Best Latine Albums of 2023

Latine recording artists and musicians have had a significant impact on music and popular culture in recent history. They’ve influenced a wide range of genres and styles, including the contemporary phenomenons of Puerto Rican reggaeton and Dominican dembow, and are reimagining traditional sounds like regional Mexican music and Colombian cumbia. And everyone is tuned in.

In 2022, Bad Bunny’s World’s Hottest Tour set the global record for the highest-grossing tour in a calendar year, earning more than $435 million across 81 shows. The Un Verano Sin Ti rapper-singer was heralded as the first Spanish-language artist in Grammy history to be nominated in the coveted Album of the Year category at the 65th awards ceremony. According to a year-end report from Luminate, an entertainment data company, fellow Puerto Rican wordsmith Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Encanto became the second best-selling digital album of 2022, with its catchy “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” emerging as the most consumed digital song of the year. And in March, Karol G’s Mañana Será Bonito made an unprecedented appearance on the Billboard 200 albums chart, marking both the first No. 1 for the artist and the chart’s first No. 1 all-Spanish-language album by a woman artist. 

With 2023 in full swing, it’s time to consider some of the year’s most anticipated bodies of work from rising Latine artists such as Yendry and DannyLux. This wave of talent is making it clear that the prevalence and popularity of Latine music isn't going anywhere. Keep reading for a full rundown of all the exciting new studio projects by Ice Spice, Karol G, Myke Towers, Rauw Alejandro, and more artists to look forward to.

Mañana Será Bonito is the Colombian pop star’s fourth studio album and the first Spanish-language LP by a woman to open at the top of the Billboard 200. In March, Karol G eclipsed SZA’s “SOS” on the Billboard 200 after nearly 10 consecutive weeks on top. Mañana Será Bonito opens with the equivalent of 94,000 sales in the United States, including 119 million streams and 10,000 copies sold as a complete package, according to data from the tracking service Luminate, via Billboard. The 17-track project, which Karol has previously described as confessional and filled with her boldest songs yet, boasts a diverse set of features, including Panamanian reggaetonero Sech, Mexican indie-pop singer and guitarist Carla Morrison, and dancehall legend Sean Paul. 

The rapper from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, debuted in the Top 10 of Top Latin Albums Chart with La Vida es Una. Myke Towers' third studio LP clocks in at No. 9, picking up his third straight top 10. Delayed twice, La Vida es Una follows Lyke Myke, which held in the top 10 for four consecutive weeks in 2021, while Easy Money Baby (2020) earned him his first No. 1. The 23-track offering includes collaborations with reggaetón luminaries such as Arcangel and Ozuna. The Daddy Yankee-assisted “Ulala” peaked at No. 30 in February and sits at No. 1 on the all-genre Latin Airplay chart at the time of writing. “We are the trendsetters,” Towers told the Los Angeles Times regarding Puerto Rico’s influence in Latin pop music. “We’ll be making music that people will remember for 20 years on.

The part-Dominican, part-Nigerian rapper from the Bronx released her studio debut Like..? in January, which entered at No. 37 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The six-track offering is underscored by viral hits like “Munch (Feelin’ U),” “Bikini Bottom,” and “In Ha Mood.” Dubbed the “People’s Princess,” loosely and comically after Princess Diana (who is often remembered for her grace), Ice Spice is one of the most relevant artists in drill music, a genre with roots in Chicago and popularized in places like New York and London. 

Kali Uchis’ third album, Red Moon in Venus, debuted at No. 2 and marked her first top 10 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart. The Colombian-American R&B-pop artist calls her latest body of work very feminine, romantic, and erotic. “I look at soul as an underlying term for my music. I sing and I write from my soul, and so I just look at all my music as soul music because of that,” the Virginia-born singer told NPR in March. “I don't really think too much about genres when I'm creating. It's more so what I wanted to give. I wanted it to feel timeless. I wanted it to feel romantic.” With songs like “I Wish You Roses,” which peaked at 81 on the Billboard Hot 100, “Worth the Wait,” and “Deserve Me,” she says she drew from self-love.

Following his fourth straight top 10 on Billboard's Top Latin Albums chart with Saturno, which debuted at No. 2 in November of 2022, Puerto Rican singer Rauw Alejandro drops RR alongside Spanish singer Rosalía. The three-cut EP is a product of his new and very public love, highlighted by the viral audiovisual of “Beso,” where the twosome announced their passionate engagement. The video is concurrently trending on YouTube with 24 million views, while the pair performed their EP for the first time on the “Saturno World Tour” stops in San Juan.

Eladio Carrión dropped his latest album — 3MEN2 KBRN — on March 17, and it has proven the project's title to be true: the Kansas City, Missouri-born, Humacao, Puerto Rico-raised Latin trap rapper is tremendo cabrón (in the best way). The 18-track LP features collaborations with Bad Bunny on the controversial “Coco Chanel” as well as rap giants like Lil Wayne, who you can hear on the "Gladiador" remix, 50 Cent, whose on "Si Salimos," and Future, whose iconic voice can be heard on the “Mbappé” remix. Unsurprisingly, 3MEN2 KBRN debut at No. 3 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums, with Carrión wrapping up his KBRN series besting his last project, SEN2 KBRN, Vol. 2.

At 23, Manuel Turizo's career is just taking off — and with his latest drop, 2000, he proves he's here to stay. On the album, the Colombian artist refuses to limit himself to just one genre, dabbling with reggaeton, bachata, R&B, house, merengue, ballads, and more. The 15-track project includes his massive hit, “La Bachata,” which spent 21 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and 31 weeks in the Spotify Top 50, peaking at No. 3. There's also a collaboration with Argentine singer María Becerra on the romantic track “Éxtasis” as well as the surprise collab with Marshmello on the electro-merengue track “El Merengue.”

The first Afrobeats album by a reggaeton artist, Ozuna’s Afro harmonizes West African and Afro-Caribbean instrumentation with expressions of a romantic summer in his native San Juan. Executive produced by Ozuna himself, the album steps out of his usual urban-Caribbean sound and includes collaborations with Afrobeats artists Davido and Omah Lay as well as up-and-coming urban trap artist Amarion. With millions of streams across platforms and a No.1 on Billboard’s Latin Airplay chart, Afro is a must-listen.

Medellín star Feid fuses his classic sentimental reggaeton with Afrobeats, house, EDM, and alternative music in his latest album, Mor, No Le Temas a la Oscuridad. The project includes several chart-topping songs, including Niña Bonita with Sean Paul, Luces de Tecno and Bubalu, an Afrobeats song featuring Rema that compares their lovers to the famous Colombian gummy brand, Trululu. The title of the 15-track album is a reference to the ‘90s Nickelodeon show, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, and it symbolizes Feid’s rise from the shadows into his newfound fame, Fied told Billboard this year. With more than 20 billion streams across platforms, 5 Latin grammy nominations, and consistent top 10 placements in Spotify’s daily global artist chart, Ferxxo doesn’t seem to be letting go of his spotlight anytime soon. 

The first Black singer in Latin America to earn one billion streams on Spotify, Grammy award-winning Ludmilla is here to show us that she is not done delivering chart-topping hits with her latest album Vilã. A mix of R&B, trap, pop, and funk carioca, the album contains more than 17 featured artists, including Stefflon Don, Tasha & Tracie, Topo La Maskara, Piso 21, and Tropkillaz. Ludmilla debuted on Billboard’s charts this year with her son, No_se_ve.mp3, and she is rightfully known as the “Rainha da Favela” (Queen of the Favela) in Brazil.

Drawing up controversy — and even death threats — for its narcocorrido track GÁVILAN II, there is no doubt that Peso Pluma's Génesis is both one of the most-liked and most-disliked albums of 2023. Containing collaborations with Eladio Carrión, Natanael Cano, Junior H, Luis R Conriquez, and more, the 17-track project earned Peso Pluma his first No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Latin albums and Billboard’s Regional Mexican Albums Charts. Staying true to the classic regional Mexican corridos sound, Peso Pluma adds elements of trap and hip-hop to build upon the modern “tumbados” take on the genre.

Before he started experimenting with rumba, cumbia, pop, indie, rock, punk, house, bachata, corridos, and other genres, Bad Bunny was originally known as “the king of Latin trap,” and he’s back to reclaim his crown with his latest album, nadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana. Taking Drake’s No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart, Bad Bunny’s 22-track LP incorporates the work of many other talented artists, sampling classics by legends like Tego Calderón, Madonna, and Charles Aznavour, and featuring several Puerto Rican artists such as Young Miko, Bryant Myers, and Eladio Carrión. Also including a number of controversial lyrical references, nadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana has already gotten so many people talking.