Celia Cruz may soon get her due on the small screen: film company Endemol Shine North America just optioned her 2005 autobiography for a potential television series with producer/director Kenny Ortega ready to take the lead.

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The option — or contract between a filmmaker and the owner of the source material, in this case a book — will center around Celia: My Life, written Ana Cristina Reymundo from interviews with the Latin icon prior to her death in 2003.

Dubbed the Queen of Salsa, the Cuba native has left an indelible legacy on not just Latin music, but the greater music industry. Cruz earned three career GRAMMY Awards, four Latin GRAMMYs and in 2016 she was recognized with the Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award. A film about her life and career would be a welcome chance to celebrate this legacy.

The production company behind the option is also working on other Latin music star projects, including To Selena With Love and a drama titled " Nicky Jam: El Ganador."

"There is no bigger name in Latin music than Celia Cruz," said Endemol Shine North America CEO Cris Abrego. "We are thrilled to be adapting her amazing life story, one filled with triumph and tragedy, for a dramatic television series with a producer of Kenny Ortega's pedigree attached."

Catching Up On Music News Powered By The Recording Academy Just Got Easier. Have A Google Home Device? "Talk To GRAMMYs"

Those who follow underground Spanish music have known the name Nathy Peluso for a while, but in 2020 the Argentine-Spanish artist came to the attention of a broader audience. That year,  the rapper and singer released her official debut album Calambre, which won a Latin GRAMMY for Best Alternative Album and received a GRAMMY nomination for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album in 2021. 

Four years later, Peluso is back with Grasa [Grease]. Out May 24, the 16 track follow-up is simultaneously bolder, more vulnerable and more revealing than its predecessor, crystalizing the artist's iconoclastic and often cinema-inspired vision.

At Legacy Records, a hotspot for haute Mediterranean fare in Manhattan's Hudson Yards neighborhood, Nathy is draped in an oversized blazer and pants. She looks like a relaxed, elegant CEO and the style becomes her, especially as she balances it with ultra-feminine touches. Today, its long nails tipped in fire-engine red.

Her fashion choices are as pointed as her manicure, on and off stage. In the recent video for "Aprender a Amar," she raps ferociously into a mirror, sharply dressed in a pin-stripe tie, a jacket with exaggerated shoulders, and delicate black lace gloves. These sartorial choices ask, Why settle for a mob-wife aesthetic when you can be a don yourself?

Both visually and aurally, Nathy Peluso is part cinematic diva and part underworld kingpin, with a fair amount of Missy Elliott swagger. Her tough, independent persona was on full display on her now-multimillion streamed 2020 Bizarrap session, which smoldered and crackled with her bombast. It was fully formed on "Business Woman," from Calambre, and returned with a roar on her 2021 single "Mafiosa," a high drama salsa track.  

Her powerful energy is pure hip-hop in steel-toe Timbs, but she performs with the generous spirit of a burgeoning pop star ministering to a big house of fans. On Grasa, Nathy Peluso brings humanity to her braggadocio. This doesn’t stop her from picking up the mafia saga where she left off on Calambre. The opening track is titled "Corleone." 

Ahead of the release of her first album in four years, Nathy Peluso spoke with GRAMMY.com about overcoming creative burnout, taking inspiration from mob movies, and the true meaning of "grasa."

This album is more personal than your previous releases. What led you to open up more lyrically?

I think it just happened because I am growing. I am learning and I need to tell my truth. The way for me to do that is music. It’s been four years, but, when the moment came, I was ready.

Speaking of four years ago, 2020 was a very big year for you. A lot happened. What are your most vivid memories from that time?

Calambre was the moment. It was really special for me. Winning the GRAMMY was the moment, and then touring with that album was an amazing learning experience for me. I grew up on the stage. 

I grew up as a woman, as an artist, as a performer, maybe as a lover too. You are traveling around the world with so much pressure. Physically, it was a difficult show. I was alone on stage, with my musicians, but no dancers. It was a challenge. 

I grew up in so many ways, but when I finished that tour I was broken. My soul was broken. I was empty. I started looking for myself. It was very tough. 

It sounds like you were experiencing creative burnout.

Yes, my brain was broken, but it was necessary in order to start again. I did an album then, but I decided not to go with that album and to start again. So, it was a very long path. 

You wrote a whole album and then discarded it? What wasn’t working about it?

It was working, but it wasn’t the feelings I wanted to share and the music I wanted to share. Sometimes there are projects whose purpose is just to learn from. It was a process of learning for me. That was a very special moment. 

You start feeling like a failure, but no. It was necessary to go through that to get to Grasa. The things I learned were exactly the things I needed to know to then make this music. 

So, how did you overcome this period of burnout and get to the point where you were feeling creative again?

A lot of therapy. A lot of working on my s— and confronting it.

Is there one song on Grasa that is more intense to perform, or more emotional for you than the others?

"Envidia" is talking real s—. Things happen around you and you need to know who you are and what your intention is. You have to be focused on what you want to bring to the world and not care about anything besides your craft. People are going to talk. Things are going to be crazy. You’ve got to know your choice, your path.

Can you tell me about the song "Corleone"? How do gangster movies inspire you?

I have a song called "Mafiosa." It’s a character I love to perform and I see myself in that character. It’s relatable. The mafia have codes that represent me — not everything [laughs] — but, you know, the family, the legacy, working hard, respect. That kind of feeling in music, in cinema, is what I was looking for. I love the aesthetic. I love Tarantino. I love Tony Montana, the character. On stage, I feel like him sometimes. 

I love for a woman to be that type of character. I think it’s interesting. Usually, those kinds of feelings in music or cinema are represented by men. It’s always that way in salsa. If you look at Celia or Gloria, they were always more romantic. Maybe La Lupe was dangerous. For me, it’s important to bring that energy to the music, like, rude, strong, dangerous. Be careful, bitch!

What were some of your specific musical influences while working on this album?

Always folklore and roots, salsa and bolero, but then I was paying attention to Kendrick Lamar and Kanye West. They are a big inspiration for me. 

How do you bridge the gap, or find the connections among your different influences?

I don’t even know. I just do music, really. I go to the studio and I start singing. I just feel it.  I go to the studio, and suddenly I want to sing, and I want to cry. And then another day, I feel powerful and I want drama and aggressive stuff. It’s very honest. The starting point is always the way I feel.

Is it important to you to make music that empowers other women?

Yes. For sure. But it wasn’t ever a strategy, like, "I want to do music for empowering women." I just did my music without direction. Then I discovered people were feeling the power and using it. I feel inspired by that, but it wasn’t the point. 

What does the word "grasa" mean to you?

I chose that word because it’s the strongest word. It’s dirty. It’s funky. But it’s a word that, at least in Spanish, has a lot of meanings. So, I want people to choose the meaning. After listening to the album, you can choose the meaning and maybe redefine it with the album.

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The 2024 GRAMMY nominations are right around the corner — and as always, inspired Latin musical offerings will lie within the heart of the list.

While the Recording Academy’s sister academy, the Latin Recording Academy, naturally honors this world most comprehensively, it plays a crucial role in the GRAMMYs landscape just as in that of the Latin GRAMMYs — and there’s been crossover time and time again!

On Nov. 10, the world will behold nominations in all categories — including several within the Latin, Global, African, Reggae & New Age, Ambient, or Chant field. Within the world of Latin music, the awards are: Best Latin Pop Album, Best Música Urbana Album, Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album, Best Música Mexicana Album (Including Tejano), and Best Tropical Latin Album. The Recording Academy also offers a GRAMMY Award for Best Latin Jazz album, though that award is a part of a different field. 

Like the Recording Academy and GRAMMYs themselves, these categories have evolved over the years. Along the way, various Latin music luminaries have forged milestones in Academy history.

Ahead of the 2024 GRAMMYs nominations, here are some key facts to know about Latin music’s history at the GRAMMYs.

The First Award For Latin Music At The GRAMMYs Was Given In 1975

The first winner for Best Latin Recording was pianist and composer Eddie Palmieri, for 1974’s The Sun of Latin Music. Now an eight-time GRAMMY winner, Palmieri took home the golden gramophone in this category at both the 1976 GRAMMYs and the following year for Unfinished Masterpiece.

At the 1980 GRAMMYs, the first group winner was the thrice nominated Afro-Cuban jazz band Irakere, for their 1978 self-titled debut.

Percussionist Mongo Santamaria holds the record for the most nominations within the Best Latin Recording category.

The Sound Of Latin Pop — And The Title Of The Award — Has Shifted Over 40 Years  

Back in 1983, this category was called Best Latin Pop Performance. The first winner was José Feliciano, who took home the golden gramophone for his album Me Enamoré at the 26th GRAMMY Awards.

Best Latin Pop Performance eventually pivoted to Best Latin Pop Album and Best Latin Pop or Urban Album, then back to Best Latin Pop Album — just another example of how the Academy continually strives for precision and inclusion in its categories.

As for most wins, it’s a tie between Feliciano and Alejandro Sanz, at four. Feliciano also holds the distinction of having two consecutive wins, at the 1990 and 1991 GRAMMYs.

The Best Latin Urban Album Category Was Introduced In 2007

The first winner in this category was the urban hip-hop outfit Calle 13, for their 2007 album Residente o Visitante.

The first female nominee was Vanessa Bañuelos, a member of the Latin rap trio La Sinfonia, who were nominated for Best Latin Urban Album for their 2008 self-titled album at the 2009 GRAMMYs.

Here’s Who Dominated The Best Norteño Album Category

The first GRAMMY winner in the Best Norteño Album category was Los Tigres Del Norte, for their 2006 album Historias Que Contar, at the 2007 GRAMMYs. To date, they have landed four consecutive wins — at the 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 GRAMMYs.

The Intersection Between Latin, Rock & Alternative Has Shifted

Best Latin Rock Or Alternative Album; Best Latin Rock, Alternative Or Urban Album; Best Latin Rock/Alternative Performance… so on and so forth.

If that’s a mouthful, again, that shows how the Academy continually hones in on a musical sphere for inclusion and accuracy’s sake.

Within this shifting category, the first winner was Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, who won Best Latin Rock/Alternative Performance for 1997’s Fabulosos Calavera at the 1998 GRAMMYs.

At the 2016 GRAMMYs, there was a tie for the golden gramophone for Best Latin Rock, Urban Or Alternative Album, between Natalia Lafourcade and Pitbull. Overall, the most wins underneath this umbrella go to Maná, with a total of three.

These Artists Made History In Tropical Latin Categories

Over the years, this component of Latin music has been honored with GRAMMYs for Best Traditional Tropical Latin Performance, Best Traditional Tropical Latin Album, Best Tropical Latin Performance, and Best Tropical Latin Album.

The first winner of a GRAMMY for Best Tropical Latin Performance was Tito Puente & His Latin Ensemble, for "On Broadway," from the 1983 album of the same name.

Under the same category, the first female winner was Celia Cruz, for "Ritmo En El Corazón." Overall, Rubén Blades has taken home the most GRAMMYs under this umbrella, with a total of six.

This Was The First Latin Artist To Win Album Of The Year

Ten-time GRAMMY winner and 14-time nominee Carlos Santana holds this distinction for 1999’s "Supernatural," at the 2000 GRAMMYs.

This Was The First Spanish-Language Album To Be Nominated For Album Of The Year

That would be Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti, at the 2023 GRAMMYs; Bad Bunny also performed at the ceremony, but Harry Styles ended up taking home that golden gramophone.

Ditto Música Mexicana — Formerly Known As Best Regional Mexican Music Album

Música mexicana — a broad descriptor of regional sounds, including Tejano — is having a moment in recent years, which points to the incredibly rich GRAMMYs legacy of these musical worlds.

The first winner for Best Mexican-American Performance was Los Lobos, for 1983’s "Anselma." For Best Regional Mexican or Tejano Album, that was Pepe Aguilar, for 2010’s "Bicentenario."

The Inaugural Trophy For Best Música Urbana Album Went To…

The one and only Bad Bunny, for 2020’s El Último Tour Del Mundo. He took home the golden gramophone again at the 2023 GRAMMYs for Un Verano Sin Ti. 

Keep checking back as more information comes out about the 2024 GRAMMYs — and how the Recording Academy will honor and elevate Latin genres once again!

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Updated Friday Oct. 13, 2023 to include info about Kendrick Lamar's most recent GRAMMY wins, as of the 2023 GRAMMYs.

A GRAMMY veteran these days, Kendrick Lamar has won 17 GRAMMYs and has received 47 GRAMMY nominations overall. A sizable chunk of his trophies came from the 58th annual GRAMMY Awards in 2016, when he walked away with five — including his first-ever win in the Best Rap Album category.

This installment of GRAMMY Rewind turns back the clock to 2016, revisiting Lamar's acceptance speech upon winning Best Rap Album for To Pimp A Butterfly. Though Lamar was alone on stage, he made it clear that he wouldn't be at the top of his game without the help of a broad support system. 

"First off, all glory to God, that's for sure," he said, kicking off a speech that went on to thank his parents, who he described as his "those who gave me the responsibility of knowing, of accepting the good with the bad."

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He also extended his love and gratitude to his fiancée, Whitney Alford, and shouted out his Top Dawg Entertainment labelmates. Lamar specifically praised Top Dawg's CEO, Anthony Tiffith, for finding and developing raw talent that might not otherwise get the chance to pursue their musical dreams.

"We'd never forget that: Taking these kids out of the projects, out of Compton, and putting them right here on this stage, to be the best that they can be," Lamar — a Compton native himself — continued, leading into an impassioned conclusion spotlighting some of the cornerstone rap albums that came before To Pimp a Butterfly.

"Hip-hop. Ice Cube. This is for hip-hop," he said. "This is for Snoop Dogg, Doggystyle. This is for Illmatic, this is for Nas. We will live forever. Believe that."

To Pimp a Butterfly singles "Alright" and "These Walls" earned Lamar three more GRAMMYs that night, the former winning Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song and the latter taking Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (the song features Bilal, Anna Wise and Thundercat). He also won Best Music Video for the remix of Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood." 

Lamar has since won Best Rap Album two more times, taking home the golden gramophone in 2018 for his blockbuster LP DAMN., and in 2023 for his bold fifth album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.

Watch Lamar's full acceptance speech above, and check back at GRAMMY.com every Friday for more GRAMMY Rewind episodes. 

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Born and raised in Harlem, New York, Tito Puente follows a lineage of musicians who have pushed Latin American sounds to the future while holding onto traditional forms and century-old rhythms. There aren't many who could handle the burden of moving forward with an eye on the rearview mirror, but Puente, a son of immigrants, did it gracefully. Whether playing his famous, devilish timbales and his ever-precise vibraphones or arranging multiple orchestras sections, from brass to drums, Tito was a key-figure in shaping Latin American modern music in the U.S. and across the world.

Puente's life was intertwined with music from an early age. First a piano student (his mom enrolled him in a 25 cent class) and then a teenage dancer who loved drumming, he always showed a knack for going beyond reading music scores or reproducing the same old standards. In Tito Puente and the Making of Latin Music, ethnomusicologist Steven Loza, the six-time GRAMMY winner recalled mixing "jazz and Latin music all the time while I was a young kid, you know, studying."

A talented kid who was used to playing at every impromptu stage in Spanish Harlem and who got the chance to attend the Juilliard School of Music, Tito's credentials were solid by the early 1950s when he first started his professional career. From then on, the maestro enlisted in several projects, recordings, and collaborations. It didn't take long for him to become synonymous with the modern Latin Music that was beaming out of the Latino diaspora in the States.  In the 1950s and '60s, Puente helped to shape a melting pot of identities that found common ground on the dance floor.

Tito was the go-to person for the likes of Celia Cruz or La Lupe and an inspirational figure for musicians such as Carlos Santana. Even during the '80s and '90s, he didn't quit touring and writing new music. Sones, montunos, boleros, merengues, salsas, cha cha chas, rumbas, and mambos: there's only so much Puente could carry in his bag, but he made a lot by reassembling all of these cards into more than a hundred albums, countless performances, and several all-time songs.

Tito Puente passed away in 2000, yet his legacy in Latin music continues unabated. In honor of his centennial birthday on April 20, GRAMMY.com revisits 10 essential songs in Tito Puente's canon. 

"Oye Mi Guangancó" (1956)

Cuban Carnival is one of the first albums by Puente fully dedicated to celebrating Cuba's musical plethora — a diverse landscape of claves and patterns where he laid the foundations of his own work. 

"Oye Mi Guagancó" revamps the traditional guagancó, a strain of the complex rumba family, demonstrating his innovative approach early on. Instead of reproducing the genre's essential form, Puente uses the different sections of the song as modules and blends percussion and brass with fine artistry: breakdowns free the way for his timba to shine while saxophones and trumpets wander through melodies and countermelodies that fit each other. 

"Mambo Gozon" (1958)

Dance Mania was a club banger of its time. Released in 1958, the album unleashed a multicolored palette of Latin America-through-New York music with the sounds of Puente's youth wandering Spanish Harlem and sneaking into jazz clubs. 

Tito Puente applied his theoretical learnings from Juilliard in clubs such as the Palladium Ballroom, where he quickly mastered the Afro-Cuban fast-paced, counter-metric heir of montunos that would make him a king: mambo. The genre represented a pivotal point, allowing Puente to arrange, conduct and perform creatively while making the crowd dance. 

One of the highlights of this time, "Mambo Gozon" features flaring and poly melodic horns, rattling marimbas and scrapping guiras, chorus and ad-libs melded together into a single and ordered mess.

"Oye Como Va" (Live w/ El Canario) (1962)

Few songs have embraced so much of the Latin American spirit in popular music as "Oye Como Va." Released in the early '60s, this song was covered and revisited by a number of artists all across the world, from Santana's dreamy guitars to SoundCloud club-made remixes. 

Showcasing his resourceful and inventive arranging skills, Puente imagined an ostinato piano (the guajeo pattern) that creates a cyclical build-up alongside horns and vocals filling up voids with an irresistible sing-along type of melody. The outcome is a genre-bending and yet straightforward take on cha cha cha — another of the several Cuban music genres that fueled Tito's orchestrations, which are reminiscent of Arcaño  y sus Maravillas' "Chanchullo" to and the Champs' "Tequila." 

In this live performance with Dominican singer Jose Alberto  'El Canario', whose flute-like whistle is nothing but amazing, Puente plays at ease — he knows this song is the strongest card in his pocket.  

"El Mambo Diablo" (1963)

Historically, especially in Eurocentric cultures, percussion has played a supporting role in music — from their position behind the band to the fact that bandleaders are usually guitarists, pianists, singers. Tito Puente is amongst the most important artists in the world to have given percussion the weight it deserves, doing so with the help of timbales and also vibraphones, his second home. 

In this live recording of "El Mambo Diablo," a young Tito showcases his skills as both instrumentalist and bandleader, moving swiftly from the main theme to a powerful crescendo and yelling to signal changes to his musicians. For Puente, percussion takes center stage.

"La Guarachera" with Celia Cruz (1966)

Celia Cruz, alongside La Lupe, stands out as one of the most remarkable female vocalists to have shared the frontstage with Puente. By the late '60s, Tito had already established himself as an eminent figure in the making of traditional Cuban music. This was when he first collaborated with Cruz, and their partnership continued for over a decade. 

In "La Guarachera," Puente masterfully blends a frenzied mambo section into the typical guaracha form and engages in a thrilling call-and-response game with Cruz. As they challenge each other, Puente's timbas sound like vocals. This recording is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful and iconic crossovers between Puerto Rican and Cuban music.

Fania All Stars - "Sabor Sabor" (1968)

If Tito Puente has formalized the wide, diverse Latin music idiom in the U.S., Fania Records did the same for salsa. The New York-based label transformed that club music that soundtracked frenzy nights for Latin, brown and Black youth dance into world-famous records — and have never left the dancefloor.

Fania All Stars, a dynamic big band featuring the label's top talent, including Salsoul's founder Joe Bataan, percussionist extraordinaire Ray Barreto, and Puente himself, is a testament to the label's incredible influence. Puente plays a supporting role on "Sabor Sabor," expertly setting the rhythmic pace that drives pianist Eddie Palmieri's feverish and incisive keystrokes.

"Que Falta Tu Me Haces" (1977)

Just like many of his peers, an early career Puente had to master a large repertoire of ballroom classics — from old-time sons, to newly arrived bossa nova tunes and boleros. All the drama and melancholy surrounding this genre seem odd to Tito's oeuvre. 

But even in such an immense collection of upbeat and festive tracks, there's room for some sadness. In the 1977 album The Legend, the composer and arranger goes back to his origins with the wholehearted and bittersweet "Que Falta Tu Me Haces." Alongside Santos Cólon, another of his long-time collaborators, Puente delivers enticing vibraphone lines, an unusual element to bolero's deepness that fits in smoothly.

"Take Five" (1985)

Every jazz musician knows that standards not only provide a common ground for mingling and getting into the mood, but also offer an opportunity to show off and shine amongst peers. Tito Puente's rendition of Paul Desmond's timeless classic is a prime example of this.

Instead of the original song's odd 5/4 stride, Puente opts for a seemingly easier 4/4 pattern. However, it's precisely this welcoming arrangement that allows the maestro to showcase his creativity and take center stage. In his tasteful, upbeat take on "Take Five," Puente leaves ample room for his Latin Ensemble's individual talents to shine. And as the song draws to a close, Puente unleashes a multi-layered, fast-paced timba solo. It's like a minimal, swingy Art Blakey proving that, sometimes, less is more.

"Guajira Soul" (1988)

The relevance of Puente's work cannot be measured solely within the Latin American region and its diaspora. His work has had an impact across different genres, from rock to jazz, by forging sonic connections from the Caribbean to the rest of the world. 

On 1988's Salsa meets Jazz, Tito collaborated with jazz saxophonist Phil Woods and revisited the works of legends like Dizzy Gillespie in "Con Alma." 

Rather than replicating these masters or imitating the jazz idiom, Puente incorporated the trends and sounds of the '70s and '80s, from fusion to electric organs, demonstrating that there is more Latin music in jazz than one might imagine. His "Guajira Soul" is an excellent example of his skillful vibraphone playing in conversation with Mario Rivera's lively flute melodies.

"Mambo Kings Solo (Timbalero)" with Cesar Castillo (1992)

Tito Puente's influence on popular culture extends far beyond the realm of music. By the late 1980s, the legendary musician had already toured the world, earned GRAMMYAwards, and achieved recognition as the godfather of Latin modern music from North to South America. 

A film appearance was just the icing on the cake. His character in the movie Mambo Kings is more than a cameo. Puente portrays himself as a talented musician who lends a helping hand to the Castillo brothers, who have left their hometown of Havana in search of opportunities in New York City. Multi-awarded actor Armand Assante is Carlos, who joins Tito into an impromptu timba jam (or descarga, in Cuban Spanish) in "Timbalero." The frantic and yet short-lived session reaches out to a deadly climax that couldn't be opposite to the joy of the song while embodying all of its energy.

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