYs, including Song Of The Year. His five-year-old YouTube series, "BZRP Music Sessions," regularly gather millions of views as well as major names such as Peso Pluma and Shakira. 

While Biza may be the brightest light in Argentine hip-hop as of late, he is one of a galaxy of artists. In fact, the past decade has seen a growing number of Argentinian hip-hop icons such as Wos, Y$Y A and Khea. Read on for five artists who  are helping create a new path for the genre. 

Duki

Duki spent years in Argentina's competitive freestyling scene, eventually rising to prominence in  2016. After participating in battles for El Quinto Escalón, Duki gained a strong following and released his first single, "No Vendo Trap."

From there, Duki's rise was quick and dizzying. He became a member of the highly influential rap trio Modo Diablo (co-founded by fellow Argentine rappers YSY A and Neo Pistea), in which he released hits like "Trap N' Export" and "Quavo" — which is still celebrated by the Argentine trap fans to this day. He also was featured on Bad Bunny's YHLQMDLG, with the Latin GRAMMY-nominated track "Hablamos Mañana." At the 2021 Latin GRAMMYs, Duki's solo track, "Goteo," was nominated for Best Rap/Hip Hop Song. 

After Modo Diablo split up, in 2019, Duki released multiple solo albums, which would become a hallmark in Latin trap — particularly 2021's Desde el fin del mundo. 

Trueno

The son of the Uruguayan rapper MC Peligro, Trueno started rapping when he was 7 and, at the age of 13, began participating in national freestyling competitions. Less than a decade later, his  "Dance Crip" was nominated for Best Rap/Hip-Hop Song at the 2023 Latin GRAMMYs.

The artist born Mateo Palacios Corazzina effuses an old school approach to hip-hop, which translates well into his music. His 2021 sophomore album, Bien O Mal, showcases Trueno's  love for and study of hip-hop, with a particular affinity for boom bap and G-Funk. 

Trueno is also a powerful political voice in Argentina, speaking out about Latin America's history of oppression and evoking names of its cultural past within his music, such as Víctor Heredia, a famous singer-songwriter from the Greater Buenos Aires area, and Atahualpa Yupanqui, an Argentinian folk musician. 

L-Gante

Hailing from General Rodríguez, in the Greater Buenos Aires area, L-Gante began his career in 2017, but his music started making waves during the pandemic. On "L-Gante RKT," a collaboration with producer Papu DJ, the rapper described the clandestine partying and entertainment that took place in Argentine barrios during the lockdown.

Less inclined to utilize international sounds, L-Gante is a part of an Argentinian movement known as RKT. A subgenre of reggaeton, RKT is influenced by the popular barrio-centric cumbia villera. 

Although L-Gante has not yet released a debut album, his singles and collaborations gather millions of plays. In 2021, the rapper appeared on BZRP Music Sessions #38 and their collaboration topped the Argentine Billboard Hot 100 chart for several weeks. As of writing, the session has 333 million views on YouTube.

The rapper is already performing at packed venues in Buenos Aires — on November 21st, he headlined a four-hour show at the famous Luna Park, which had the participation of many artists, including cumbia villera legend Pablito Lescano.

Dillom

Twenty-two-year-old rapper Dillom is leading the way for the weirdos and eccentric rappers in Argentina. The artist was raised in the central neighborhoods of Buenos Aires and learned to play bass at age 9 before learning how  to produce rap beats. Beginning with his first single, "Drippin'", in 2018, the youngster took off.

A year later, Dillom's career skyrocketed following a participation on BZRP Music Sessions. He later formed the crew Talented Broke Boys, and released their first self-titled mixtape. Dillom made his solo debut with the album Post Mortem in 2021, in which he collaborated with fellow Argentine rappers Muerejoven and L-Gante.

Post Mortem is a showcase of Dillom's true interests: a mix of horrorcore, trap, elements of reggaeton, cumbia and dance music, with funny and ironic lyrics. The rapper once said that "art should be a little offending, or it would be boring". 

Nicki Nicole

Nicki Nicole has been nominated for several Latin GRAMMYs  — including for Best New Artist in 2020 — and, at the 2023 Latin GRAMMYs, walked the red carpet with Peso Pluma.

The rapper and singer started out doing freestyle in her hometown Rosario, Argentina, when she was 18. Her debut album came in 2019, after linking with producer Gonzalo Ferreyra, but the artist really started gathering the attention of hip-hop fans with the release of the track "Colocao" in 2020.

Nicki's catchy songwriting skills have netted significant attention: in just three years she has racked up hits such as "Mamichula" with Trueno, and "DISPARA ***" with Milo J. Her 2023 album Alma was nominated for Best Urban Music Album in this year's Latin GRAMMYs, and her Nicki Nicole Abre Su Alma tour has sold out seven shows at Buenos Aires' Movistar Arena.

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