I'm Watching The Grammy's For The First Time Tonight Because of Bad Bunny
The Grammy's are tonight and I'm going to watch for the first time because Bad Bunny's Un Verano Sin Ti, is the first Spanish-language album to ever receive a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year.
On why this is such a big deal Izzie Ramirez for Vox writes: "The feat in and of itself is huge — acknowledging the sheer growth and dominance of Latin music in the American mainstream in the last decade." (But you should read the whole thing if you still don't get the Bad Bunny hype). Last summer when Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, released its 2022 mid-year music report, one of its key findings was that Latino music growth has outpaced country music.
This is such an incredible cultural moment to witness as a Spanish/English speaker. I grew up seeing some of the biggest Spanish-speaking stars forced to crossover in English, and begin again, in order to make it to the top (reinforcing that old adage of needing to be "twice as great," as a person of color, to succeed). This does away with all that and I am here for it. Bad Bunny absolutely lived up to his YHLQMDLG and it's inspiring to watch other people who look like you, who come from places like you, refuse to conform to the status quo.
This is exactly why I was so impacted by Shakira's new song—specifically her Instagram caption (in Spanish!) reacting to the news that the song had broken all kinds of streaming records. I spent MLK weekend writing about it and when my three stories on it hit (below), I called my mom to say thanks for instilling so much pride in my heritage that I could navigate these two languages and understand the cultural nuisances of the words being used and the moment it created (also, lololz, let's be real for a minute—my mom was with me every step of this process ensuring I was making the correct translations and interpretations):
Mic: The Real Reason Shakira's “BZRP Music Session” Is Hitting so Hard: The record-smashing reclamation banger has hidden nuances tucked into its Spanish lyrics.
CNN: Why Shakira's Record-Breaking Song is a Stigma-Busting Myth
Harper's Bazaar: Shakira Has Always Been Savage: Her biting new breakup track has resonated with women around the world.
We're stepping into a new era of creation where power is shifting towards a historically underrepresented group and I'm here to celebrate every step (but also Bad Bunny isn't perfect and Spanish comes with its own baggage—too much to unpack here).
But also, I wouldn't be a Chicago gal if I wasn't in your inbox talking about politics (old habits die hard). Will Ranked-Choice Voting Catch On in Illinois? will be in print next month in Chicago Magazine. I was asked to write on the topic after Evanston voted to enact the new electoral system in their next mayoral election. It's a very interesting proposal and I wonder if we will eventually see it adopted in Chicago. Which reminds me. Early voting has already begun for the Mayor's race. Avoid the lines on Feb. 28 by heading to the polls early.
And if you made it this far, I'm switching my email list over to substack. Sign up here.
X
Ps I saw "The Menu," this weekend and it reminded me of "Love, Charlie: The Rise and Fall of Chef Charlie Trotter," Rebecca Halpern's (she's a Chicago native!) documentary on the Chicago chef who led us to what is essentially being shown to us in that black comedy. This description on the film left me haunted: "Love, Charlie is a searing portrait of what happens when a person’s identity becomes intrinsically tied to their work; and an epic cautionary tale of what can happen when that work fades away."
I wrote about it for Chicago Mag here: Charlie Trotter’s Legacy Revealed: A new documentary on the Chicago chef shows how his drive for perfection still haunts everyone around him.