As Latin Music Booms, Grammy Museum Honors Shakira

Latin music is enjoying a ​unique​​ moment in the spotlight. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) recently announced that Latin music revenue surpassed an all-time high of $1.1 billion last year in the U.S. This marked 24% annual growth in total revenue from $881 million in 2021 to $1.1 billion in 2022, taking Latin music from 5.9 to 6.9% of the music market.

The growth, according to RIAA, is powered by Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny, whose release of Un Verano Sin Ti became the first non-English language album to ever top the Billboard 200. Credit also goes to Latin superstars Becky G, Daddy Yankee, Jhay Cortez, Karol G, Luis Miguel, Rosalia and Sofía Reyes who each went mainstream to influence the music genre.

As the Latin sector soars and evolves beyond reggaetón ​to bachata and regional Mexican beats, ​the Grammy Museum chose an ideal time to ​host the first global Shakira exhibit, “Shakira, Shakira: The Grammy Museum Experience.” Since her debut album, Magia, in 1991, the “Queen of Latin Music,” Shakira, has become one of the most successful, multi Grammy Award and Latin Grammy Award-winning Latin American recording artists, taking her music global to unite fans around the world and breaking boundaries for new artists, including Bad Bunny.

Jasen Emmons, chief curator and vice president of Curatorial affairs at the Grammy Museum, says, “We really view this exhibit as a rare opportunity to offer a career retrospective of a global artist who is as creatively vital as ever. Shakira is reaching more listeners now than at any point in her career. We realized there are so many more layers to her than people are aware of.”

The new exhibit, which will be on display in the museum’s permanent Latin Music Gallery until late February of 2024, invites Latin music fans to dive deeper into the world of Shakira as a singer, songwriter, producer, dancer, visual artist and philanthropist. The display celebrates the culture and impact of Latin music with three musicians, Joe Ayoub, Grecco Buratto, and Adam Zimmon, each who toured and worked directly with Shakira.

“Shakira, Shakira” guides visitors through the artist’s career trajectory, from a Latin rock-loving, budding singer-songwriter in Barranquilla, Colombia, to a global superstar who has introduced multiple genres including bhangra, bachata, rock and reggaetón. The artist is known for fusing elements of her multicultural Colombian and Lebanese roots into mainstream pop rock that she enjoyed listening to as a young girl.

“I would say Latin music has contributed to the rediscovery and renaissance of Afro-Caribbean rhythms, which have ancient roots but have now found a place in the mainstream as well,” says Shakira. “Music is one of the most immediate entry points to getting to know and understand a culture. Our music and sounds represent the same fusion of cultures that make up its people.”

The exhibit features interactive displays that highlight the cultural elements that influenced Shakira’s songs, music videos, performances and world tours. Also on display are select artifacts from her personal archive, three original films and an immersive space inspired by her El Dorado tour.

Emmons says, “To be able not only to learn English, but then to be able to express yourself in a second language is extraordinary. There is this sense of openness that has allowed her to seek out other music. Whatever genre she is working in, she does it very organically and makes it fresh and exciting.”

Shakira’s latest release with Argentinian producer and DJ Bizarrap, “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” totaled top streams in one day for a Spanish language song. It also had more than 14 million streams during the first day as the fastest Latin song to reach 100 million streams.

The song debuted at Number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, making Shakira the first solo woman to reach the Top 10 on the chart with a song recorded in Spanish. She also broke the all-time record for most monthly listeners for a Latin artist in Spotify history, and the video had 160 million views on YouTube during the first week.