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or better or for worse, the term “Latino/a artist” is fading away from the music industry at large as more artists of Latino descent, such as those who are presented, are simply labeled as “artists.” Despite the term “Latino/a artist” fading away, the musicians presented in this list continue to incorporate aspects of their Latino/x/e culture within their music.
Chicano Batman Chicano Batman is a four-piece group of Latino artists who come from different Latino backgrounds, according to a biography from KCET, a public broadcasting service in California. The group members include: Bardo Martínez, who is half Colombian and half Mexican; Eduardo Arenas, who is Mexican American; Gabriel Villa, who is Colombian; and Carlos Arévalo, who is of Salvadoran and Mexican descent. Compared to other Latino artists, Chicano Batman has taken a different approach to its music as they did not cross over from one language to another. A prominent example of this is their version of “This Land is Your Land.” In its version of the song, Chicano Batman sang the song in both English and Spanish (“Spanglish” for slang). Chicano Batman expressed cultural pride in this song by singing portions of it in Spanish while expressing American patriotism. In addition to “This Land is Your Land,” Chicano Batman has produced albums that include Spanish
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and English songs. An example of this is its “Cycles of Existential Rhyme” which include psychedelic rock songs, such as “Para Agradecer,” that are sung entirely in Spanish. The sounds of Chicano Batman resemble the Latino rock artists who came before it such as Carlos Santana. However, Chicano Batman differs from them as each song has a unique experimental sound to them.
Cuco Omar Banos, also known by his stage name, “Cuco,” is a Mexican American singersongwriter who brings Latin flair into the indie-music category in a way that allows him to break out of the Latino category without completely abandoning Latino elements. For example, in one of his most known songs, “Lo Que Siento,” which translates to, “What I Feel,” Cuco interlocks Spanish and English to sing about how the girl he likes makes him feel. The song has instrumentals that fit more of a lofi and indie category but the lyrics give a Chicano rap vibe that infuses English with it. Cuco continues to cross-intersect Latin elements into several of his songs. He remixes older well-known Mexican songs with more modern instrumentation that fuses with the Spanish lyrics. One song that Cuco particularly does this on is, “Piel Canela.” The original song was
The Rise of A Latino A
