5 Uplifting Moments in Latin Music This Week (April 30)

Billboard Staff
·4 min read
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From career milestones and new music releases to major announcements and more, Billboard editors highlight the latest news buzz in Latin music every week. Here’s what happened in the Latin music world this week.

Yahritza Y Su Esencia in L.A.

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Yahritza and her brothers, Armando and Jairo, traveled from Yakima, Wash., to Los Angeles for their first-ever live performance. The emerging sierreño trio, Yahritza Y Su Esencia, took the stage at Venice’s iconic Winston House — which marked the first time a regional Mexican artist performed at that venue — on Friday (April 29). During the performance, they performed tracks off their recently-released EP, Obsessed, including “Esta Noche,” “Enamorado” and, of course, their chart-topping hit “Soy El Unico.” “Who here is heartbroken?” the 15-year-old frontwoman asked during their intimate set with 100-plus people (a mix of fans and industry leaders) in attendance. At the end of their almost 30-minute show, the siblings thanked their zealous fans — one of them yelled out that she had skipped work to go see them — for listening to their music.

Earlier this month, the band made Billboard history after their debut single “Soy El Unico (released March 25 via Lumbre Music) debuted at No. 1 on Hot Latin Songs, and hit No. 20 on the Hot 100 chart, making the rising artist ​​the youngest Latin performer to enter the all-genre tally.

Gloria & Emilio Estefan Honored

During the 72nd annual BMI/NAB Dinner held this week in Las Vegas, power couple Gloria and Emilio Estefan was honored with the BMI Board of Directors Award for their “incomparable body of work and groundbreaking influence in introducing Latin music to a global audience,” according to a statement.

BMI presented the accolade to the Estefans in celebration of their musical legacy and impactful career, which has spanned more than five decades. During the award presentation, both Gloria and Emilio were described as “true visionaries” and were thanked for “paving the way for countless artists to follow.”

Together they’ve won a total of 26 Grammys, the Songwriters Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, among others.

Karol G Announces New Tour

The Colombian star announced she’ll be hitting the road once again with a new summer and fall tour. Coined the $trip Love tour, the singer launches the AEG Presents-produced trek at Chicago’s Allstate Arena on Sept. 6. She’ll make pit stops in New York, Toronto, Miami, Los Angeles, Houston, Las Vegas, and more before wrapping on Oct. 29 at Vancouver’s Rogers Arena. Tickets for the 2022 tour are now on sale through KarolGMusic.com.

TikTok’s New Latinx-Focused Program

TikTok has announced the launch of a new program dubbed #Rompiendo, which is meant to “highlight the success and impact” of Latinx music and artists on the app. According to the social media company, the program includes promotion, playlisting, inclusion on TikTok radio and a feature on @MusicOnTikTok socials.

The first #Rompiendo artist to be featured in the new program is Brazilian star Anitta, whose “Envolver” has been used in more than two million videos after the song and its dance challenge went viral on TikTok. A new #Rompiendo artist will be announced every two weeks.

Latin Grammys 2022 Person of the Year Is…

Marco Antonio Solis has been named the Latin Recording Academy’s 2022 Person of the Year. The Mexican singer-songwriter, arranger, producer, musician, artistic director, and five-time Latin Grammy winner “will be honored for his more than four-decade career as a multifaceted performer and one of Mexico’s most successful artists of all time,” according to an official statement.

“I am very moved and grateful to The Latin Recording Academy for this special distinction that means so much to me professionally and personally,” Solis added. “I would like to share this sentiment with everyone who has inspired me, and with those who I may have inspired as well to be able to occupy this place that the public has made me deserving of through this blessing called music. Thank you to everyone who has been witnesses to my journey, from my beginnings to the present day, and who are in some way also part of this important achievement.”

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