From Bad Bunny’s history-making masterpiece to Silvana Estrada’s heartfelt debut, here’s the music that blew us away in 2022
The very idea of the genre seemed raunchier than ever in 2022, especially among Spanish-speaking artists who were tearing down barriers and freely experimenting with all kinds of sounds and styles. Making music with such dedication led to several projects that feel like nothing else: Lucrecia Dalt’s ¡Ay!, rich and reminiscent of the past; Mabe Fratti’s tense and tender Se Ve Desde Aquí; and Mediopicky’s self-titled Production Masterclass were just a few gems that stood out and offered a glimpse into the far-reaching imaginations of emerging talent around the world. In the pop world, the likes of Becky G and Francisca Valenzuela wrote and recorded with just as much ingenuity, while musica Mexicana continued to have a big year, with stars like Grupo Firme and Eslabon Armado refusing to stay on track.
And of course, that boundless attitude also played a role on the two albums that were ubiquitous in 2022: Rosalia’s hyper-syncretic Motomami and Bad Bunny’s record-breaking Un Verano Sin Ti. Rosalía showed what happens when an artist refuses to compromise their vision while Bad Bunny gave the world some of his memories of his childhood in Puerto Rico. Un Verano Sin Ti made history and made people aware of what other brilliant experiments are yet to come.