Why Aren’t There Any Latine Performers at the 2024 Grammy Awards?
The 2024 Grammy Awards are in two days (Feb. 4) and, strangely, no Latine artist has been announced to perform yet. Among this year’s Latine nominees are Karol G, Rauw Alejandro, Peso Pluma, Tainy, and Ice Spice — none of which are slated to perform on the main telecast.
When the nominations were announced last November, there was a surprising lack of Latine nominees in the “Big Four” categories. Those general categories include Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best New Artist. Dominican-American rapper Ice Spice was the only Latine artist to appear in any of the “Big Four” thanks to her Best New Artist nomination. As of press time, she hasn’t been announced as a performer. Even though Latine music continued to break records in 2023, among the snubs in those categories were Shakira and Bizarrap’s “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 5” and Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma’s “Ella Baila Sola.”
The only other Latine person to appear in a general category at the 2024 Grammy Awards is Mexican-American hit-maker Edgar Barrera, who is nominated for Songwriter of the Year. The other Latine nominees were relegated to the Latine categories. Despite making history with her album Mañana Será Bonito, Karol G was only nominated for Best Música Urbana Album. Her competition in the category includes Tainy’s Data and Rauw Alejandro’s Saturno. Peso Pluma was snubbed in the Best New Artist category. His LP Génesis was only nominated for Best Música Mexicana Album. Maluma is also nominated for Best Latin Pop Album. Even with their nominations, none of them have been announced to perform on the main telecast.
The only performances by Latine artists taking place are during the premiere ceremony. Guatemalan singer Gaby Moreno and Sheila E., who is of Mexican descent, will perform live during the pre-show event. With the way Latine music has become global pop music, there deserves to be at least one Latine performer on the main telecast. Last year, Bad Bunny opened the show with one of the best performances of the night. Hopefully, we can have another moment like that this year.