Shielded by the shadow of his signature cowboy hat, Bobby Pulido took to the stage of the Latin Grammys to accept the award for best Tejano album. It was his third time accepting a win in the category, but it was his first as a member-elect in the U.S. House of Representatives.
One week earlier, the Democrat won a competitive race to flip Texas' Republican-held 15th Congressional district. Onstage, he confirmed his retirement from a monumental music career, but underscored his gratitude in representing both the politics and music of the Lone Star State.
“I have so much pride to be from Texas, to be Tejano, and to represent this music,” Pulido told the audience Thursday.
The appearance from the future congressman was one of several long-dormant political references during this year’s ceremony in Las Vegas. From red carpet interviews to main stage performances, emboldened artists called for international unity and representation across the diaspora.
Ten years ago, the Latin Grammys made headlines for restricting journalists for asking political questions on the red carpet. In past performances, artists proudly denounced racism in American politics and brought attention to human rights crises in Mexico. A 2016 policy quieted this advocacy in the years that followed.
After historic milestones for representation in the recent midterm elections, propelled in no small part by Latino voters, Pulido's double victory matched similar messages championing change across music and politics.
“We have to represent,” Pulido said in his speech. “We have to get to work, to use our voice for something different.”
The Latin Grammys did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press on Friday.
Artists push advocacy across the Americas
Daddy Yankee opened his crowning performance as the Person of the Year honoree draped in a flowing cape of the Puerto Rican flag. Building on a landmark year of advocacy from Boricua artists, Yankee proclaimed: "Puerto Rico isn't small. The map is small."
"Years ago the government even thought that we were criminals, that we had no future," said Yankee in his acceptance speech. "Once I dreamed of being a baseball player. So I'm grateful that I'm getting hits here in the big leagues, at the Grammys."
Silvana Estrada, a Mexican folk musician with a legacy of advocating against femicide in her home country, told the AP that the role of a musician today is “super important.”
"Artists should step forward without fear and say what we think, because that's how we encourage the people who follow us to find that confidence in themselves," said Estrada, who's single "Dime" was awarded best singer-songwriter song.
In the most overtly political moment of the night, Brazilian artist Anitta 's victory for best pop contemporary Portuguese album marked the first time an award in the language was handed out during the televised ceremony. Anitta used her platform to call for unity across the different communities of Latin America and in her home country.
“For many years Black culture was erased in Brazil,” Anitta said. “This album comes to help with that, so that Black culture in Brazil is strong forever.”
Latin Grammys ‘get political’?
Getting ready for the red carpet, Anamaria Sayre of NPR's "Alt.Latino" had one major question on her mind. She asked online: "Are the Latin Grammys going to get political tonight?"
Sayre is a producer of El Tiny, the Latino version of NPR's Tiny Desk, where she's followed the shift in alternative musicians being recognized by the Latin Recording Academy, especially ones who, she said, "overtly" center their advocacy in their art.
Sayre attributes this wave of genre-bending creativity to the very reason the Latin Grammys were founded. “We needed a whole other Grammys to fit all of the different types of music that come out of Latin America,” she told the AP.
Political turnover took place across the Western Hemisphere this year, with broader right-wing movements across Latin America matched by progressive shifts in the U.S. and Brazil. "It doesn't split that cleanly," Sayre added, which, to her, underscored the correlation between musical and political change-making even more.
“I don’t think you can ever look at music, or how we value music, as independent from a political landscape,” Sayre said.
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Associated Press journalist Leslie Ambriz in Los Angeles contributed reporting.