6 Music-Inspired Latin Series & Documentaries to Stream Before the Year Ends

In Ellas Soy Yo, which premiered in August on ViX, Mexican pop star Gloria Trevi takes full control of her narrative. The bioseries chronicles her rise from winning a Lucerito lookalike contest as an adolescent to become Mexico’s biggest pop star, her involvement in the Trevi-Sergio Andrade sex scandal, her time in prison — and, finally, her triumphant return after being found not guilty.

“My intention with Ella Soy Yo was born many years ago,” Trevi previously told Billboard Español. “I have seen women go out to protest in Mexico for the missing women, for the abused women, and to see so much femicide. There have been so many horrible cases that, honestly, I took a breath and said, ‘I need to do it’ — because, thank God, I’m okay now. I have to tell my story, even if some people stop loving me, because I tell how I was weak, how I was vulnerable, how I was a woman — even if some people stop seeing me as that artist with that glamour. But thinking mainly about the most important thing, which was the message of abuse against women.”

Produced by Candle Media’s Exile Content Studio and showrunner Sebastián Sariñana, the 13-episode series made its debut over the summer on HBO Max, with music by renowned Mexican artist Camilo Lara (Mexican Institute of Sound), who worked along with music supervisors Javier Nuño and Joe Rodríguez to produce VGLY‘s original score.

Season one follows a crew of young visionaries (from rappers to producers and creative directors) on their quest to stand out in a crowded field of emerging urbano artists in Mexico City’s neighborhood “La Guerrero.”

Featuring trap, cumbia, reggaetón and corridos tumbados, “this series came at the right moment,” Lara, who’s produced music for award-winning films such as Coco and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, told Billboard. “We all knew there were huge things happening in Mexico with new producers and artists — trap was bubbling, and so were corridos tumbados — so this series is a Polaroid of what’s been happening, and that’s really beautiful.”

The reggaetón-inspired series Neon, which you can stream on Netflix, that stars Tyler Dean Flores as Santi, an aspiring reggaetón artist who moves to Miami to chase his dreams. The eight-episode comedy series follows Santi; his best friend, Ness, who’s also his personal manager; and his other good friend, Felix, who’s also his creative and marketing director, on their journey to landing a record deal.

Hitmaker Tainy is one of the executive music producers on the show, along with Lex Borrero and Ivan Rodriguez from Ntertain and Neon16.

In De La Calle, streaming on Paramount+, Argentine American producer and journalist Nick Barili takes viewers on a journey into the Latin diaspora to “explore and map the evolution of Urbano music and cultures that ignited the musical revolution of rap, reggaeton, bachata, Latin trap, cumbia and other sounds that influence music and culture worldwide,” according to an official description of the documentary. Throughout the journey, Barili meets with musicians and cultural leaders who will “reveal the story of Urbano music, its history and significance today.”

Lucero returns to acting with El Gallo de Oro after more than a decade to pay tribute to the rich tradition of ranchera music. The series, available on ViX and Prime Video, is a new adaptation of the short novel by revered Mexican author Juan Rulfo published in 1980.

“When I was a child], I thought deep down, ‘I want to be like that [like Pedro Infante] when one day I sing.’ To be able to transmit that to the public, and to be able to act and sing in a movie. It seems unbelievable, but in El Gallo de Oro that’s what happens a little bit,” Lucero told Billboard Español.

La Firma (The Signing) places 12 hopeful contestants in a mansion, and follows them for the chance to secure a record deal with Neon16 — the talent incubator founded by Borrero and Tainy. Viewers are introduced to emerging talent from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Perú, and the U.S., with Rauw Alejandro, Tainy, Nicki Nicole, Yandel and Borrero there to guide, advise and judge the competitors.

“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to give artists from all over Latin America a platform to be heard, [and] what better home than Netflix and in front of some of the biggest names in Latin music,” Borrero previously told Billboard Español. “What makes La Firma unique is that we are not just looking for talent, but artists with something to say in the world. To stand out, you have to be original.”

All eight episodes of the show are now available on Netflix.