After five years of Latin music's meteoric ascent in the American mainstream, it's hardly surprising — at least to anyone paying attention — that Bad Bunny and Rosalía's exhilarating new albums have eclipsed even the most popular Anglophone artists of today. While the Puerto Rican heartthrob's summer smash, "Un Verano Sin Ti," outpaced Drake and Taylor Swift for longest-running No. 1 record of 2022, the Spanish flamenco star's "Motomami" outranked Beyoncé's "Renaissance" on Metacritic and won her the coveted Latin Grammy for album of the year.
As two young, adventurous artists at the top of their game, Bad Bunny and Rosalía have earned their place atop critics' polls and the charts. But lest the world forgets that plenty of other artists exist in Spanish-language music today, here are five standout albums from 2022 that deserve your attention.
Rauw Alejandro, "Saturno"
