Donate | NPR Shop | NPR Community | Login | Register
The fastest growing segment of the U.S. population is Hispanic. The music they are listening to has fueled a boom in Latin record sales and radio formats, with the Latin hip-hop style called reggaeton being the hottest. But another style has been bubbling just beneath the surface for almost a decade: Latin Alternative. Our four-part series explores the genre.
Last year no fewer than eight bands from Monterrey, Mexico, were invited to play at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas. Some have called Monterrey the Seattle of Latin Alternative music, in reference to Seattle's role in the early 1990s as the incubator of grunge rock.
()
One of the biggest names in Latin music is not some hot young pop star, but a bearded 54-year-old producer. Gustavo Santaolalla has a reputation for guiding and producing some of the most adventurous names in Latin Alternative, and also won an Oscar this year for his Brokeback Mountain score.
()
Latin alternative can mix salsa and rock, or flamenco and hip-hop. It's wildly popular in the Spanish-speaking world, but it has yet to find that widespread popularity in the United States.
()
An eclectic range of influences is at the heart of Latin Alternative, a music created by young players who have been raised not only on their parents' music but also on rock, hip-hop and electronica. It represents a sonic shift away from regionalism and points to a new global Latin identity.
()
