Billboard Editors Predict Latin Music Trends to Look For in 2025

A few years ago, corridos and reggaetón were distinct genres that rarely merged into any sort of fusion. However, Latin urban superstars like Nicky Jam, Bad Bunny, and Arcángel began to famously dabble in regional Mexican music in recent years. Alongside this, a new experimentally driven branch of corridos, predominantly led by Mexicans and Mexican Americans, is beginning to take shape.

Experimentations from Fuerza Regida, like their reggaetón-tinged “Nel,” Sebastian Esquivel’s heavy electro corridos catalog, and Ivan Cornejo’s latest album Mirada, which merges sierreño music with electric guitar, exemplify this expanding música mexicana sound. So does Peso Pluma’s Grammy-nominated Éxodo, as the corridos superstar ventured into reggaetón with Anitta, trap with Rich the Kid and EDM with DJ Snake.

This expansion is a departure from the traditional música mexicana styles of artists like Carín León and Christian Nodal and may signal ongoing evolution and diversification in the corridos genre and its artists. 

Last year we predicted the resurgence of cumbia, and undoubtedly, the storied genre proceeded to ascend to unprecedented heights. This is partly thanks to legends like Los Ángeles Azules, who teamed up with newer talent like Yuridia and Emilia, with the latter assisting the group on “Perdonarte, ¿Para Qué?.” As a result, it earned its rightful place on Billboard’s Best Latin Songs of 2024, while also giving each act its first No. 1 on the general Latin Airplay chart.

On the other hand, the bélicos movement continued its meteoric rise with the explosive popularity of modern-day corridos, led by superstars like Peso Pluma and Luis R. Conriquez. Further cementing this trend was the emergence of dance bélicos, under the hands of Fuerza Regida’s Jersey corridos-driven Pero No Te Enamores, alongside innovations from Banda Renovación, Grupo Firme with Demi Lovato, and others.

Enter the cumbias bélicas movement, led by young artist Yahir Saldívar, who has proclaimed himself the pioneer of that style. His viral debut single “SC-9” — characterized by traditional rhythms á la Rigo Tovar and grim gangster lyrics — is quickly amassing streams, with the count at 128 million views on YouTube alone. In the video, Saldívar dons warrior-like gear complete with rifles, epitomizing the belikeada style. It’s also noteworthy that rapper Santa Fe Klan, who ventured into cumbia-rap sonidera with his 2021 album Santa Cumbia, has given his nod to the emerging star.

This isn’t the first sighting of this musical hybrid, but with Saldívar’s breakout song hitting No. 1 on the Latin Digital Song Sales chart, we can expect more cumbias bélicas to take root in the music scene.

In recent years, collaborations between Afrobeats and Latin music artists have been increasingly notable. Puerto Rican hitmaker Ozuna dropped an album called Afro, dedicated to the Nigerian-born genre, featuring duets with Nigerian musicians Davido (“Eva Longoria”) and Omah Lay (“Soso Remix“). Nigerian star Burna Boy performed alongside Brazilian sensation Anitta at the 2023 UEFA Champions League final, and moreover, Colombian urbano star Feid released “Bubalu” with Nigerian sensation Rema, after going viral with his Selena Gomez-assisted mega hit “Calm Down.”

Though the fusion between Latin music and Afrobeats is not necessarily new, we are noticing more and more Latin artists experimenting with the genre, lacing it with Spanish-language lyrics—and entering the Billboard charts along the way.

A few examples are Shakira’s “Soltera,” powered by a joyful tropical pop tune fused with Afrobeats, which earned her 24th No. 1 on Latin Airplay; Boza and Elena Rose’s flirty “Orion,” which hit No. 2 on Latin Pop Airplay; and Kapo, whoss feel-good viral tracks “Ohnana” and “UWAIE” both made it on the charts. Other artists who have gained momentum making Latin Afrobeat fusions are Beéle, Rels B, Greeicy, and Ryan Castro, to name a few.

After achieving global stardom with reggaetón anthems that have been adopted by people around the world, Bad Bunny has already turned to more regional sounds this year for his new album Debí Tirar Más Fotos (released Jan. 5). “I am Puerto Rican, I am Caribbean, and my music, my culture, my country’s history run through my veins, from plena to reggaetón,” Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio (Bunny’s real name) said in a statement. On Debí, he takes traditional Afro-Puerto Rican styles like plena and jíbara and fuses them with contemporary reggaetón and synths.

In 2024, Manuel Turizo’s 201 also saw him also incorporating more traditional sounds like vallenato, expressing that his latest set is “what Montería sounds like,” his hometown in Colombia.

For many years, reggaetón, a more global sound, dominated the charts but, as of late, regional music, and not just música mexicana, has become a force to be reckoned with. And fans have connected to music that feels like home thanks to live instruments that add a layer of authenticity and singularity. A return to traditional, more regional sounds is something we expect to see more of this year. And that will be so refreshing.

Latin artists dropping joint EPs isn’t anything new. Over the past few years, a handful of reggaetón stars have joined forces to release joint EPs, including J Balvin and Bad Bunny’s Oasis (2019), Tainy and Yandel’s Dynasty (2021), Myke Towers & Ovy on the Drums’ Cassette 01 (2024). It’s a nod to a strategy that has helped grow the reggaetón movement, which has thrived thanks to collaborations between its leading artists.

As regional Mexican music crosses frontiers and enters global territory, the biggest names have taken a hint from the urbano movement and began to collaborate with each other to grow their own movement.

Now, we predict regional Mexican artists will take this union a step further and start teaming for joint EPs. In fact, música mexicana powerhouses Fuerza Regida and Grupo Frontera dropped the five-track set Mala Mía in December. Others who’ve done it in the past include Rancho Humilde acts Natanael Cano and Junior H, but would be cool it was done more regularly. We’re putting out into the universe that Peso Pluma teams up with already go-to collaborators Tito Double P or Luis R Conriquez for a joint project. Or Grupo Firme with Codiciado.

Salsa music’s not dead — and it’s never gone out of style, thanks to hitmakers such as Marc Anthony, Grupo Niche, Victor Manuelle, and Gilberto Santa Rosa still making the rounds. However, the tropical genre has gotten a refreshing boost, led by a talented wave of salsa lovers, including former Billboard Latin Artist on the Rise artists Luis Figueroa, Christian Alicea, and Luis Vazquez. The former two were even nominated for best salsa album at the 2024 Latin Grammys.

In addition to the new generation of salsa stars, many Latin urban artists have experimented with the genre. Notably are Rauw Alejandro who caused a social media frenzy with his own version of Frankie Ruiz’s timeless salsa romantica “Tú con Él” and Bad Bunny, who, in an ode to Puerto Rico, included various salsa tunes on his Debí Tirar Mas Fotos album.

Furthermore, last year, salsa producer Sergio George recruited many urbano stars — Lenny Tavarez, Jay Wheeler, Wisin, Rafa Pabon — for an ambitious project called ATACA SERGIO, URBAN SALSA SESSIONS, where they all perform an original salsa tune. There’s no doubt that the tropical genre is up for a massive growth in 2025.