Last night’s Latin Grammy Awards was a roller coaster of emotion. There was heartbreak, joy, and even a little anger. But no one could be mad at Will Smith’s rapping in Spanish. Marc Anthony, Bad Bunny, and the Fresh Prince himself performed their song “Está Rico†for the first time. Smith is no stranger to the Latin Grammys, nor to singing in Spanish. He joined Colombian group Bomba Estéreo onstage in 2015 and recently remixed his son’s song “Icon†with a little verse in Spanish. The three men were dressed to the nines, in shining, shimmering suits, fitting right in with all the fireworks in the background. And although she spoke in Spanish while presenting an award, Halsey performed in English at the show. Sebastián Yatra joined her for a bilingual version of “Without Me.â€
Two of the night’s biggest awards went to Jorge Drexler, who won an Academy Award in 2005: song and record of the year for “TelefonÃa.†He also won best singer-songwriter album for “Salvavidas de Hielo.†Then, Mexican rock band Mana surprised the world by announcing their next global tour. If that wasn’t enough shock for the audience, there was a tie for the Best Norteño Album award. Pesado and Calibre 50 both took the Grammy, for their Los Ãngeles Existen and Guerra de Poder, respectively.
Already a contentious category, the crowd completely lost it when the winner for Album of the Year, Luis Miguel, wasn’t there to accept it. There were boos, there were jeers, and probably a lot of praying for an #Envelopegate. Judging by Twitter vitriol, the fan favorite for the night was Colombian J Balvin, who also lost in the Best Urban Fusion/Performance category. His nominated song, “Mi Gente,†featured THE Beyoncé. Out of the eight awards he was nominated for, he only won Best Urban Music album for Vibras. We’re not suggesting this had anything to do with his weird comments about Rihanna from earlier this year, but no weapon that forms against her shall prosper, and anytime a Beyoncé song loses an award, everyone should be suspicious.