Latin artists once needed to cross over to achieve global success...
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Many of the stars who took the stage at the Latin Grammy Awards on Thursday are not only fans of Latin pop music
but are familiar to most consumers of American pop culture. For decades, well-known Latin artists recorded their music in English and made other adjustments to fit into mainstream American music. Today, Latin pop stars like J Balvin and Bad Bunny are on the covers of magazines and appearing on late-night talk shows without changing their music -- and English-speaking audiences are turning to them. 'You go to Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel, and almost every week there's a Latin artist performing in Spanish. It's completely normal, 'said Leila Cobo, author of' Decoding 'Despacito': An Oral History of Latin Music.' 'It's just an example of how popular music has become that it's now seen as mainstream pop music, not just niche music.' As many of these artists prepare to take the stage at the Latin Grammys on Thursday, here's a look back at how Latin pop -- influenced by Reggaeton, Cambia and Bachata -- became the cultural force it is today. 'The world is coming together and getting smaller in a way,' Fonsi told Rolling Stone in 2019. 'Now people are not afraid to change their normal listening habits and listen to something different. It's like, 'Hey, maybe I don't understand every word they're saying, but this song makes me feel it, it moves me, I connect to it. 'Being able to sing in two languages, working with people from all over the world, blending different styles and cultures? I think that's what music is all about.' Despite their huge success outside Latin America, artists such as J Balvin and Bad Bunny recorded very few songs in English and said they did not feel the need to do anything else. 'Why do I have to change? Bad Bunny said recently on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. 'No one [tells] a foreign artist that you have to change. This is me. This is my music. This is my culture. If you don't like it, don't listen to me. If you like it, you know it.' However, some critics argue that progress still needs to be made. Earlier this year, Suzy Exposito of the Los Angeles Times pointed out that the 2021 Grammy Nominations largely excluded Latin artists from the top categories, only allowing them to enter the Latin category. But there are some changes. The Recording Academy announced in April that it would add a fifth category to Latin music, meaning the 2022 ceremony will have more Latin music categories than pop, rock, rap or country. People like Cobb are more hopeful. 'Today's environment is more fluid and doesn't need to cross boundaries,' she said. Some Latin singers switch seamlessly between collaborations with other Latin singers and American pop artists, bilingual songs and songs in pure Spanish. Others chose to record mainly in Spanish because they felt it was real -- knowing that despite their decision, or perhaps because of it, they had legions of fans behind them.
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