Latin music has seen a tremendous rise in popularity, especially within the last several years. Many people don’t know that countless songs performed by fan favorites like Maluma and Karol G have been crafted with the help of numerous artists. To recognize the most prominent talents in Latin music, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) recently held its annual Latin Music Awards to honor these creatives and their accomplishments within the last year.
Here are this year’s winners:
Keityn—Songwriter of the Year
ASCAP’s Songwriter of the Year award was given to Keityn Cruz, who goes by his first name professionally. Keityn has written many mega-hits for artists like Karol G, Nicki Minaj, J Balvin, Maluma, Shakira and Manuel Turizo. This year, the 27-year-old songwriter was recognized for his charting hits “Monotonía” and “Acróstico,” both performed by Shakira and Karol G’s “Amargura,” “Cairo” and “Mi Ex Tenía Razón,” among many others. This was Keityn’s second consecutive year winning the award.
Feid—Songwriter/Artist of the Year
Salomón Villada Hoyos, best known as Feid, has written for and received many awards for his work with Latin music stars. Now, he takes home his first top ASCAP award, ASCAP Latin Songwriter/Artist of the Year. The acclaimed Colombian singer and songwriter’s hits include Billboard Latin Airplay #1 songs “Yandel 150,” “Hey Mor” and “Niña Bonita.” He recently received 12 nominations for the Latin American Music Awards.
Yng Lvcas—Latin Song of the Year
Performer and songwriter Yng Lvcas took home the Latin Song of the Year award for “La Bebé (Remix),” co-written by Yng Lvcas and performed by Yng Lvcas & Peso Pluma. The song peaked at #1 on the Latin Airplay chart with 17 weeks in the Top 10. It also reached #2 on the Billboard Global 200 and #11 on the Hot 100 chart. At just 24 years old, Yng Lvcas has been releasing music since he was 21 years old and was recently named one of Billboard’s 15 Latin artists to watch in 2024.
Carlos Vives—ASCAP Founders Award
One of the most well-known artists on this list, Carlos Vives, was honored with the coveted ASCAP Founders Award. This award is presented to songwriters and composers who have made pioneering contributions to music by inspiring and influencing their fellow music creators. With 18 Latin GRAMMY Awards, two GRAMMY Awards and a place in the Billboard Latin Music Awards Hall of Fame, Vives is known for merging traditional Colombian vallenato sounds with pop and rock influences. He has sold over 20 million records globally and is considered one of the best-selling and most influential Latin music artists of all time.
Universal Music Publishing Group—Publisher of the Year
This year’s publisher of the year, Universal Music Publishing Group, was recognized for producing hit songs including: “Classy” (Feid and Young Miko), “Feliz Cumpleaños Ferxxo” (Feid), “Lala” (Myke Towers), “Rumbatón” (Daddy Yankee), “Solo Conmigo” (Romeo Santos) and “La Jumpa” (Arcángel and Bad Bunny, among others).
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