In 2021, Brazilian DJ ALOK founded an institute to foster the socio-environmental development of Brazil, India, Mozambique, Madagascar, and Malawi. The following year, he spearheaded the foundation's The Future Is Ancestral project to create awareness of the need to preserve and understand indigenous communities — doing so through the power of music.

In collaboration with artists from seven indigenous tribes from different regions of Brazil, ALOK will produce an albums called The Future Is Ancestral. One of the featured tribes is YAWANAWÁ, a Brazilian indigenous community whose traditional chants and songs celebrate their deep, ancient relationship with music and nature.

In this episode of Global Spin, watch ALOK and the YAWANAWÁ tribe light up the United Nations' rooftop with an upbeat performance of "SHINA VAISHU," one of the many songs from The Future Is Ancestral. This performance kicked off New York City's Climate Change Week on September 16, 2022, which also saw a series of panels uplifting indigenous peoples' impact on climate change.

ALOK Institute will release The Future is Ancestral in September, with all proceeds donated to the indigenous communities. "What we did with ALOK was to record our music to pass it on from generation to generation," Rasu YAWANAWÁ said in a press release. "Because one day, this will be necessary to share with men who have no knowledge of what the forest is."

After the release of The Future is Ancestral, ALOK Institute will release another six collections, all featuring original recordings of ancient traditional tribal music from various indigenous communities that have never been recorded before. These albums will be released through the label Native Sounds, created by ALOK Institute specifically for this project and to create an outstanding collection of indigenous music and their culture.

Press play on the video above to watch ALOK and the YAWANAWÁ tribe's magnetic performance of "SHINA VAISHU," and check back to GRAMMY.com for more new episodes of Global Spin.

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The 2024 Latin GRAMMYs will kick off in a major way on Thursday, Nov. 14. The Latin Recording Academy announced the performers and hosts for its annual Latin GRAMMY Premiere, which takes place just hours before the Latin GRAMMY Awards and where the majority of the awards will be presented.

Hosted by Latin GRAMMY nominees María Becerra, Juliana and Luísa Sonza, the Latin GRAMMY Premiere will feature performances by Ale Acosta and Valeria Castro (Best Latin Electronic Music Performance), Alok (Best Latin Electronic Music Performance), Fonseca (Record Of The Year, Best Contemporary Tropical Album & Best Tropical Song), Leonel García (Best Singer-Songwriter Album & Best Short Form Music Video), Grupo Niche (Record Of The Year), Draco Rosa (Best Rock Song & Best Pop/Rock Album), Rozalén (Best Singer-Songwriter Album & Best Singer-Songwriter Song), and Vikina and Deorro (Best Latin Electronic Music Performance).

The Latin GRAMMY Premiere will stream live from the Miami Beach Convention Center across all Latin Academy platforms (YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, X and Instagram) on Thursday, Nov. 14, beginning at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET.

"I'm excited to kick off The Biggest Night in Latin Music with our Latin GRAMMY Premiere," said Manuel Abud, CEO of The Latin Recording Academy. "With an amazing lineup of performers, we will reveal the winners in 50 of 58 Latin GRAMMY categories, showcasing the diversity of our community of creators throughout Ibero-America."

Grecia Medina and Macarena Moreno will serve as co-executive producers of the event, working under the direction of The Latin Recording Academy's production team led by Ayleen Figueras. 

Read More: 2024 Latin GRAMMYs Performers Announced: Carlos Vives, Luis Fonsi, Alejandro Fernández, Juan Luis Guerra & More

Following the Latin GRAMMY Premiere, and prior to the telecast, guests will enjoy the Official Latin GRAMMY Party at 601 Terrace at the Kaseya Center, sponsored by Miami-Dade County and the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, American Airlines, Junta de Andalucía, Bulova, Espolòn Tequila, Gary Nader Art Centre, Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey, Mastercard, Rums of Puerto Rico, Tito's Handmade Vodka and Verizon Wireless.

The 2024 Latin GRAMMYs telecast will be produced by TelevisaUnivision, the leading Spanish language media and content company in the world, and will air live on Univision, UniMás, Galavisión and ViX beginning at 8 p.m. ET/PT (7 p.m. Central), preceded by a one-hour pre-show starting at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

For the latest news, visit the official Latin Recording Academy site at LatinGRAMMY.com.

Latin music is driven by rhythm and beat, with percussive instruments defining genres from samba to salsa, champeta to tango. As music evolves in an ever-technological age, artists have increasingly turned to computer and synth-powered instrumentation to explore Latin styles through an electro lens. 

Latin and electronic fusions have opened new genres by blending organic instrumentation into electronic hardware. From Latin house, electro-cumbia and trip-hop-flavored tango, Latin electronic music is accelerating at an exhilarating pace, dominating the airwaves from the radios to the clubs. 

At the 2024 Latin GRAMMYs, artists, producers and DJs in the Field are being recognized in the brand-new Best Latin Electronic Music Performance Category. Find the list of the first-ever nominees for this exciting new Category below, and be sure to tune into the 2024 Latin GRAMMYs, officially known as the 25th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards, on Thursday, Nov. 14, at 8 p.m. ET/PT (7 p.m. CT) on Univision, Galavisión and ViX to see who wins.

Read more: 8 Essential Latin Electronic Releases: Songs And Albums From Bizarrap, Arca & More

Ale Acosta is a producer from Spain’s Canary Islands, widely known as one-half of the pop/flamenco duo Fuel Fandango. His debut solo EP, El Porvenir, an electronic project dedicated to his Lanzarote home and named after a famous nightclub on the island. The album’s artwork features a piece of volcanic rock — symbolic of the rugged island terrain — transformed into a disco ball.

Album single "La Ceniza" features the quivering vocals of fellow Canarian Valeria Castro and was born from an informal studio session between the two artists in 2021. The song centers on a lyric that translates as "the ash burns more than what I think," and the line turned out to be hauntingly prophetic. Shortly after the studio session, the Cumbre Vieja volcano erupted in La Palma, one of the lesser-populated islands in the Canarian archipelago. The eruption lasted for months and devastated thousands of homes, and "La Ceniza" was subsequently put on hold.

A few years later, Acosta rediscovered Castro’s vocal track and began experimenting. Inspired by house producers like Bonobo and Four Tet, as well as the distinctive percussive elements from the Canary Islands, the song combines a pop melody with a danceable beat to create a gorgeously layered, introspective track.

Alok is a heavyweight DJ from Brazil who has collaborated with pop icons ranging from Ellie Goulding to John Legend, and is regularly mentioned in the same breath as top DJs such as David Guetta, Martin Garrix, and Steve Aoki.

With the 2024 album, The Future Is Ancestral, Alok has turned his focus to the musical traditions of his country. He honors Indigenous styles of music by collaborating with over 50 Indigenous musicians from eight Brazilian ancestral communities. 

The track "Pedju Kunumigwe" exudes hope and collectivism, and weaves in the sounds of birdsong. It is sung by the Guarani Nhandewa, who live in the Mato Grosso do Sul and Paraná states in southern Brazil, along the Paraguay border. Their optimistic lyrics invite children to listen to the birdsong with the lyrics: "Come, let’s see together! He is singing and we are walking along the bird path.."

The track was recorded at a time when the Guarani Nhandewa’s homelands were threatened by industry-favoring bills under the Jair Bolsonaro government. The group saw Alok’s project as an opportunity "to bring to the greatest number of people the knowledge of our struggle and our resistance that we have been doing for 524 years."

The Future Is Ancestral has been recognized by UNESCO for its relevance to the International Decade of Indigenous Languages. In 2022, Alok launched the Instituto Alok to support philanthropic projects in Brazil, India, and Africa. All royalties from The Future Is Ancestral are given to Indigenous musicians.

"Drum Machine" is a testament to Alok’s versatility as a DJ. The Brazilian artist teams up with the elusive masked DJ Pickle to ensure dance floor mayhem. 

He strips his music back to basics, getting to the heart of pure EDM frenzy through beat alone. The track starts with a thudding core beat set at 128 BPM, driven by a pounding bass drum, which is then layered with snares, cymbals, and claps. 

While instrumental and almost clinically rhythmic, the track is a sonic rollercoaster that packs in multiple drops and build-ups  —  all despite its concise running time of under three minutes. The pureness of "Drum Machine" offers nostalgia for early 2010s EDM, where artists emphasized beat, energy and adrenaline-inducing drops.

It’s an extraordinary challenge to breathe new life into a globally massive hit, but Tiësto has managed to do just that with his remix of Bizarrap & Shakira’s record-breaking session, "Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53." 

The veteran Dutch trance DJ has been increasingly collaborating with Latin artists. In 2021, he remixed Farukko's "Pipas," and this year he collaborated with Karol G on "Contigo" and remixed Myke Towers’ "La Falda." On "Vol.53 (Tiësto remix)", the Dutchman speeds up the tempo and underscores the track with ravey synths central to his trademark anthemic style.  

First released in January 2023, the original "Vol. 53" rocketed to No. 9 on Billboard’s Hop 100 and became the fastest Latin track to reach 100 million views on YouTube, thanks to Shakira’s hard-nosed diss lyrics coupled with Biza’s infectiously catchy beats. 

The track won the coveted Latin GRAMMY Song of the Year at the 2023 Latin GRAMMYs, bringing Shakira’s Latin GRAMMY wins up to 14 awards (she has also won three GRAMMYs), and Bizarrap’s at three Latin GRAMMY Award wins. The track inspired the title of Shakira’s 2024 album, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, which includes the Tiësto remix as a bonus track. 

Read More: Shakira's Road To Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran: How Overcoming A Breakup Opened A New Chapter In Her Artistry

When the new Category for Best Latin Electronic Music Performance was confirmed earlier this year, Mexican American DJ Deorro was ecstatic. He told GRAMMY.com that the new Category "shows that what we’re doing is working, we’re breaking down doors, and we’re creating more opportunities for artists like us in the future."

Together with Miami-based, Cuban Ecuadorian vocalist Vikina, Deorro has earned a nomination for "BAMBOLE," a house track that veers into heavy EDM drops. Melding Spanish and English lyrics, the song is an ode to the dance floor, with Vikina singing "we’re losing control" as Deorro revs up the beat. 

Both artists are no strangers to the Latin electronic scene. Deorro has hits that fuse regional Mexican styles with party beats and has collaborated with Los Tucanes de Tijuana, while Vikina has worked with artists including Pitbull and Robbie Rivera.

Watch: Deorro On His Ultra Music Fest Debut, Connecting With The Crowd | On The Road

On March 22, Bodine unveiled her latest EP, Quemo Lento. Translating to "I burn slow," the eight-song project displays the duality of pain and pleasure — but on the EP's only piano-driven track, "Bambi," it's all heartache.

"It's short, but it explains everything it has to explain in that minute," Bodine said of the song in an interview with Univision. "It describes the feeling of slow-burning, a pain so deep that it is inexplicable."

In the latest episode of Global Spin, the Amsterdam-born, San Juan-raised artist performs a stripped-down version of "Bambi." Mirroring the black-and-white imagery of the song's music video, the performance is even more haunting than the original with just a piano and her soprano vocals.

Quemo Lento has been touted for its dreamy visuals and experimental sound. As of press time, Bodine has released four music videos from the EP, most recently delivering the visual for "Nalgaje," featuring fellow Dutch rapper Zefanio.

Earlier this year, Bodine made her SXSW stage debut and performed a string of shows throughout Puerto Rico to celebrate the release of Quemo Lento.

Press play on the video above to watch Bodine's chilling performance of "Bambi," and remember to check back to GRAMMY.com for more new episodes of Global Spin.

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The mission for The Snuts' third album, Millennials, was to tap into "the emotions that we maybe haven't processed" and put "those big boiling points in your life" into song. And on their B-side, "Novastar," the Scottish indie rock band takes autonomy of their actions and emotions.

"Hey, mama, what you gon' tell me? I can be a heartbreaker, troublemaker, sunshaker/ Yeah, you better bet on me," they declare. "Alive/ I'm a Novastar, coming of age."

In this episode of Global Spin, The Snuts deliver an electrifying performance of "Novastar," playing each of their instruments live in the studio.

The Snuts released the standard and deluxe versions of Millennials on February 23 via Happy Artist Records, their imprint via The Orchard.

"On the last record, there was a bit more nuance," frontman Jack Cochrane said in a press statement. "With this one, we wanted to see how it would feel if we went more direct on the songs and to connect as easily as possible."

They recently wrapped the North American and European leg of the project's accompanying tour. In May, they'll perform a string of shows in Australia and Japan with support from Eliza & the Delusionals.

Press play on the video above to watch The Snuts' explosive performance of "Novastar," and check back to GRAMMY.com for more new episodes of Global Spin.

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