meta-scriptBlack Sounds Beautiful: How Ozuna Leverages His Status As A Reggaeton Superstar To Open Doors For Other Latin Artists | GRAMMY.com
Black Sounds Beautiful: How Ozuna Leverages His Status As A Reggaeton Superstar To Open Doors For Other Latin Artists
Ozuna

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Black Sounds Beautiful: How Ozuna Leverages His Status As A Reggaeton Superstar To Open Doors For Other Latin Artists

A global superstar and two-time Latin GRAMMY winner, Ozuna’s historic rise to superstardom is helping to bring Spanish language music and Latin culture to the center of the U.S. musical mainstream.

GRAMMYs/Sep 26, 2022 - 08:49 pm

Before artists like Bad Bunny and J Balvin rose into the spotlight, Puerto Rican singer and rapper Ozuna — born Juan Ozuna Rosado Delano — was making mainstream waves with his signature brand of Reggaeton and trap music.

Coming of age in the mid-2010s as part of a rejuvenated interest in Reggaeton, Ozuna topped the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart with his 2017 debut, Odisea — a project that also cracked the Top 30 on the US Billboard 200.

Its track listing featured contributions from J Balvin, Annuel AA, Zion & Lennox and more, and collaboration would quickly emerge as a hallmark of Ozuna's artistry, and a major part of furthering both his own career and the new wave of Latin-based music in general.

Many of Ozuna's biggest hits have been group efforts, such as "Taki Taki," a late 2018 release that featured the singer alongside Cardi B, DJ Snake and Selena Gomez. That song enjoyed success both on the charts and in the streaming world, rapidly reaching 20 million YouTube view and becoming the most-streamed song on Spotify.

Another all-star collab, "China," also hit the top of the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart the following year, and helped earn Ozuna four Guinness World Record titles, naming him as the artist with the most YouTube videos notching over a billion views, as well as honoring his status as the most-nominated and most-awarded artist at the Billboard Latin Music Awards in 2019.

Speaking to ET Online in 2019, Ozuna pointed to his mainstream collaborations as the reason for his breakthrough into global superstardom.

"After ['Taki Taki'], North Americans went wild, and starting paying attention to Latinos more," he explained. "Before, it was all surface-level. It was like, 'Let's see what these Latinos have going on,' cautiously. Now all the North Americans want to record with Latinos."

Ozuna's global success has never been solely about himself: He sees his career as a chance to advance other artists who share his background to the forefront. "Elevating Latinos is my responsibility," he states, and he works hard to promote younger artists careers in the same way he got his own breakthrough: through collaboration.

"There's so much new young talent," he explains. "Lunay, Rauw Alejandro and Lyanno are some of the artists who I gave a break to the same way Farruko and Arcangel gave me my big break on 'Si No Te Quiere.'"

Press play on the video above to take a look back at Ozuna's career, and keep checking GRAMMY.com for more episodes of Black Sounds Beautiful.

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Shakira's Road To 'Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran': How Overcoming A Breakup Opened A  New Chapter In Her Artistry
Shakira attends the Fendi Couture Fall/Winter 2023/2024 show in Paris.

Photo: Pietro S. D'Aprano/Getty Images for Fendi

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Shakira's Road To 'Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran': How Overcoming A Breakup Opened A New Chapter In Her Artistry

Shakira's first album in seven years is out March 22, and very much of the moment with glossy Latin pop, reggaeton, bachata and corrido. The GRAMMY winner's path to this new chapter was long, filled with professional changes and heartbreak.

GRAMMYs/Mar 22, 2024 - 01:08 pm

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.

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

New Music Friday: Listen To New Songs From Andre 3000, Drake, Ozuna & More
Bibi and Becky G

Photo: Amy Lee

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New Music Friday: Listen To New Songs From Andre 3000, Drake, Ozuna & More

From long-awaited debut albums to surprising singles, listen to these six new releases from Nov. 17.

GRAMMYs/Nov 17, 2023 - 06:54 pm

With Thanksgiving around the corner, this New Music Friday offers us a feast of new sounds from some of the music industry’s biggest artists.

Country star Maren Morris teamed up with Teddy Swims for a passionate duet version of his song "Some Things I'll Never Know," while Steve Aoki & ERNEST paired up for an energetic dance/country crossver, "Us," from Aoki’s HiROQUEST 2: Double Helix.

American band Bleachers unleash their wild side with "Alma Matter," from their upcoming self-titled album dropping March 8, 2024. Meanwhile, alternative rock band Bad Suns released their catchy, six-track EP Infinite Joy. Across the pond, long-time British rockers Madness released their 13th album, Theatre Of the Absurd Presents C’Est La Vie.

With sultry sounds from R&B songstress Ari Lennox to mellow, indie rhythms from Dermot Kennedy to upbeat, radiant vibes from the duo Surfaces, this Friday brings a kaleidoscope of sounds from across every genre. 

Along with the slew of releases mentioned above, press play on releases from the likes of André 3000, Drake, Ozuna, Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz, Danny Brown, and Bibi and Becky G — and be sure to add some new sounds to your rotation.

André 3000 - New Blue Sun

If you’ve seen Andre 3000’s impromptu flute performances in the past few years, then the GRAMMY winner's new sound won’t come as a shock. On his eight-track debut solo album New Blue Sun, the Outkast member experiments with wind instruments and percussion, creating serene and melodic compositions.

Across eight elaborately titled tracks  — "I swear, I Really Wanted To Make A "Rap" Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time" and "That Night In Hawaii When I Turned Into A Panther And Started Making These Low Registered Purring Tones That I Couldn’t Control… Shyt Was Wild," — Andre details his artistic journey and the possibility of returning to rap music. Because, as Andre has told numerous outlets, New Blue Sun is not a rap album.

"I get beats all the time. I try to write all the time. People think, Oh, man, he’s just sitting on raps, or he’s just holding these raps hostage. I ain’t got no raps like that," he told GQ. 

In the future, fans might see 3000 return to the rap universe but in the meantime, let’s enjoy the ambience of the blue sun. 

Drake - For All The Dogs Scary Hours Edition

It’s not Scorpio season without a release from the scorpion king himself, Drake. In the latest installment of his Scary Hours series, Drake brought in a heavy-hitter lineup of producers including Lil Yatchy and Alchemist.

With songs surrounding themes of betrayal and broken trust (an the less-than-subtle chant "F— My Ex" more than 10 times in one song), For All The Dogs Scary Hours Edition shows how deep the Certified Lover Boy is in his feelings.

Drake brings out his Swiftie side in the track, "Red Button," shouting out Taylor Swift with lyrics "Taylor Swift the only n—- that I ever rated/ Only one could make me drop the album just a little later/ Rest of y’all, I treat you like you never made it." Seems that the big-ups and grudges heard on October's For All The Dogs translate to Scary Hours, too.

His song "Evil Ways" features J. Cole, increasing anticipation for their joint tour, which was announced on Nov. 13.

Ozuna - Cosmo

After receiving a nod for Best Reggaeton Performance and performing with David Guetta at the 2023 Latin GRAMMYs, Puerto Rican Singer Ozuna dropped his sixth album, Cosmo. Filled with soon-to-be dance floor staples, Cosmo highlights Ozuna's versatility.

Songs like "El Pin" and "La Chulita" are full of infectious dance and Afrobeats influences, yet stay true to his reggaeton roots. The 15-track record also includes collaborations with Jhayco, Chenco Corleone, Anuel and David Guetta.

"When you think of a colorful image, you think of youth. When people listen to this album, I want them to take it seriously," Ozuna said in an interview with the Fader. "People want to hear what’s real, what’s clear-cut, in black and white.”

The goal, he continued, is to allow "people to know who the real Ozuna is."

2 Chainz, Lil Wayne - Welcome 2 Collegrove

Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz have joined forces once again to release their second joint album, Welcome 2 Collegrove. The album’s title is a melding of 2 Chainz's hometown of College Park, Georgia, with Lil Wayne’s Hollygrove, Louisiana.

Welcome 2 Collegrove includes features from a cross-section of hip-hop and R&B greats, including Usher, 21 Savage, Rick Ross, Benny The Butcher and Fabolous. Tracks like "Presha" and "Long Story Short" bring back the duo’s classic rap sound from their 2016 project COLLEGROVE, and show their ability to create hip-hop anthems. The special guest artists add even more depth to their songs. 

Danny Brown - Quaranta

After a four year break, Detroit rapper Danny Brown is back with his seventh album, Quaranta. A departure from his earlier, more club-centric music, the 11-track album offers a new perspective in Brown’s life.

Quaranta is a turning point in Brown's musical journey, where he reflects on themes of regret, self-destructive behavior, and growth. While songs like "Ain’t My Concern" and "Celibate" still include his signature flair of fast, high-pitched verses, this album takes on a more mature and introspective route. 

Bibi feat. Becky G - "Amigos"

On "Amigos," South Korean singer Bibi teamed up with Latin star Becky G for a multicultural but ever-relatable track that focuses on being hung up on past lovers despite having someone new in their life. "I know we had a good time and that you always want more / But if my boyfriend calls, we’re just friends, nothing more," they sing in Spanish.

"Amigos" is rife with hip-hop influences — a genre Bibi loves. 

"Expressing oneself through lyrics is so real and genuine," BIBI told AllKPop. "As I’m someone who wasn’t necessarily gifted with natural musical talent — I didn’t even know the difference between boom bap or trap beats until way later. I think the other factors of music organically followed as I grew as an artist."

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Watch: Ozuna & David Guetta Unveil Their New Collab "Vocation" At The 2023 Latin GRAMMYs
David Guetta (L) and Ozuna (R) perform at the 2023 Latin GRAMMYs.

Photo: CRISTINA QUICLER/AFP via Getty Images

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Watch: Ozuna & David Guetta Unveil Their New Collab "Vocation" At The 2023 Latin GRAMMYs

Just before Puerto Rican star Ozuna released his new dance team-up with French DJ David Guetta, the pair lit up the 2023 Latin GRAMMYs stage for an inaugural performance of their collaboration.

GRAMMYs/Nov 16, 2023 - 10:02 pm

The 2023 Latin GRAMMYs were a big night for Ozuna. Not only did the Puerto Rican superstar walk in a nominee — his viral hit with Colombian singer Feid, "Hey Mor," received a nod for Best Reggaeton Performance — but he was also just hours away from releasing his sixth album, Cosmo. And to top it all off, he took the stage to perform his new collab with French DJ David Guetta. 

Ozuna first opened his performance with a sexy solo rendition of "Hey Mor." Reflecting the darker edge of his Cosmo album, he sang the song in all black leather with a team of female dancers. 

The performance turned colorful when Guetta joined Ozuna from behind his DJ deck for "Vocation," premiering the new track for the first time before its arrival on Nov. 17. Through a thermal vision lens, Ozuna brought the party alongside his latest collaborator as sparks literally flew around them. 

Ozuna is no stranger to exploring the EDM genre. In 2018, he scored the global hit "Taki Taki" with DJ Snake, Selena Gomez, and Cardi B. Earlier this year, Australian trio PNAU enlisted Ozuna and Bebe Rexha for their dance track "Stars." "Vocation" marked the first time that the two global acts collaborated, and the performance served as Guetta's Latin GRAMMY Awards debut. 

The Latin Urbano star is also no stranger to the Latin GRAMMYs. A 15-time nominee, Ozuna has won two Latin GRAMMYs to date, thanks to "Yo x Ti, Tú x Mí," his collaboration with Spanish pop star Rosalía that won Best Urban Fusion/Performance and Best Urban Song in 2020. 

2023 Latin GRAMMYs: See The Complete Nominations List

2023 Latin GRAMMYs Performers: Peso Pluma and Eslabón Armado, Juanes, Ozuna, Camilo, Iza And More Artists Added
2023 Latin GRAMMYs performers (L-R, top row to bottom row): BORJA, Peso Pluma, Paola Guanche, GALE, León Leiden, Juanes, Iza, Manuel Carrasco, Natascha Falcão, Ozuna, Edgar Barrera, Eslabón Armado, Pablo Alborán, and Joaquina

Photos Courtesy of Artists

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2023 Latin GRAMMYs Performers: Peso Pluma and Eslabón Armado, Juanes, Ozuna, Camilo, Iza And More Artists Added

Additional newly announced performers for the 2023 Latin GRAMMYs include Pablo Alborán, Edgar Barrera, Manuel Carrasco, BORJA, Natascha Falcão, GALE, Paola Guanche, Joaquina, and León Leiden.

GRAMMYs/Oct 24, 2023 - 12:07 pm

The Latin Recording Academy has announced additional performers for the 2023 Latin GRAMMYs. Current nominees Pablo Alborán, Edgar Barrera, Camilo, Manuel Carrasco, Iza, Juanes, and Ozuna along with Best New Artist nominees BORJA, Natascha Falcão, GALE, Paola Guanche, Joaquina, and León Leiden are confirmed to take the Latin GRAMMY stage. Additionally, Eslabón Armado and Peso Pluma will join forces to perform "Ella Baila Sola" for the first time together on television.

These artists join previously announced 2023 Latin GRAMMYs performers Maria Becerra, Bizarrap, Feid, Kany García, Carin León, Christian Nodal, Rauw Alejandro, and Alejandro Sanz, who are all current nominees, as well as the 2023 Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year, Laura Pausini 

Latin GRAMMY winner and GRAMMY nominee Sebastián Yatra; Latin GRAMMY nominees and actresses Roselyn Sánchez and Danna Paola; and internationally acclaimed actress Paz Vega will host the 2023 Latin GRAMMYs, officially known as the 24th Latin GRAMMY Awards.

Read More: 2023 Latin GRAMMYs: See The Complete Nominations List

Pablo Alborán has five nominations including Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album. Edgar Barrera is nominated in 13 categories including Producer of the Year and Songwriter of the Year. Camilo is nominated in seven categories this year, including Album of the Year and Song of the Year. Manuel Carrasco is nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, while Iza is nominated for Best Portuguese Language Urban Performance. Juanes is nominated in four categories including Album of the Year and Best Rock Song. 

Read More: Latin GRAMMYs 2023: Meet The Nominees For Best New Artist

Taking place internationally for the first time ever, the 2023 Latin GRAMMYs will be broadcast from the Conference and Exhibition Centre (FIBES) in Sevilla (Seville) in Andalucía (Andalusia), Spain, on Thursday, Nov. 16. The show will air at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT) on Univision, UniMás and Galavisión in the U.S., and at 10:30 p.m. CET on Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) in Spain. Additional international broadcasting partners and local airings will be available soon. 

The 2023 Latin GRAMMYs will see the debut of several new Latin GRAMMY categories and a new Field, including Best Songwriter Of The Year, as part of the newly created Songwriting Field, Best Singer-Songwriter Song and Best Portuguese-Language Urban Performance. These new additions and amendments will make the 2023 Latin GRAMMYs an exciting, history-making night in Latin music. 

More details about the Latin GRAMMY Premiere, where the majority of the Latin GRAMMY categories will be awarded, will be announced soon.

2023 Latin GRAMMYs Nominations: Carlos Vives, Iza, Kenia Os, Gaby Amarantos & More React To The Big Announcement