Music trends – and the language we use to talk about them – may come and go, but they’re an excellent way of identifying how Latinx communities are evolving. Seeing reggaeton swerve into new directions or tracking the growth of ballroom culture in Latin America reflects the way the Internet is collapsing boundaries, as well as the IRL effects of new immigration patterns. Even though some of these movements might not stick around, they definitely made a tumultuous and difficult year captivating.
Here are the music trends and scenes that excited us in 2016:
A new generation of Chilean artists emerged.
20 Years After Chile Changed Indie Music, a New Pop Paradise Emerges
Atlanta’s Latinxs got the radical club night they deserve.
La Choloteca is the Radical Club Night Atlanta’s Latinxs Have Been Waiting For
Ballroom scenes in Chile, Mexico, and Brazil thrived.
How Voguing and Ballroom Culture Became Cool in Latin America
Ecuador saw the rise of a new electronic boom.
Underground experiments with reggaeton flourished.
Neo-Perreo: 15 Artists Writing Reggaeton’s Weird and Wonderful New Chapter
South American trap artists hustled hard.