Despite their presence last year in the general categories, urban music stars are back in the minority in this week’s Latin Grammy nominations, leading to a call for a boycott of J. Balvin. However, Residente came out to defend the Latin Recording Academy Awards.
Among the nominees for the 21st edition of the Latin Grammy, urban artists including C. Tangana, Bad Bunny, Rauw Alejandro and Balvin himself were included in the general categories. But the Colombian reggaetonist with four Latin gramophones, who last year topped 13 nominations, including two for Album of the Year and two for Record of the Year, also slammed the awards.
“The Grammys don’t appreciate us, but they need us. It’s my opinion and nothing against other genres because they deserve all the respect. But the trick is really boring. “We give them the rating but they don’t give us respect,” Palvin wrote on Tuesday in a series of tweets that have been deleted from his account. I was nominated so they wouldn’t come because I was injured.”
He added regarding the November concert: “Those who have strength in this genre should not go!!”. “It’s all because we’re a movement.”
On Wednesday afternoon, René Pérez Guglar, better known as Residente, responded to his colleague at Post the video on social media.
“Telling Mike Towers, which is probably the first time he’s been nominated, not to go to the Grammys because you’re getting out of the company…” he said. “To top this year (Personality of the Year award) is dedicated to Robin Blades, that is, you tell people of the urban type to boycott the awards and not go celebrate the artistic life of Robin Blades…a man who marked the history of Latin American music, a man who, unlike you, writes and feels his songs.”
Residente, who won five Latin Awards as a solo artist and nearly two dozen as a vocalist for Puerto Rican group Cali 13, didn’t stop there. He singled out Palvin for being annoyed at not receiving as many awards as nominations.
“You have to understand Jose,” he said, “it’s as if a hot dog cart is freaking out and deflates…because you can’t earn a Michelin star.” “If you want to be nominated, you have to stop making sausages and open a restaurant, or you can also make a hot dog, the good son of AP… The point is José, if you don’t have a pencil, you have to drop 20 inches.
By Thursday afternoon, Palvin appeared to have taken Residente’s comments humorously by posting a photo next to a sausage cart on his Instagram, accompanied by an emoji of that dish and the title “Sal y perrea” from the latest remix he shared with Sech and Daddy Yankee.
The Associated Press sent a request for comment to the Academy of Latin Recording on Thursday, without receiving an immediate response.
This is not the first time that the Latin Grammy Awards caused a scandal among representatives of the urban genre. In 2019, Palvin, Daddy Yankee, and Maluma criticized the awards for ignoring reggaeton stars and snare in the general categories.
They were conspicuous by their absence that year despite dominating the popularity charts and streaming services and accumulating millions of views on YouTube.
However, the big winner of the 2019 rendition was Rosalía, who collaborated with artists like Bad Bunny, which won a mix of flamenco, pop and reggaeton for Album of the Year and Contemporary Vocal Album Awards for “El mal quer”, as well as Best Urban Song for “Con Altura”. With Balvin.
The Latin Grammy drama is like the Grammys’ old feud with hip-hop, where contemporary rap and R&B stars rarely win in the top four categories, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Song of the Year. And the best new artist.
But this year, Rauw Alejandro and C. were nominated, Maluma for “Hawaii”, Rauw Alejandro for “Todo de ti” and the rap and freedom anthem “Patria y vida” for Yotuel, Gente De Zona, Descemer Bueno, Maykel Osorbo, El Funky.
Bad Bunny and Tangana compete for Album of the Year for “The Last World Tour” and “El Madrileño” respectively. The best new category includes multiple proponents of the genre, such as Maria Becerra, Paloma Mami and Bizrap.
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