Three out of the five acts up for artist of the year at the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards are Mexican music heavy hitters, a reflection of the genre’s stronghold on Latin music today. Fuerza Regida, Grupo Frontera and Peso Pluma are up against Karol G and Bad Bunny in the top category.
In the past year, both Karol and Bunny have scored No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200. The former’s Mañana Será Bonito became the first all-Spanish-language album by a Latin female artist to top the chart. Meanwhile, Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti ruled the tally for 13 nonconsecutive weeks. Mexican-American group Fuerza Regida earned its first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 in January with “Bebe Dame” alongside Grupo Frontera and has since placed a handful of other tracks, including “Ch y La Pizza” with Natanael Cano, “Sabor Fresa” and “TQM.”
Placing more than 20 songs on the Hot 100 this year alone, Peso Pluma leads this year’s finalists with 21 entries. His latest album, Génesis, peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, the highest ranking for a regional Mexican album on the tally. Grupo Frontera, on the other hand, has had a breakout year with eight songs on the Hot 100 and their first top 10 Top Latin Album with their debut set El Comienzo.
Finalists and eventual winners are based on key fan interactions with music, including audio and video streaming, album and song sales, radio airplay and touring, tracked by Billboard and its data partner, Luminate. This year’s awards are based on the chart period of Aug. 13, 2022, through Aug. 12, 2023. So while this is not a fan-voted awards show, we still want to know who you think should win the category. Before you cast your vote, here’s a breakdown of the finalists accomplishments.
The awards ceremony will broadcast live from the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Fla., on Thursday, Oct. 5, and will air on Telemundo. It will also be broadcasted simultaneously on Universo, Peacock, the Telemundo App, and throughout Latin America and the Caribbean on Telemundo Internacional.
Vote for your favorite artist in our fan poll below! (Editor’s note: The poll winner does not reflect the award decision.)
Purchase tickets to the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Week here.
This story originally appeared on Billboard
