Latin Grammys stage revives political statements after 2016 restrictions
Shielded by the shadow of his signature cowboy hat, Bobby Pulido took the stage of the Latin Grammys in Las Vegas on Thursday to accept the award for best Tejano album. It was his third win in the category, but his first as a member-elect in the U.S. House of Representatives.
One week earlier, the Democrat won a competitive race to flip Texas’ Republican-held 15th Congressional district. Onstage, Pulido confirmed his retirement from a music career and underscored his gratitude in representing both the politics and music of the Lone Star State.
“I have so much pride to be from Texas, to be Tejano, and to represent this music,” Pulido told the audience. “We have to represent. We have to get to work, to use our voice for something different.”
Pulido’s appearance was one of several long-dormant political references during this year’s ceremony. From red carpet interviews to main stage performances, artists called for international unity and representation across the diaspora.
Ten years ago, the Latin Grammys made headlines for restricting journalists from asking political questions on the red carpet. In past performances, artists denounced racism in American politics and drew attention to human rights crises in Mexico. A 2016 policy quieted that advocacy in the years that followed.
The AP reported that Daddy Yankee opened his crowning performance as the Person of the Year honoree draped in a flowing cape of the Puerto Rican flag. Building on a landmark year of advocacy from Boricua artists, Yankee proclaimed: “Puerto Rico isn’t small. The map is small.”
In his acceptance speech, Yankee said: “Years ago the government even thought that we were criminals, that we had no future. Once I dreamed of being a baseball player. So I’m grateful that I’m getting hits here in the big leagues, at the Grammys.”
Silvana Estrada, a Mexican folk musician with a legacy of advocating against femicide in her home country, told the AP that the role of a musician today is “super important.” Estrada, whose single “Dime” won best singer-songwriter song, said: “Artists should step forward without fear and say what we think, because that’s how we encourage the people who follow us to find that confidence in themselves.”
The most overtly political moment of the night, according to the AP, came when Brazilian artist Anitta won best pop contemporary Portuguese album — the first time an award in the language was handed out during the televised ceremony. Anitta used the platform to call for unity across the different communities of Latin America and in her home country. “For many years Black culture was erased in Brazil,” she said. “This album comes to help with that, so that Black culture in Brazil is strong forever.”
Anamaria Sayre, of NPR’s “Alt.Latino,” had asked online before the ceremony: “Are the Latin Grammys going to get political tonight?” Sayre is a producer of El Tiny, the Latino version of NPR’s Tiny Desk, where she has followed the shift in alternative musicians being recognized by the Latin Recording Academy, especially ones who “overtly” center their advocacy in their art.
Sayre attributes the wave of genre-bending creativity to the reason the Latin Grammys were founded. “We needed a whole other Grammys to fit all of the different types of music that come out of Latin America,” she told the AP.
Political turnover took place across the Western Hemisphere this year, with broader right-wing movements across Latin America matched by progressive shifts in the U.S. and Brazil. “It doesn’t split that cleanly,” Sayre added, which she said underscored the correlation between musical and political change-making. “I don’t think you can ever look at music, or how we value music, as independent from a political landscape,” Sayre said.
The Latin Grammys did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press on Friday. Leslie Ambriz in Los Angeles contributed reporting to this article.