By Billboard Staff / Billboard.com – October 9, 2021
From career milestones and new music releases to major announcements and more, Billboard editors highlight the latest news buzz in Latin music every week. Here’s what happened in the Latin music world this week.
Celia Cruz at Florida International University
Florida International University has been gifted the Celia Cruz Music Score Collection, which includes 230 long- and short-form musical scores belonging to the iconic Cuban singer. Celia Cruz Entertainment, who manages the late singer’s materials and intellectual property, donated the collection to the university on behalf of the Celia Cruz Foundation.
The collection will be part of the Díaz Ayala Cuban and Latin American Popular Music Collection at the FIU Libraries, CasaCuba — the university’s center for the celebration of Cuban culture and study of Cuban affairs — and the FIU School of Music will use the collection for educational purposes.
“Celia’s most fervent wish was to ensure her legacy lives on for generations,” said Omer Pardillo Cid, executor of the Celia Cruz Estate. “Donating her original musical scores will provide future students with a unique way to study her repertoire — the way she would have done it.”
Carlos Vives to star in new Disney+ series
Carlos Vives has officially joined Disney+'s new series titled El Club de Los Graves, which will be shot in Colombia and will start airing in 2022. The series will narrate the story of eccentric music professor Amaranto Molina, portrayed by Vives, who is encouraged to take a more modern approach to teaching music as his old ways of implementing a curriculum are leaving behind and turning off some of the students.
21 Under 21
Billboard's current cover star The Kid LAROI leads this year's 21 Under 21 list featuring a mix of young chart-toppers, TikTok stars-turned-artists and on-the-verge breakout acts, among many more making waves in the industry right now. Regional Mexican trio Eslabon Armado and Puerto Rican salsa singer Luis Vazquez round up the list as some of the youngest acts to top Billboard's Latin charts. Read their profiles here.
Billboard's Latin Power Players
Bad Bunny’s longtime manager Noah Assad has helped the Puerto Rican superstar conquer the world without compromising -- or losing his independent streak -- which puts him atop Billboard’s annual list of executives leading the charge within the genre. Check out this year's Latin Power Players here.
"12 Hours With Maluma"
To capture Maluma's return to touring after 18 months, Billboard spent 12 hours with the Colombian singer-songwriter backstage at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif. 12 Hours With Maluma is part of Billboard's recently-announced Facebook Watch series centered on Maluma, Anitta, Prince Royce and Mariah Angeliq, spotlighting the four Latin hitmakers during Latinx and Hispanic Heritage Month.
"I'm here to represent my culture, I'm here to represent my country and, of course, the Latin culture. That's why we're here to celebrate this Latin month," Maluma says in the video. "We're a big family around the world, it doesn't matter if you're from Colombia or Venezuela, El Salvador, we're all Latin and we have to support each other." See the episode here.
