Lana Akmaluna
The announcement of the 2026 Latin Grammy nominations triggered immediate reactions across the Latin music industry, most notably from bachata superstar Prince Royce, who publicly criticized the Latin Recording Academy over a glaring oversight in one of its genre-specific categories. Following the reveal of this year’s contenders on Wednesday, September 16, the "Prince of Bachata" took to social media to publish an open letter addressing what he views as a systemic failure to authentically represent and protect the genre that gives the category its name.
At the heart of the controversy is the Best Merengue/Bachata Album category, a field populated entirely by productions that Royce argues fail to feature genuine bachata music. The omission of high-profile releases—most notably Better Late Than Never, the blockbuster collaborative album between Royce and fellow heavy-hitter Romeo Santos—has elevated a broader, long-standing industry debate regarding cultural authenticity, voting mechanics, and institutional responsibility within major Latin music awards.
Main Facts and the Core Controversy
The nomination list for Best Merengue/Bachata Album features five distinct projects: Fariana’s Música Para Bailar, Manerra’s Todo Llega, Gabriel Pagán’s No Era El Plan, Covi Quintana’s Oye Eta Vaina, and Techy’s Chula. While these artists represent various facets of the tropical and contemporary Latin music landscape, none of the nominated albums qualify as traditional or contemporary bachata records.
According to industry analysts and artists alike, the category’s composition reflects a troubling trend where hyphenated genre categories become diluted, ultimately sidelining the foundational music they are ostensibly created to honor. Prince Royce’s critique centers not on the quality of the nominated merengue and tropical pop projects, but on the paradox of a category bearing the word "bachata" while offering zero representation for the genre itself.
In his widely shared open letter, Royce articulated the distinction between cultural tokenism and true representation. He emphasized that the inclusion of Dominican artists in the category does not equate to the inclusion of bachata, noting that nationality and musical genre are entirely separate entities. By his estimation, the nominated bodies of work contain only a negligible fraction of actual bachata music, prompting a fundamental question about the criteria and awareness governing the Latin Grammy voting body.
Chronology and Background of the Snub
The controversy arrives on the heels of one of the most commercially significant releases in modern tropical music history. In November 2025, Prince Royce and Romeo Santos dropped their surprise collaborative album, Better Late Than Never. The project immediately dominated commercial metrics, debuting at No. 1 on the Tropical Albums chart and No. 2 on the Top Latin Albums chart. Furthermore, the album made history by placing nine of its tracks simultaneously on the Hot Latin Songs chart, marking a career-high achievement for both iconic performers and generating substantial critical acclaim, including a joint cover feature on Billboard Español.
Given the album’s massive commercial footprint, critical reception, and cultural impact, its complete exclusion from the 2026 Latin Grammy nominations was quickly identified by industry observers as one of the most prominent snubs of the cycle. Speculation prior to the nominations suggested that the collaborative effort was a shoo-in for multiple categories, particularly those dedicated to tropical music. Instead, the project was entirely shut out, culminating in the nomination roster that ultimately sparked Royce’s public rebuke.
The Omission and Institutional Responses
Faced with mounting criticism from artists and fans over the lack of genre-specific representation, representatives for the Latin Recording Academy addressed the architecture of the voting process. When questioned by industry journalists, Manuel Abud, CEO of the Latin Recording Academy, maintained that the organization’s leadership holds no sway over the outcome of the ballots.
Abud underscored that the nominations are determined exclusively by the votes of the Academy’s active membership base. According to the CEO, the administrative body manages the operational workflow of the voting procedure, but cannot intervene in or dictate the artistic preferences of the voters. Consequently, if the voting electorate fails to recognize specific works or genres—whether through oversight, shifting musical trends, or internal voting blocks—the administration views the resulting ballot as a direct reflection of the membership’s choices rather than an institutional policy failure.
However, artists and cultural advocates argue that the structural design of hybrid categories inherently invites these discrepancies. When distinct genres like merengue and bachata are compressed into a single umbrella category, voters unfamiliar with the nuances of each tradition may default to more familiar pop-tropical hybrids or commercially pervasive artists, leaving foundational traditional genres structurally disadvantaged.
Historical Context of Bachata at the Latin Grammys
The tension surrounding bachata at the Latin Grammys is not entirely new. Despite bachata’s explosive global growth over the past two decades—transforming from a marginalized folk style into a dominant international pop phenomenon—recognition at major award ceremonies has frequently been sporadic and contentious.
Romeo Santos, widely acknowledged as the driving force behind modern bachata’s global ascent since his days as the frontman of the legendary group Aventura, has experienced a paradoxical relationship with the Latin Recording Academy. Despite launching a massively successful solo career in 2011 characterized by chart-topping stadium tours and historic radio dominance, Santos has earned a relatively modest four Latin Grammy nominations across his solo catalog. Of those, he has secured only a single victory: winning Best Merengue/Bachata Album in 2023 for Fórmula, Vol. 3.
Prince Royce, similarly decorated with numerous Billboard chart-toppers and decades of radio hits, has accumulated 15 Latin Grammy nominations throughout his career without yet securing a win. The persistent gap between commercial success, cultural influence, and institutional validation has fueled ongoing friction between top-tier tropical artists and the Academy.
Broader Impact and Implications for the Industry
Prince Royce’s open letter extends beyond personal grievances over a missing nomination; it strikes at the core of how institutional gatekeepers define, categorize, and validate Latin music genres on a global stage.
The critique highlights several critical questions for the future of the Latin Grammys and similar music industry institutions:
- Category Architecture: As Latin music continues to fragment into micro-genres and cross-pollinate with urban, pop, and electronic styles, traditional genre boundaries are increasingly blurred. Industry stakeholders must decide whether hybrid categories adequately serve diverse traditions or if they dilute specialized art forms.
- The Role of the Voting Body: With executive leadership attributing outcomes strictly to the general membership, discussions regarding voter education, specialized peer panels, and genre expertise have intensified. Critics argue that relying entirely on a broad voting pool without mandatory regional or genre-specific competency can lead to systemic blind spots.
- Preservation vs. Evolution: Traditional genres like bachata and merengue carry deep cultural histories that require active protection against dilution. Ensuring that these styles receive dedicated, uncompromised representation is vital for maintaining their integrity for future generations of artists and fans.
As the debate continues to reverberate across digital platforms and industry panels, the discussion sparked by Prince Royce and echoed by his peers may prompt the Latin Recording Academy to reevaluate how hybrid categories are structured in future cycles. Whether these conversations will lead to structural reforms in category definitions or voting guidelines remains to be seen, but the demand for authentic representation has firmly established itself at the forefront of the current musical discourse.
