Genre Innovators Will Face Off With Veterans in the Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album Grammy Race
Leading up to the Grammy nominations on Nov. 8, Rolling Stone is breaking down 13 different categories. For each, we’re predicting the nominees, as well as who will (and who should) win on Grammy night.
The Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album has always been somewhat of a grab-bag; it’s so broad that anyone can argue that nearly any album fits in here. The projects that tend to do best are either straight-ahead rock or hard-to-categorize experimentalism: As examples, Rosalia’s Motomami took the prize in 2023, while Juanes and Natalia Lafourcade shared the award in an unexpected tie last year.
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This year appears to be another wildcard race, with tons of releases that show the diversity of Spanish-language albums. José Luis Mercado, who’s behind the popular Latin music platform and social media account Rock En Las Americas, notes that he’s been noticing a split in what artists are doing: The release cycle has been full of compendiums that nod to the past and the history of Latin alternative sounds, and projects from newer artists discovering entirely different directions. “On one end, there were a lot of respected artists, with long legacies, who looked to celebrate their careers,” he says, noting the example of the legendary Colombian rock band Aterciopelados, who recaptured the energy of their 1995 album El Dorado with an updated live version released in March. “They celebrated their own trajectories, the classics, and themes of memory and nostalgia for the fans who have been with them.”
Modern acts dove headfirst into genre-defying styles that capture fresh new energy. Mercado points to records like Argentine disruptor Dillom’s Por Cesárea and singer Nathy Peluso’s long-awaited sophomore LP Grasa, which has high chances of getting nominated. “They can enter hip-hop territory, they can enter alternative territory,” he says. “They can do a lot of genres at once, and they feel comfortable in all of them.”
Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album — Our Predictions
Aterciopelados, El Dorado (Live)
Diamante Eléctrico, Mal Hablado
Mon Laferte, Autopoiética
Nathy Peluso, Grasa
Residente, Las Letras Ya No Importan
Who Will Win?
Nathy Peluso, Grasa
Nathy Peluso and Mon Laferte stand out as having the biggest chance here. Both straddle the line between representing a more modern sound while having a foot rooted in the classics, and they’ve been nominated before. In 2022, Mon Laferte’s album SEIS was up for Best Música Mexicana Album and in 2023, her project 1940 Carmen was also a big contender for this category. Peluso, meanwhile, was here in 2022, when her debut Calambre got a deserved nomination. It’ll be close, but we expect Peluso to emerge the victor.
Who Should Win?
Mon Laferte, Autopoiética
A lot of people are putting their money on Mon Laferte this year — and for good reason. “It would be a good indicator of her musical career. We’re talking about an artist who has spent much more than a decade in the music scene, and she still hasn’t won an Anglo Grammy,” Mercado says. He also notes that the album’s theme of reinvention and recreation would make a win particularly satisfying.
Forecasting the Field
It’s hard to know if Grammy voters will lean toward more storied reputations, like the example of Aterciopelados, or embrace more forward-thinking, like Peluso. A dark horse here could be Diamante Eléctrico, the colorful Colombian band who got some love in this category in 2022 and 2024 — perhaps a third time could be the charm. And because “alternative” is such a catch-all, we could also see records like Residente’s Las Letras Ya No Importan — a blend of hip-hop, electronic, classical, and global production, all swept into one.
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