The 10 Best Latin Albums of 2022

Estrada’s blistering and unpredictable vocal skills are far beyond her 25 years. The Venezuelan artist paints tender images across her second studio album; a cello, double bass and the light-weight strums of a jarana serve as embellishments to cathartic stories that radiate anguish and love in equal measure. Sometimes those mournful lyrics are whispered, other times they’re fervently declared, but both techniques are done with an undeniable conviction that invites listeners to sit inside the track — language barrier or not — and feel every word. A student of jazz, Estrada pulls together an impressive combination of traditional folk music with sophisticated arrangements. “And if I had known that for you it was so small/ I would have been wiser when giving you my heart/ And if I had known that for you everything was a game/ That summer between your kisses, I wouldn’t have written this song,” she sings in the closing lines of the title track. The immersive record was greeted with high acclaim this year, granting Estrada a win for best new artist at the Latin Grammys. (Glassnote)

The relaxed swagger of Anitta’s “Versions of Me” is as effective as it is contagious. With ease, she hops between English, Spanish and Portuguese across an eclectic sonic landscape that pays homage to funk carioca, while remaining anchored in hip-hop and masterful pop songwriting. It’s not a cohesive or thematic record by any means — but there’s an undeniable charm in the disorienting switch between an electro-pop bop, like the set’s title track, and anthemic reggaetones like the Chencho Corleone-featuring “Gata,” where the singer deftly struts alongside the Plan B veteran over a sample of the Puerto Rican duo’s “Guatauba.” In the trap-pop “Girl From Rio,” which interpolates “Girl From Ipanema,” she buoyantly sings of her hometown and proudly proclaims: “Hot girls, where I’m from, we don’t look like models/ Tan lines, big curves and the energy glows.” In the end, the 15-song set is held together by Anitta’s hustler persona and her unique palette of influences. (Warner Records)

A jaunty mélange of electro-house and hyper-pop, “Last Spa on Earth” offers an open invite for broadminded listeners to step into the mystical world of experimental reggaeton. Almost entirely recorded in Spanish, the 12-track set is a distinctive stray from the Chicago-based band’s 2019 psych-pop debut. And despite the fact that the internet has completely dissolved the restraints of genre boundaries, tracks like “Mona” and “Ecstasy” prove there’s still something illicitly alluring in switching between seemingly incompatible sounds in a span of three minutes. Through the twinkling synth-pop production of fourth track “XO,” the combination of Camilo Medina, Javier Forero and Guillermo Rodriguez-Torres’ ooey-gooey vocals bring the track — and the record itself — to its full potential. (Winspear)

The arrival of “Esquemas” marked a formative moment for the Mexican American pop star, whom fans originally met as a young, aspiring rapper back in 2013. Becky stands her ground alongside heavyweights like Karol G on the massive hit “Mamiii,” which expertly blends both of the women’s musical roots (Becky with mariachi, Karol with reggaeton), and “Fulianito,” which borrows the intoxicating tempos of Dominican rhymer El Alfa. Its carefully crafted narrative of personal liberation, equal parts optimistic and self-assured, sits atop addictive pop melodies with a taste of doo-wop and disco-pop making its way into several of the bilingual tracks. The record reads like a portrait of the singer’s artistic evolution as she finally unleashes what she’s been contending with her whole musical career. (Kemosabe Records/RCA Records).

When ambitious artists venture to re-record classic hits, it can often be a disappointing set-up, but Quesada — celebrated for his work in Black Pumas and Grupo Fantasma — deftly re-imagines the striking texture of ‘60s psych-rock boleros with this collection. The 12-song album revisits the golden age of bolero classics, when Cuba and Puerto Rico were the main importers of the dramatic and overly sentimental ballads. Acts like Los Pasteles Verdes, a Mexico-based group that began recording in the 1970s, exemplified the sound: fizzling electric keys, harpsichord strings and operatic singing. An instrumentally rich record, “Boleros Psicodélicos” honors Los Pasteles and other cult favorites, but with a modern twist; tons of added reverb, an electric organ and the warbly, distorted sounds of a mellotron set the stage for Latin indie artists to display their vast vocals. Highlights come from Puerto Rican singer-songwriter iLe, who howls through “Mentiras Con Cariño,” and R&B pop artist Girl Ultra, whose quivering voice haunts “El Payaso.” (ATO Records)

The digital sounds and extraterrestrial visuals of “Saturno” offer listeners a glimpse into the experimental status of Alejandro’s evolving artistry. Though the album itself has been classified as reggaeton, the landscape is heavily layered — at times juggling flashy dance-punk beats with twines of raw hyper-pop in a way that draws comparisons to the neoperreo that started sprouting in the early ’00s. Its lead single, “Punto 40” with Baby Rasta, is a cover of the latter’s ‘98 reggaeton hit that puts a fresh spin on an old-school sound with guiding synths and booming bass. The record’s most exciting moments are unexpected; take for example “Corazón Despeinado,” where Alejandro raps over a maximalist cyber-pop beat as a high-pitched choir flows through the chorus and marks their presence in scattered ad-libs throughout the track. (Sony Music Latin)

Feid has been consistently releasing records for the majority of the past four years, and after dropping a slate of hard-hitting singles this year, this robust set of reggaeton bangers further cements the Colombian artist as one to watch. The beginning of the record culminates into a pair of EDM-infused tracks, “Belixe” and “Nieve,” where the Medellín native demonstrates his elastic rhymes over beaming keys, creating an addictive combination of electro-reggaeton. His layered harmonies and syllabic flow shine on the percussive “Quemando Calorías,” where he finds exhilarating ways to tie together nostalgic drum patterns and ambient beats. The only feature on the set comes from Puerto Rican rapper Yandel, not that any additional guests were necessary. Feid shines on his sixth full-length effort, making it nearly impossible to not click replay by the time you reach the end of the 15 songs. (Universal Music Latin)

Misery loves company. The melancholic lyricism that pours over Apollo’s debut record prompted fans to share their own stories of broken-hearted revelations via TikTok to the confessional “Evergreen (You Didn’t Deserve Me At All).” But “Ivory” is far from a slow-tempo exhibition. The Indiana-born singer shows off his tremendously expressive scope in various tracks like the standout “En El Olvido,” which could prompt an entire dissertation of its own, as Apollo expertly tackles the intricacies of nostalgic rancheras, a mariachi-led Mexican genre best used to relay sorrowful tales of love. Apollo’s voice takes on new resonance in songs like “Killing Me” and “Tamagotchi,” where he raps in Spanish: “Ando de gira y todos me siguen, los chicos me quieren tocar,” (“I’m on tour and everyone’s following, the boys want to touch me”) over a Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo-produced beat. (Warner Records)

The delusions and illusions of love and heartbreak read like a stream of consciousness on Eslabon Armado’s fifth record. “Nostalgia” finds its footing on quintessential ballads like “Hasta La Muerte,” tinged with hushed confessions between firey guitar strums, and lives up to its name in other moments; “Mente En Alto” and “La Perrie” heavily lean on traditional corrido chord progressions and are charged with humble declarations that it takes hard work and sacrifice to be successful. The plaintive keys of closer “Solo Pa’ Decir” come as somewhat of a surprise, where for the first time in the set, the plucky notes of an acoustic guitar are dropped for a stripped-back track about an estranged love affair. The album quickly became a leader for the Mexican-American quartet, earning them a top 10 spot on the Billboard 200. (DEL Records)

In between mambo, reggaeton and dembow beats, “Un Verano Sin Ti” reads like a love letter to the island of Puerto Rico, addressing issues like displacement and the island’s widespread power outages in “El Apagón,” while painting a picture of what it means to be a Caribbean woman on “Andrea.” Beyond its edgy declarations, the universal appeal of the LP has led to several record-breaking and historic wins; it made history as the first all-Spanish-language album to be nominated in the album of the year category at the Grammys and it spent more time at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 than any other album this year. The 23 songs on “Un Verano” will forever be synonymous with the sticky summer of 2022, and for those lucky enough to have experienced the record live during Bad Bunny’s World’s Hottest Tour (which grossed a whopping $269 million with over 1.3 million tickets sold), the memories of Benito soaring over crowds while strapped to an animated palm tree will merit bragging rights for a boundless window of time. (Rimas Entertainment)