Latin Women In Music

This story is part of Billboard‘s Mujeres Latinas en la Música package.
Emilia has conquered millions of fans with an urban pop sound that’s both mischievous and sensual; a sweet, recognizable voice; and honest but playful lyrics. Since her debut as a solo artist in 2019, after a stint as a member of Uruguayan band Rombai, she has placed 18 songs on Argentina’s Billboard Hot 100 chart — most recently “En la Intimidad” with Big One and Callejero Fino, which in early April had spent seven weeks at No. 1. 

She has also placed two songs on Billboard’s Latin Pop Airplay chart: “Blessing” with Alex Rose at No. 13 and “No Soy Yo” with Darell at No. 38. And this year she performed at the Viña del Mar Festival, where she received golden and silver Gaviota awards. 

All that glamour began with a folk guitar. 

María Emilia Mernes Rueda (her full name) was about 6 when her grandfather — the only musical reference in her family — gave her the instrument so she could start taking music lessons. “Actually, he’s a plumber, but his hobby, his lifelong passion, has always been playing the guitar,” says the Argentine singer-songwriter, her eyes sparkling with pride. 

As for Emilia’s parents, her father was a baker and her mother a cook. Originally from Nogoyá, a farming town with a population of 45,000 in the Argentine province of Entre Ríos, she grew up admiring “megapowerful women,” from Rihanna and Beyoncé to Paulina Rubio and Thalia. 

“I would watch them on TV and I couldn’t believe it. I’d say: ‘I hope one day I can see myself like them!’ Because whenever I listened to them, they instilled a message of power and confidence in me,” she recalls from her home in Buenos Aires, where she now lives. 

That desire led her to form her own bands in her early teens. From cumbia covers she transitioned to rock and began playing shows in her city and its surroundings. 

Over the years, music continued to be an integral part of her life, but due to her circumstances she thought it couldn’t be more than a hobby. “I was like, ‘No. It is impossible to live from this. If I don’t have the financial resources I can’t travel to Buenos Aires, where everything happens.’ ” Instead, she moved to Rosario to study literature.

Her life took a radical turn only months later, when she started uploading videos of herself playing the guitar and singing covers to Instagram. They caught the attention of Rombai. At the time, the Uruguayan cumbia-pop band had gained popularity in South America and was looking for a new female vocalist. In a matter of days, Emilia was singing with them in front of 12,000 fans. 

Two years later, she decided it was time to take the next step and left the group to pursue her solo career. Whereas with Rombai she only got to sing songs written by her bandmates, she now started to write her own for the first time. “I had a lot of uncertainty, to be 100% honest. I didn’t know what kind of music I wanted to make, I didn’t know which side to face, I didn’t know who to work with,” she recalls. 

She headed to Miami to work on developing her own voice as a singer-songwriter. 

Some of the first people she shared with in the studio were Camilo and Farina, with whom she wrote the song “Recalienta.” “I said: ‘I think this is going to be the one with which I start my career.’ And it was beautiful,” she adds, also naming Sebastián Yatra and TINI as artists who didn’t hesitate to lend her a hand. 

Today, Emilia is still signed to a management deal with Walter Kolm (who was previously Rombai’s manager) and has a recording deal with Sony Music Latin. And she has forged a trusted “songwriting crew” that includes Elena Rose, FMK and Duki, with whom she worked for her 2022 debut album, the very personal tú crees en mí? 

For this year, she’s working on a “more conceptual” second album that will include her most recent single, “Jagger.mp3,” a funky, upbeat dance track in Spanish sprinkled with some English. 

In Argentina, her parents and grandfather “cannot believe” the success she has had. “My grandfather is very shocked. He recently went to one of my shows — he had never had the opportunity to see me — and I dedicated it to him that night. It was very emotional.” 

As for the guitar he gave her when she was a little girl, Emilia keeps it somewhere in her hometown: “I don’t know if I gave it to him or if it is at my house with my parents,” she says. “But I have it in Nogoyá.” 

Tickets to Billboard‘s Latin Women In Music can be purchased here.

This story is part of Billboard‘s Mujeres Latinas en la Música package.
In the last 12 months, Shakira has placed four songs at No. 1 on the Billboard Latin charts and has broken 14 Guinness World Records. She has also been celebrated with a retrospective exhibit at the Grammy Museum. 

Oh, and she has sparked something of a female revolution along the way. 

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The Colombian superstar turned one of the most difficult years of her life into an unprecedented return to Spanish-language music by opening her heart to teach us that it’s OK to be vulnerable, and even “cash in” when suffering from heartbreak. 

The latest winning streak by the artist — who was already the woman with the most top 10 hits on Hot Latin Songs (34), the most No. 1s on Latin Airplay (18) and the most entries on Latin Pop Airplay (50), among other milestones — began in April 2022 with “Te Felicito” with Rauw Alejandro. The song reached No. 1 on the Latin Airplay and the Latin Pop Airplay charts, the latter of which Shakira had not led since “Clandestino” with Maluma four years earlier. 

Then came the heartfelt bachata “Monotonía” with Ozuna, which peaked at No. 1 on Latin Airplay and spent six weeks atop the chart. 

Shakira finished off the trilogy in January with the forceful “Shakira: BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53” with Argentine DJ Bizarrap, in which she declared her new motto: “Women don’t cry anymore, they cash in.” The song earned her her first No. 1 on Hot Latin Songs since “Chantaje” with Maluma in 2016. 

The track also “cashed in” by breaking 14 Guinness World Records, including most played Latin song on Spotify in 24 hours (14.4 million) and most viewed video on YouTube in 24 hours (63 million). 

“What for me was a catharsis and a relief, I never thought would go straight to number one in the world at 45 years old, and in Spanish,” Shakira posted on social media, in Spanish. “I want to embrace the millions of women who stand up to those who make us feel insignificant… They are my inspiration,” she added. 

Shakira

Jaume de la Iguana

And just when it seemed like she had said it all, she made history again with “TQG” with Karol G. The collaboration — an explosive goodbye kiss for their respective exes — not only debuted at the top of Hot Latin Songs, but also earned both Colombian powerhouses their first No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts. 

Having back-to-back hits is nothing new for Shakira, who debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2001 with “Whenever, Wherever” and hit No. 1 in 2006 with “Hips Don’t Lie.” But being at the top of the global charts two decades later, singing in Spanish, reaffirms her place as a true superstar — one capable of transcending languages, generations and borders as very few can. 

“What for me was a catharsis and a relief, I never thought would go straight to number one in the world at 45 years old, and in Spanish”Shakira

And her influence and contributions go far beyond music. Shakira has been an advocate of education through her Fundación Pies Descalzos, which since 1997 has built and adapted nine public schools in Colombia that have benefited more than 152,000 children and their families. “It’s part of my mission,” she told Billboard nearly a decade ago, and she has kept it that way. 

In this inaugural edition of Latin Women in Music, the Woman of the Year — for her unprecedented past and current success — is, unquestionably, Shakira. 

Maluma, Bizarrap, Carlos Vives, Camilo and More on Shakira’s Staying Power

“Working with Shakira, I immediately realized exactly why she is such a powerhouse in our industry. She is phenomenally talented, hardworking, relentlessly detailed-oriented and always delivers musical excellence.” —Maluma, artist

“The importance of having a Shakira in our music industry as a Colombian, a woman, or an artist, is that she teaches us with her example that we can have our own voice; that difference coupled with excellence and delivery make a good combo.” —Goyo, artist 

“Shakira isn’t a powerhouse. Shakira invented powerhouse. She has the nerve and the talent. Everything else is ‘only’ a great capacity to work and give it all.” —Alejandro Sanz, artist 

“Shakira is a tireless warrior, megatalented and capable of getting up and reinventing herself every day. Nothing is impossible for her. Not in her profession, nor in her personal life.” —Afo Verde, chairman/CEO, Sony Music Latin Iberia 

“Shakira represents so many women so well that she deserves to be Woman of the Year. She’s like a force who has the power to protect [others] in times of difficulty. … I remember when we were doing the video for ‘La Bicicleta’ when I managed to break the protocol and we ended up roaming through the neighborhood and arriving at her school. At that moment I think she was like Shakira the pelaíta, the girl from Barranquilla. She ordered the director to ‘follow us already,’ and we started. And that moment is felt in the video.” —Carlos Vives, artist 

Shakira

Jaume de la Iguana

“I’ve worked with everyone. Whitney, Michael Jackson, and I’ve never experienced that [level of] detail. She conducts a session like she’s teaching! … This girl, she’s the definition of music.” —Will.i.am, artist-producer 

“I was proud to be a part of her growth from the beginning of her career, and she deserves everything she has achieved. Her great talent, her perseverance; she has always put her passion first to bring something new to music and her fans. [When I met her,] she didn’t speak any English, and I said, ‘We’re going to do the crossover with you.’ … Six months later, she went for an interview and she spoke English better than me.” —Emilio Estefan, producer-composer 

“What’s most impressive about Shakira, beyond what a multifaceted and talented force she is as an artist, is just how far-reaching her impact is … I remember my first trip to Colombia with her many years ago to inaugurate one of the new schools she built through her Pies Descalzos Foundation, I was so blown away to see and hear firsthand how knowledgeable, passionate and committed she was to providing universal access to quality education for all in her country, and how intolerant she was of achieving anything less. I saw then how her dogged perseverance is to thank for her level of success.” —Jaime Levine, manager 

“Working with her was a master class in my career. She’s an artist in every sense, a tireless worker, talented and kind. No. 1 without a doubt.” —Jorge Ferradas, founder of FPM Entertainment and former member of Shakira’s management team 

“Only wonderful things happen to people who are absolutely dedicated to the pursuit of excellence. Shakira is one of those people. … For me as an artist, and especially as a Colombian artist, having such a reference since I was very little pushed me to be the best version of myself. When I was able to meet her and sing with her, I was able to confirm that everything I thought and felt was true.” —Camilo, artist 

“Collaborating with Shakira this year was an incredible experience for me, from which I learned a lot. We worked a lot on this song [‘BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53’], right up to the last minute! I thought I was detailed until I met Shakira.” —Bizarrap, DJ-producer 

“I know Shakira the artist, and it is no secret to anyone that she is incredible. But I also know Shakira the mom, and this version of her is at another level. The way she loves and gives her life for her two children is admirable. Seeing how she enjoys her children, how she talks about them with such pride, how she takes them into account for everything, makes me admire her more.” —Keityn, artist-composer 

Tickets to Billboard‘s Latin Women In Music can be purchased here.

This story is part of Billboard‘s Mujeres Latinas en la Música package.
Karol G’s Mañana Será Bonito made history when it debuted at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart dated March 5. Previously, only two all-Spanish albums led the list, both by Bad Bunny (Un Verano Sin Ti in 2022 and El Último Tour del Mundo in 2020). 

To some, the landmark moment symbolizes a turning point for women in Latin music and beyond. 

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The reality is that when you zoom out of that one history-making feat and look at the bigger picture, women artists (from singers to songwriters and producers) are still underrepresented in Latin music; they’re not streamed as much as men are, and they’re still not having major impact on the charts — artists such as Karol G and Selena notwithstanding. 

Two of the top five Latin albums of 2021 were by women (according to Billboard and MRC Data’s year-end report), only one of those, Karol G’s KG0516, was a new album. The other was Selena’s Ones, a chart mainstay. 

Karol G is also one of only two women who’ve had No. 1 releases on the Top Latin Albums chart between 2020 and 2023: Karol G, with KG0516 (2021) and Mañana Será Bonito (2023), and Selena Gomez, with Revelación (2021). Not a single woman placed a No. 1 album on the chart in 2020 or 2022. So far, men have placed 18 No. 1 albums in the past three years. 

Men outpacing women reflects what we’ve seen since the 1990s, around when the chart was launched. For example, from 2000 to 2009, 23 albums by women peaked at No. 1 on the chart, compared with 123 by men. From 2010 to 2017, just 19 women-led projects, compared with 150 albums by men, ruled the chart. They included the late Jenni Rivera, with six No.1 albums, Thalía with three and Shakira with two. Women did not place a No. 1 album in 2018 or 2019. 

On Hot Latin Songs, the story is similar. In the early 1990s and 2000s, women were scoring more No. 1s. But then there was a shift. From 2010 to 2019 — when reggaetón, a genre led by mostly men, dominated streaming and radio airplay — only 14 No. 1s were by women artists. In that same period, men placed nearly 80 No. 1 songs. 

So far, in the 2020s, men have placed 16 No. 1s on the chart, compared with just eight for women. 

They include Shakira and Bizarrap’s head-turning “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” the first Spanish-language song by a woman to debut in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. That track, in turn, was followed by “TQG” by Shakira and Karol G, which peaked at No. 7, making it two in quick succession. 

So far, in the 2020s, men have placed 16 No. 1s on the Hot Latin songs chart, compared with just eight for women, according to Luminate numbers.

While it is a notable milestone, it also speaks to the lack of women-led tracks on the Hot 100; men have placed 15 No. 1s between 2020 and 2023 thus far. 

Elsewhere, only two women have reached No. 1 on the Latin Songwriters chart: Mexican music up-and-comer Yahritza Martinez (of Yahritza y Su Esencia) and Karol G. And not a single woman has appeared on the Top Latin Producers chart, which ranks the top 10 producers of the week. Both charts were launched in 2019. 

It’s hard to pinpoint why the numbers for women simply aren’t there, but “limited opportunities are definitely part [of the issue],” says Alexandra Lioutikoff, president of Latin America and U.S. Latin at Universal Music Publishing Group. “I think men tend to bring their friends — usually other men — into writing rooms without really thinking twice about it. It’s changing, but it’s going to take more time.” 

The numbers also reflect what is happening outside the United States; more specifically, how women artists are performing in Latin America. According to Luminate data from eight Latin American countries, women make up 23% of the top 100 artists overall in Latin America by total audio and video streams. Men make up 70%. Five percent is mixed (a group made up of women and men), and 2% is null (unable to pull gender makeup). In streaming, based on the top 100 artists, women don’t compare to men. For example, in Colombia, men comprise 79.6% of the streams and women 11.7%. (All data is based on the week ending Feb. 23.) 

The root of the issue is a bit more systemic, says Grammy- and Latin Grammy-winning producer-composer Claudia Brant. If there’s to be any significant change for women representation, it needs to start from the top. “There’s a disconnect when it comes to labels hiring women producers or doing songwriting camps that are all women. It’s always a mix. In most cases it’s 10 men and a woman. That also affects the language that is being used in a song, hence why women are still objects.” 

Brant adds that she hopes more women take more risks to stand out and defy structural or industry expectations. “Rosalía, I don’t know what planet she’s from; she has her own ideas and her own point of view and her own style of producing and writing. She blows everyone’s mind because she doesn’t care, she does whatever she wants.” 

“There’s a disconnect when it comes to labels hiring women producers or doing songwriting camps that are all women. It’s always a mix. In most cases it’s 10 men and a woman. That also affects the language that is being used in a song, hence why women are still objects.” Claudia Brant, songwriter

The Spanish star — who this year became Billboard’s first Women in Music producer of the year honoree — previously expressed to Billboard why producing was a way to gain creative control of her artistry. “I realized that I wanted to decide what I was going to sing. I also wanted to decide what I was going to say and how it would sound,” Rosalía said. “I became a songwriter and producer because I cared way too much.” 

There are organizations that are taking matters into their own hands to advance the representation of women on the charts and beyond. She Is the Music and We Are Moving the Needle focus on mentorship, networking and providing scholarships for women who are in the early stages of their careers. 

“We have the largest global database of female creatives and executives in music,” says Lioutikoff, who is the co-chair of the Latin committee for She Is the Music. “It’s not only placing women in their first jobs in the industry, but also providing one-on-one opportunities for women to learn about the business, whether on the executive or creative side.” 

Brant, who’s part of the Latin Recording Academy’s mentorship program, says that it’s all about telling women that nothing is impossible. “We have to make them understand that it’s doable, that they have to go for their dreams and make them a reality.” 

Tickets to Billboard‘s Latin Women In Music can be purchased here.