Puerto Rican artists Bad Bunny and Jhay Cortez lead the nominations for the seventh edition of the Latin American Music Awards, with ten and eight noms, respectively. The rappers are both foes and partners in this year’s edition of the award, competing against each other in several categories but also sharing two nominations with a collaboration song.
Considered the Latino response to the American Music Awards, the Latin AMAs are produced by MBS Special Events and the Spanish-language network Telemundo, which will broadcast the award ceremony on April 21. Winners of 26 categories are determined by a poll of the public and fans.
Bad Bunny and Cortez face each other off in three categories including the coveted Artist of the Year, as well as Favorite Male Artist and Favorite Urban Artist.
El Conejo also vies for the honor in two other top categories, including Album of the Year for El Último Tour del Mundo. Additionally, he is a candidate for Favorite Urban Album, Favorite Tropical Album, Favorite Tropical Song and Collaboration of the Year.
For his part, Cortez competes in other categories propelled by his collaboration songs with various artists. The hit “Dákiti,” a duet by Bad Bunny and Cortez, earned the artists another two nominations, in the top category Song of the Year and also in Favorite Urban Song. Also, “Fiel,” another collab with Los Legendarios and Wisin earned Cortez noms for Viral Song of the Year and Favorite Urban Song.
El Conejo Malo and Cortez are closely followed by three artists also with multiple nods, Colombian artists J Balvin and Karol G and Puerto Rican artist Rauw Alejandro, with seven nominations each.
J Balvin is up for awards in the categories of Artist of the Year, Song of the Year and Favorite Urban Song for “In Da Getto,” Viral Song of the Year for “AM” and Favorite Video for “Lo Que Dios Quiera,” among others. Karol G’s nominations include Artist of the Year, Album of the Year and Favorite Urban Album for KG0516, as well as Collaboration of the Year for “El Makinon” and Favorite Female Artist. Rauw Alejandro is competing in the categories of Artist of the Year, Song of the Year with “Todo de Ti,” and Album of the Year and Favorite Urban Album for Vice Versa, among others.
There are many other artists with multiple nominations. Camilo, Grupo Firme and Kali Uchis have six nods; Aventura, Christian Nodal, Eslabon Armado, Marc Anthony and Sebastián Yatra, five; Banda MS de Sergio Lizárraga, Farruko, Gera MX, Los Legendarios, and Maluma, four; Calibre 50, Carin Leon, Daddy Yankee, Enrique Iglesias, Ivan Cornejo, Los Dos Carnales, Myke Towers, Ozuna, Selena Gomez, Skrillex and Wisin, three; Annita, Carlos Vives, La Arrolladora Banda El Limón de René Camacho, María Becerra, María Angeliq, Piso 21, Prince Royce and Ricky Martin, two.
Nominees up for one award include Anuel AA, Becky G, Camila Cabello, Chiquis, Christina Aguilera, CNCO, El Fantasma, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, Evaluna Montaner, Gerardo Ortíz, Junior H, Khalid, Lennin Ramírez, Los Angeles Azules, Los Bukis, Luis Fonsi, Luis Vazquez, Natti Natasha, Nio Garcia, Pablo Alborán, Pabllo Vittar, Reik, Romeo Santos, Rosalía, Shawn Mendez, Sonora Ponceña, The Weeknd, Tini and Tommy Torres.
The 2022 Latin AMAs nominees are based on key fan interactions with music, including streaming, sales, airplay, and social activity tracked by Billboard through its data partners MRC Data and Next Big Sound from February 6 of 2021 through Jan. 29 of 2022, according to Telemundo.
The TV network said the nominees for Favorite Video and Favorite Social Artist were selected by a committee of industry professionals which consider the quality, content, creativity, and fan engagement of the music video for Favorite Video, and fan engagement and associated metrics on artist’s social media platforms for Favorite Social Artist. As with all Latin AMA categories, the winners for Favorite Video and Favorite Social Artist are determined by fan voting.
In addition to Telemundo, the Latin AMAs will stream live on the Peacock and broadcast simultaneously on Spanish entertainment cable network Universo. In the rest of the Americas, the show will be broadcast by Telemundo Internacional.