Rosalía At the Latin Grammys: Is She a Latin American Idol?

Last Thursday, November 17, the celebration of the 23rd edition of the Latin Grammy's Awards took place, which sought to celebrate and award the best of Latin music in the period from June 2021 to May 2022. During the event, artists such as Rosario, Marco Antonio Solis, Silvana Estrada, Bad Bunny and Jorge Drexler received their respective distinction. The latter was recognized as the winner of the night by taking seven golden gramophones, but he has not been the one who has commented the most after the event.

All eyes have been on the Spanish artist Rosalía, who won four of the seven awards for which she was nominated. The controversy is due to the outrage of many Internet users who believe that the singer, not being Latin American, should not have the chance to win the Latin Grammys, but how true is this?

Who can win a Latin Grammy?

Due to the name, the most intuitive thing is to think that this award is exclusively for Latin American artists. However, the conditions are not like that. This award, given by the Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, seeks to recognize the musical and recording excellence of musical productions sung in Spanish, Portuguese or recognized Ibero-American dialects.

Thus, the award has never been exclusive to Latin American artists. Singers like Julio Iglesias, Alejandro Sanz and Plácido Domingo, all Spanish, have also been awarded Latin Grammys. C. Tangana himself, who was also awarded this year thanks to his collaboration with the Uruguayan Jorge Drexler, is also Spanish.

In that order of ideas, Rosalía had every right not only to be nominated for awards, but also to be the winner of the four awards that she took with her.

Also read: Bad Bunny's Road to the Grammy Awards

Did Rosalía deserve four Latin Grammys?

Here we enter a dark area, that of musical merit. Rosalía took the Grammys for "Album of the Year", "Best Alternative Music Album", "Best Packaging Design" and "Best Recording Engineering for an Album", all for her most recent production: "Motomami".

At the time of its release, “Motomami” was surrounded by controversy and comments from both fans and music purists who saw this album as a disappointment, so different from “Los Ángeles” and “El mal querer”.

But, if this Spanish singer-songwriter has shown anything, it is that she has never stopped being faithful to herself and her music, and that no matter how faithful she is to her artistic career, she is also capable of understanding her transformation, accepting it, and doing something wonderful with it.

Far from a simple opinion based or not on subjective tastes, Rosalía deserves both the Grammy for "Best Album of the Year" and "Best Recording Engineering for an Album". “Motomami” is a project worked from beginning to end, which has a factor that puts it ahead of others: its ingenuity is novel; the album is, without a doubt, a genius that manages to transcend what at first glance seems banal. Rosalía was not only part of the writing process of the songs that make up the album, but she was also a key piece in its entire composition, hence how visceral the work can be.

In conclusion, Rosalía, beyond rocking these awards or not for being Spanish and not Latin American, deserves them for her work well accomplished.