The finalists for the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards have been announced. Today (Aug. 24), Billboard and Telemundo unveiled the artists who are up for categories such as artist of the year, tour of the year, Global 200 Latin artist of the year and artist of the year, new.
Mexican star Peso Pluma is this year’s big finalist with 21 nods, including artist of the year and artist of the year, new. Three out of the latter category’s five finalists — Peso, Grupo Frontera and Chino Pacas — are Mexican music acts, a reflection of the scene’s current hold on the charts. Just this year, a total of 27 regional Mexican tracks have entered the Billboard Hot 100. (On his own, Peso has debuted 21 tracks on the tally in 2023.)
Non-regional Mexican music artist Bizarrap is also a finalist in that category. Earlier this year, his “Music Session” session with Shakira broke all sorts of records. The diss track peaked at No. 9 on the Hot 100, and it spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Latin Songs chart. Mexican reggaetón artist Yng Lvcas also landed a nomination in the category, following the success of his “La Bebe” remix with Peso.
The 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards will broadcast live on Telemundo from the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Fla., on Thursday, Oct. 5, starting at 7pm ET. The show will also air simultaneously on Universo, Peacock, the Telemundo App and throughout Latin America and the Caribbean on Telemundo Internacional.
Finalists and the eventual winners are based on key fan interactions with music, including audio and video streaming, album and song sales, radio airplay and touring, tracked by Billboard and its data partner, Luminate. This year’s awards are based on the chart period of August 13, 2022, through August 12, 2023.
Below, meet the finalists up for artist of the year, new at the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards.
Purchase tickets to the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Week here.
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Peso Pluma
Number of entries: 21
Accomplishments: Over the course of the year, Peso Pluma has become one of Latin music’s biggest stars. The “Por Las Noches” singer has had a momentous 2023, with over 700 million on-demand official streams in the United States, according to Luminate, and 21 entries on the Billboard Hot 100. In June, he became the first artist to ever lead both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. lists simultaneously with different songs: the sierreño anthem “Ella Baila Sola” with Eslabon Armado and his Bizarrap-produced track “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 55,” respectively. His new album, Génesis, debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 (dated July 1) — the highest rank ever for a música mexicana album on the chart. Peso Pluma is also up for artist of the year, alongside Bad Bunny, Fuerza Regida, Karol G and Grupo Frontera.
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Yng Lvcas
Number of nominations: 6
Accomplishments: Rising reggaetón artist Yng Lvcas has earned a nomination in the category mainly thanks to his blockbuster collab with Peso Pluma, the “La Bebe” remix. The song has so far spent 22 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 11 on the tally. “La Bebe” peaked at No. 2 on both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts. In May, Yng Lvcas unleashed his second all-reggaetón album Six Jewels 23, which captured the singer-songwriter his second top 10 entry on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart when it debuted at No. 5 on the June 10-dated ranking.
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Grupo Frontera
Number of nominations: 15
Accomplishments: Like Peso Pluma, Grupo Frontera is also up for both artist of the year and artist of the year, new. After breaking out last year with their “No Se Va” cover, Grupo Frontera has been on a winning streak — scoring major collaborations, including one with Bad Bunny. Their team-up “Un X100to” earned the Texas-based group four nominations, including regional Mexican song of the year. Five of their nods are for “Bebe Dame” with Fuerza Regida, including Hot Latin Song of the year and Sales Song of the year. Grupo Frontera is also up for Global 200 Latin artist of the year.
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Chino Pacas
Number of nominations: 1
Accomplishments: Part of the new generation of Mexican music artists, Chino Pacas broke through with his songs “Dijeron Que No La Iba a Lograr” with Fuerza Regida and “El Gordo Trae El Mando.” With the latter, Chino Pacas officially became a Billboard Hot 100-charting artist, after it debuted on the April 1-dated list at No. 84. The Mexican artist is signed to Street Mob Records, founded by Jesús Ortiz Paz (of Fuerza Regida), which most recently signed a worldwide deal with Cinq Music to distribute the label and expand its opportunities in branding, sponsorships, merchandising and synchronization.
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Bizarrap
Number of nominations: 6
Accomplishments: Argentine producer Bizarrap is a six-time finalist at this year’s Billboard Latin Music Awards. While Bizarrap had his breakout year in 2020, this year has been extraordinary for him, thanks to his team up with superstars Shakira and Peso Pluma. The former, “Music Sessions Vol. 53,” broke 14 Guinness World Records, making the duo title holders for the most streamed Latin track on Spotify in 24 hours (14,393,324), most viewed Latin track on YouTube in 24 hours (63,000,000) and fastest Latin track to reach 100 million views on YouTube (in two days and approximately 22 hours), among other titles. The track peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, and it landed at No. 2 on both the Billboard Global 200 and the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts.
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