Ever since Ricky Martin took the world by storm with his performance at the 1999 Grammy Awards, the world of Latin music has had a global impact. In the years to follow with the rise of streaming services, music from all corners of the Spanish speaking world is reaching fans everywhere. And lately, with Reggeaton and Urbano ruling as subgenres in the Latin charts, it felt like there were not enough Latinas representing. In fact, the last few years only had a handful of women made the top 10 on the charts.

Thankfully, we live in a world now where women are taking the forefront in everything from being Vice President of the United States to Prime Minister of New Zealand, and the world of Latin music is rife with female artist who are killing the game in multiple genres screaming, “It’s not a man’s world anymore.”

Below is just a small sample of notable woman making noise around the globe.

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It’s no secret that the US sets the trends for hip-hop music worldwide. And one of the most striking trends in 2020 was independent women as stars in their own right, without prominent male endorsements or as token members in a mostly-male crew.

Maybe (hopefully) we became less misogynistic as a culture. Maybe the talent was just too undeniable. Maybe the industry decided it was time to represent itself in a more equitable way. Or maybe it’s a retro thing, with groundbreaking artists like Lil Kim and Missy Elliott being re-appreciated.

Whatever the case, American rap now belongs to superstars Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion. 2020 also saw breakthroughs by City Girls and Flo Milli, and 2021 promises new work by rising artists like Tierra Whack and Babyxsosa.

Here are some other notable women in rap making noise around the globe.

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JAPAN Making trilingual music (Japanese, Korean, and English), Chanmina is set to have a global […]

2020 was the worst. But 2020 music was the best.

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Artist: The Microphones

Album: Microphones in 2020

Song: Microphones in 2020

The best songs are 2 minutes or less. That would mean the song “Microphones in 2020” is 22 times dope. Phil flows through a soul-baring (crushing) lyrical meditation over acoustic guitar and if you’re brave enough to get to the end of the song, you’ll be rewarded with your own questions about life and the meaning behind it all. Kind of like this past year.

Top 10 Albums in alphabetical order

1. Ana Roxanne “Because of a Flower” 2. Bad Bunny “YHLQMDLG” 3. Boldy James “The Price of Tea in China” 4. Cindy Lee “What’s Tonight To Eternity” 5. Eartheater “Phoenix: Flames Are Dew Upon My Skin” 6. Hiroshi Yoshimura “Green” Reissue 7. Jusell, Prymek, Sage, Shiroishi “Fuubutsushi (風物詩) 8. Lil Baby “My […]

2020 was the year the world stood still, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread and took music legends like Harold Budd and Manu Dibango from us and propelled the whole live music industry into crisis. Sonically, it felt like a strong year in music, as some artists powered through and soundtracked the year’s events: Taylor Swift addressed love and loss in isolation while remotely writing and recording her album Folklore alongside contributors Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner, as they all quarantined separately. Anderson Paak’s compelling soul-funk protest song, “Lockdown,” touched on the pandemic, systemic racism and police brutality after the death of George Floyd. Jorja Smith’s powerful cover of St. Germain’s Rose Rouge featured a video of Black Lives Matter protests from around the world, in a moving montage, leaving an impactful and soulful sentiment.

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Artist: Matt Berninger

Album: Serpentine Prison

Track: One More Second

Twitter: @Mattberninger

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This year has flown by and looking back; there has been a lot of great music released this year. I found myself listening to music to keep myself distracted from the ongoing stories about the global pandemic, politics and racial tensions on TV, social media, etc. There were a lot of fun things to watch online like DJ D-Nice’s “Club Quarantine,” Verzuz battles, H.E.R. “Girls With Guitars,” and a ton of other livestreams including our own PlayLive Zoom Sessions. Fortunately, we were able to continue doing our jobs here at PlayNetwork/Octave Group, and as a Music Supervisor, the opportunity to also discover some good tunes!

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Artist: Jhene Aiko

Album: Chilombo

Track: Happiness Over Everything (ft. Future, Miguel)

Twitter: @JheneAiko

After looking back at all of the albums I’ve listened to throughout the year, I found myself playing this album a lot because it was […]