The best Latin music songs of 2023
It seems I’ve been singing the same refrain ever since 2017, the year of our blessed “Despacito.”
In 2023, Latin music continued its exponential growth in commercial value. The Recording Industry Assn. of America reported another record high of $627 million in Latin music revenue from just the first half of 2023, a 15% rise from 2022.
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Yet Latinx artists do not deserve fanfare just because they’re breaking records in the United States — although, suffice it to say, they just won’t quit. Karol G’s “Mañana Será Bonito” became the first Spanish-language album released by a woman to top the Billboard 200, while Eslabón Armado and Peso Pluma’s “Ella Baila Sola” was dubbed the highest-charting regional Mexican song in Billboard Hot 100 history.
None of this speaks to the actual quality of Latin music, though, which is not owed attention for the dollars it generates for others — but because Latin music is our history, our joy and our grief all the same, documented real-time in song.
Last week I joined the L.A. Times’ official music section in compiling the “100 Best Songs of 2023.” In addition to the first 10 stratospheric Latin hits that wiggled their way into the main list, here are a few more personal picks of mine — and some honorable mentions for razzle-dazzle — that were impressionable and illustrative of what it is to be Latinx in 2023.
20. Feid and Young Miko, “Classy 101”
After writing for a slew of other pop and reggaetón artists, including Sebastián Yatra and J Balvin, it was high time for Colombian MC Feid to receive his own flowers. Reggaetón has no shortage of songs mythologizing bad bitches — there is a surplus at this point — but the line “Tú te ves cara bitchy, classy, cuatro fantastic” is simply, hilariously, kind of aspirational.
19. Helado Negro, “LFO (Lupe Finds Oliveros)”
Roberto Lange made a name for himself as a tender indie king, murmuring words of kindness and knowing in intimate funk songs like “Young Latin & Proud” and “Gemini and Leo.” In the absurdist jam “LFO,” off his upcoming 2024 album “Phasor,” we hear him as we’ve never heard him before: roaring jovially over a chugging guitar rock riff.
18. Immasoul, “Amores Pasajeros”
In her “Amores Pasajeros” EP, Afro-Mexican songstress Immasoul threads the loose tendrils between R&B, Afrobeats and reggaetón, and weaves them brilliantly into a unified, tropical groove.
17. Gale, “Nuestra Canción”
Between her upbringing as a musical theater kid, and a certification in songwriting from the Berklee College of Music, Latin Grammy nominated singer-songwriter Gale has been long primed for stardom. But at the heart of her indie dance-pop is a lightning bolt of punk energy, which she credits to her days as a skater girl (and a huge fan of Avril Lavigne) in her native Puerto Rico. Case in point: “Nuestra Canción.”
16. J Noa, “No Me Pueden Parar”
As evidenced in her viral edition of the “NPR Tiny Desk Concert,” the 18-year-old Dominican emcee and Latin Grammy nominee J Noa races through her verses at a breakneck speed that rivals that of an Olympic sprinter. Nevertheless, her unflinching declarations of self-determination come across loud and clear to her fans.
15. Mon Laferte, “No+Sad”
The Chilean artist has gone through many incarnations in her work over the years: she’s been the metalera, the manic indie dream girl, a revivalist of rancheras and boleros in contemporary Latin pop. In the electro-baroque fever dream that is “Autopoiética,” her first album since giving birth to her son in 2022, she revisits her past iterations and sharpens them with the hard-earned confidence and primordial wisdom of a mother — most formidable in the feral, industrial perreo of “No+Sad.”
14. Móry, ‘Sereno de la Noche’ EP
Dominican newcomer Moria Estrella was only 11 when she and her family immigrated to Toronto — since then, the artist-producer Móry has imbued the island rhythms of her childhood with the concrete starkness of The 6 to cultivate her own hybrid, Caribbean gothic sound. Released in November, her debut EP ushers in her unique brand of “darkchata,” with surprise flickers of trap, drill and UK garage.
13. Alex Anwandter feat. Buscabulla, “Mi Vida en Llamas”
Latin Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and producer Alex Anwandter lit up discotheques from his native Chile to the world with his first album in five years — a thesis on queer love and liberation titled “Diablo en el Cuerpo.” With extra sensuality from Puerto Rican duo Buscabulla, Anwandter calls for a post-breakup baptism by dance in “Mi Vida en Llamas.”
12. DannyLux, “House of Lux”
Chicano romantic DannyLux carried the banner for SoCal’s “sad sierreño” wave in his 2023 full-length debut, “DLux.” Yet the album’s closing track, “House of Lux” — a cosmopolitan Latin house jam — hinted other potential avenues of success for the 19-year-old singer-songwriter.
(Honorable mention: “Sustancias en Mi Corazón,” his baile funk-fueled collab with Chilean artist Strangehuman.)
11. Tainy feat. The Marías and Young Miko, “Mañana”
As loyal producer to acts like Bad Bunny and J Balvin, Marco “Tainy” Masís became the secret weapon behind reggaetón’s rise in the mainstream; but with the release of “Data,” his debut album as an artist, his genius is hardly a secret anymore. His arty sensibility shines in the sleek “Mañana,” featuring a purring vocal interplay between L.A. indie starlet María Zardoya and up-and-coming MC Young Miko.
10. Rauw Alejandro and Rosalía, “Vampiros”
They may have called it quits as Latin music’s hottest young power couple, but much like the vampires they sing of, the passion of Rauwsalía will live on.
9. Becky G and Ivan Cornejo, “2ndo Chance”
With an assist from goth sierreño star Ivan Cornejo, the Chicana pop princess’ lovesick ballad sparkles like a mirror ball in a dusky honky-tonk.
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8. Fuerza Regida, “TQM”
L.A. regional Mexican band Fuerza Regida flaunts the spoils of global fame with paisa grit on “TQM,” a corrido fit for the Hollywood Hills.
(Honorable mention: The band’s punchy corrido-dance single with Philly producer Marshmello, “Harley Quinn,” ramps up the ruckus they started in “TQM.”)
7. Karol G, “Mi Ex Tenía Razón”
The Colombian superstar’s fresh take on the ’90s cumbia sound is not just a slam dunk on her previous suitors, but a brilliant tribute to the original queen of cumbia clapbacks, Selena.
6. Kali Uchis, “Moonlight”
A grown ’n’ sexy theme for hotboxing in the car with your soulmate.
(Honorable mention: dembow ambassador El Alfa party-crashes Kali Uchis’ retro reggaetón number “Muñekita” — and a surprise cameo by JT of City Girls fame transforms the phrase “sana sana colita de rana” into the new, shadier “bless your heart” for Miami girls.)
5. Bad Bunny, “Monaco”
Using a symphonic clip from the 1964 ballad “Hier encore,” Bad Bunny resuscitated the memory of French singer Charles Aznavour in this taunting nouveau-riche anthem.
(Honorable mention: Benito and Eladio Carrión tag team WWE-style in the scorched earth missive to fake friends, “Thunder y Lightning.”)
4. Myke Towers, “Lala”
This effervescent reggaetón smash became the Boricua rapper’s highest-charting song, climbing to No. 5 on Spotify’s global songs.
3. Grupo Frontera feat. Bad Bunny, “Un X100to”
Songwriter-producer Edgar Barrera first met this charming band at a local carne asada outside of his hometown of McAllen, Texas. Then, with the help of Puerto Rican don Bad Bunny, Barrera and Grupo Frontera spun cumbia gold with this Latin Grammy-winning hit.
2. Shakira and Bizarrap, “BZRP Music Sessions Vol. 53”
At the start of 2023, things weren’t looking good for Shakira. The Colombian pop icon had been charged with tax evasion in Spain, where she once lived with her ex, Barcelona footballer Gerard Piqué. To make matters worse, it was revealed that Piqué carried on an affair with a woman half Shakira’s age. Faced with a 24-million euro fine and even threats of prison time, Shakira turned to Argentine mixologist Bizarrap to help craft this scorching act of dance-pop vengeance.
1. Eslabón Armado and Peso Pluma, “Ella Baila Sola”
Pedro Tovar, bandleader of rising “sad sierreño” act Eslabón Armado, gave the tough-talking corrido star Peso Pluma a makeover with this sensual ballad about a mystery girl who dances alone. Peaking at No. 4, “Ella Baila Sola” came to be the highest-charting regional Mexican song on the Hot 100 since the list’s creation in 1958.
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FOR THE RECORD
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1:11 p.m. Dec. 14, 2023: An earlier version of this newsletter erroneously implied that Gale attended Berklee College of Music. Gale received a certificate in songwriting from Berklee, but studied at the Escuela Libre de Música in San Juan.
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