Latin Artists Are Turning to Folk Roots to Reclaim Identity

In 2026, as immigration crackdowns and right-wing politics tighten across the Americas, a different kind of response is unfolding in Latin music. Rather than soften their sound for global markets, artists from pop to the avant-garde are doubling down on the folk traditions of their homelands.

Bad Bunny made history in February when DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS became the first all-Spanish project to win the Album of the Year Grammy. His Super Bowl performance layered reggaeton with plena and bomba drums, drawing polarized reactions. Two months later, Karol G became the first Latina to headline Coachella, running through retro reggaeton, bolero, and merengue from Tropicoqueta. Guests Becky G and Wisin spoke directly about dignity and unity in immigrant communities.

These mainstream gestures echo a wider underground current. Dominican jazz pianist Josean Jacobo recalls confronting his own ignorance of traditional Caribbean rhythms while at Berklee. “I was ashamed I could only talk about merengue and bachata,” he says. Returning home, he immersed himself in rural religious ceremonies and música de palo, finding what he calls the jazziest music he had ever heard. Jacobo now situates his work in a lineage stretching from 1970s fusion group Convite to contemporary figures like Rita Indiana and Mula.

Other scenes are following similar paths. In Argentina, trap heavyweights Cazzu and Milo J have folded Andean chacareras and carnavalitos into recent records, a sharp departure from Buenos Aires’ pop and rock exports. In Bolivia, sibling duo Los Thuthanaka challenged Western production norms on their self-titled debut with warped huaynos and caporales.

None of this amounts to a new “Latin boom.” That term, recycled from the late ’90s crossover era, missed the fact that these traditions were never going away. What’s shifting is a refusal to code-switch, a move to center ancestral sounds in full view of the world. It’s a quiet but pointed pushback against erasure.