You have led the academy for nearly as
long as it has existed. What has been
your biggest challenge?
The main problem was explaining to Latins
— not to non-Latins — that we weren’t
second-rate. This Grammy covered a range
of genres that would have never been
recognized otherwise. The second chal-
lenge was financial. The way we obtained
sponsorship and advertising contracts de-
pended deeply on the [mainstream] Gram-
my structure, and they really didn’t know
what value to give to the Latin Grammy. So
initially it was guesswork; the calculation
was 10% of the sponsorship value [allotted
for the mainstream Grammys], without any
marketing studies to support this. Once we
had those, we increased our sponsorships,
sometimes higher than the Grammys.
This economic solvency allowed you,
among other things, to create the Latin
Grammy Cultural Foundation in 2014.
We dedicate part of our money to fos-
tering the development of Latin music
through scholarships and instrument do-
nations. Today, we can boast that we have
given $5 million to provide scholarships
to 200 young people and support 20
musical projects. Everything the academy
doesn’t spend, we redistribute, and today,
we underwrite 85% to 90% of costs.
How would you describe the
relationship between the Latin and
mainstream Grammys?
We have two contracts. One is for use of
the brand, and we have to fulfill many re-
quirements, which we have done from day
one. That has allowed us to gain the trust of
The Recording Academy. The second con-
tract are our statutes, which state we can’t
change any element in the award process.
Beyond that, there are many differences.
The Recording Academy is national; we
are international. We have members in
36 countries. The music recognized by The
Recording Academy is mainly in English;
we honor music in Spanish, Portuguese or
any of the languages or dialects generating
from our countries. Also, The Recording
Academy is regulated by chapters, and we
are regulated by a board of trustees.
Why is language such a determining
factor in these awards?
First, we honor music, not people. So if,
say, Tony Bennett decides to record an al-
bum in Spanish, the [Latin] academy would
recognize the album, regardless of where
the artist comes from. Second, artists who
record in English can submit their work to
the [mainstream] Grammys, as long as it
has been released in the U.S. But the third
point is the most important: I don’t make
these decisions. We have committees
made up of members, and they propose
and decide the rules.
There has been some debate about
whether artists from Spain like Rosalía
should be called “Latin.” What are
your thoughts on this?
“Latino” has many meanings and only one
truth. In the United States, “Latino” is the
name given to people with darker skin —
they call us brown — or those of us who
drink tequila or like salsa. In some cases,
we’re also called “Hispanics.” It’s too bad
that as Ibero-Americans, we haven’t de-
termined a word that defines who we are
and how we want to be identified. It’s still
possible, but for now, we are Latinos.
In the Italian Peninsula, there’s a region
called Latium, where Latin originated.
With the expansion of the Roman Empire,
Latin became the seed of many romance
languages, which include what today is
Spanish, Portuguese, French, Romanian
and Italian. However, when people in the
U.S. talk about Latins, in a very limited
and confusing fashion, they include Cen-
tral America, the Caribbean and South
America. They don’t include everything
that derives from Latin, [including] the
Iberian Peninsula.
Faced with such ignorance, all we
can do is look on sadly and continue
fighting to educate those who don’t
understand the prestige, pride and love
that being Latino entails. Rosalía is Latin.
Brazilian Chico Buarque is Latin. Jesse &
Joy are Latin. Reik, J.Lo, Laura Pausini,
Kevin Johansen are also Latin. And to
be even more clear about the topic, the
first-ever record of the year Grammy, giv-
en 60 years ago, went to “Nel Blu Dipinto
Di Blu [Volare]” by Domenico Modugno
[of Italy], and yes, he was Latin.
What have the Latin Grammys
learned from the mainstream awards
and vice versa?
We have learned that with planning and
analysis, everything is possible. And we
have learned from the tremendous respect
and care they give to their brand, but they
have learned to not be so careful. You
have to take risks, otherwise the process
holds you back, and music doesn’t wait.
For example, a few years ago, we
realized that having five nominations for
[the main categories] resulted in the same
names. We opened it up to 10, and it was
a fabulous opportunity to bring in more
artists. It took the [mainstream] Grammys
years to open it up, initially to eight nom-
inees. They had me speak at a meeting,
and my message was, “Take risks.” The
other example was online voting. We saw
it as an urgent need, given our internation-
al territory, and we went online three years
ahead of the [mainstream] Grammys.
You shifted from CBS to Univision,
where the show remains today. Why is
it important to have a broadcast part-
ner whose DNA, so to speak, is Latin?
I applaud CBS for having taken the initia-
tive; they took huge risks. Things would
be different today. The Ibero-American
artists that felt uncomfortable speaking
English today dominate the language.
Now, Univision has become the home that
has received The Latin Recording Acad-
emy with open arms and allowed us to
communicate in our language. We didn’t
have to explain anything to anyone, and
the oven was hot enough to bake a mag-
nificent loaf of bread. Maybe the biggest
challenge was differentiating ourselves
from other music shows in Spanish.
Resistance to change is natural, lan-
guage notwithstanding, but we shouldn’t
be afraid of bringing to the table people
who are removed from our culture. What
we can’t do is expect miracles. Everything
takes patience, love, dedication and hard
work, in any language, and we’ve done
that for 20 years.
THE NOMINEES
“KITIPUN”
Juan Luis Guerra 4.40
“COBARDE”
Ximena Sariñana
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
VISCERAL
Paula Arenas
Abaroa (right) with Lin-
Manuel Miranda, who
received the President’s
Merit Award in 2017.
VALER
IEMA
C
ON
/AFP/GE
T
T
Y
IMA
G
E
SRECORD OF THE YEAR
“PARECEN VIERNES”
Marc Anthony
“VERDADES AFILADAS”
Andrés Calamaro
“AHÍ AHÍ”
Vicente García
“NO TENGO NADA”
Alejandro Sanz
“QUERER MEJOR”
Juanes featuring Alessia Cara
“LA PLATA”
Juanes featuring Lalo Ebratt
“AUTE COUTURE”
Rosalía
“MI PERSONA FAVORITA”
Alejandro Sanz & Camila Cabello
“[Spain’s] Rosalía is Latin. Brazilian
Chico Buarque is Latin. Mexico’s Jesse &
Joy are Latin. [Nuyorican] J.Lo and
[Italy’s] Laura Pausini are also Latin.”
—ABAROA
74 BILLBOARD • OCTOBER 12, 2019