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From Tokischa's debut LP to Belinda's anticipated new project, here's what we're excited for this year
2025 is already a big year for Latin music: Bad Bunny kicked off things off with Debí Tirar Más Fotos, a juggernaut that’s on track to spend two consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200 since it came out on Jan. 5. This is just the beginning, though. There are tons more projects on the horizon, including some highly anticipated releases that have been in the works for a while now.
We might finally get Dominican firebrand Tokischa’s debut album, we’ll be able to see what Emmanuel del Real from Cafe Tacvba has been hard at work at, and just maybe we’ll have another project from Rosalia, who has been ducking in and out of the studio, as eagle-eyed fans know. There’s a lot coming, and here’s what we can’t wait to hear in 2025.
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Emmanuel del Real from Cafe Tacvba
Image Credit: Medios y Media/Getty Images
It took him quite a while to find confidence as a lead singer, build a home studio, and rummage through his folder of unused song ideas, but Café Tacvba keyboardist Emmanuel del Real is ready to unveil his first solo album. The epic lead single “Princesa” is everything you would expect from the songwriter of Tacvba smash “Eres” — and then some. A majestic cross between progressive rock, whimsical synth-pop, and a torrid José José ballad, the Gustavo Santaolalla-produced song is an early indicator of del Real as one of Latin rock’s true visionaries. —E.L.
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Tokischa
Image Credit: Pierre Suu/Getty Images
Since emerging as one of the raunchiest young voices in Dominican dembow, Tokischa has remained wildly unpredictable, even launching parallel careers in modeling and politics. The countdown to her long anticipated debut album kicked off last May with the pop-reggaeton confessional, “SOL,” followed by a surrealist club duet with Arca and a gritty boom-bap throwback alongside Nathy Peluso. With the LP expected to drop this year, here’s hoping Tokischa strikes just the right balance of artistic maturity and devilish irreverence to keep us dancing all year. —R.V.
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Francisca Valenzuela
Image Credit: Marcelo Hernandez/Getty Images
Francisca Valenzuela has been soaring high since the release of 2022’s Vida Tan Bonita — one of the most exquisite Latin pop albums of the decade. A year later, Adentro provided an even deeper emotional experience, while showcasing the Chilean singer-songwriter’s gift for bittersweet melodies. After experiencing motherhood and releasing the soulful “Raíces” single, she promises a brutally honest, piano-based album recorded between Mexico City and Santiago, and co-produced by frequent collaborator Francisco Victoria. —E.L
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Rubén Blades
Image Credit: John Parra/Getty Images
At 76, salsa icon Rubén Blades is working on three different albums, including a tribute to the raucous sound of Eddie Palmieri’s Sixties combo La Perfecta. But first he will drop Fotografías, his latest collaboration with the orchestra of fellow Panamanian Roberto Delgado. The band’s lush combination of trombones and trumpets frames a repertoire that includes three new songs, as well as revisions of Blades compositions recorded by other artists during the Seventies salsa heyday, like Ismael Miranda’s “Señor Botánico” and Bobby Valentín’s “La Belleza del Son.” —E.L.
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Lali
Image Credit: Patricia J. Garcinuno/Getty Images
Among Argentina’s fleet of glitzy pop stars, Lali Espósito reigns as the people’s princess. Last year, after speaking out against President Javier Milei’s rampant homophobia and class warfare, she harnessed the fiery political roots of rock nacional for the mocking, P!nk-ish anthems “Fanático” and “No Me Importa.” With Lali’s new album scheduled for April, the pop sensation is teasing more rocking snippets via social media, while recent guest spots on records from Dillom and Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso have fans salivating for Internet-braking cameos. —R.V.
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Gale
Image Credit: Gladys Vega/Getty Images
Lo Que No Te Dije, the debut by Miami-based Puerto Rican singer-songwriter Gale, was one of 2023’s strongest sessions. After collaborating with the likes of Ana Mena, Pol Granch and LAGOS on a string of high-profile singles, she has recorded a second album of expertly produced, worldly Latin pop. If lead single “Skittles” is any indication, Gale finds herself in a nostalgic mood: The track’s deep, thumping bass line and exultant synth solo evoke romantic memories of summers past. —E.L.
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Blue Rojo
Image Credit: Jesus Leon*
Since the release of his sorrowful 2021 debut, Solitario, Blue Rojo has been on an ascendant trajectory, sampling Belanova, teaming up with Meth Math for the jet set fantasy “Aviones,” and even landing a coveted spot on the Wakanda Forever Soundtrack. This spring, Mexico City’s fallen angel returns with a new LP out via Universal Music Mexico, and recent singles “Satanás” and “Chisme!” evoke a sensual, nocturnal palette of trip-hop, ballroom, and perreo that would make Nosferatu blush. —R.V.
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Rosalía
Image Credit: Theo Wargo/GA/The Hollywood Reporter/Getty Images
Decades from now, we will all remember how lucky we were to witness in the era when Rosalía expanded and redefined the boundaries of Spanish-language music in real-time. Her third album, 2022’s prodigious Motomami, summed up the giddy maximalism and mournful existential travails of her generation with laser-like precision. Judging by her latest batch of singles — including collaborations with BLACKPINK’s LISA and Ralphie Choo — she continues to expand her encyclopedic arsenal of styles. Rosalía is now 32, a global tastemaker, and this much anticipated fourth album may be her most ambitious yet. She hasn’t said when it’s dropping, and she’s famous for taking her time, but she’s revealed that she’s working on music, so let’s keep our fingers crossed. —E.L.
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Ela Taubert
Image Credit: Rodrigo Varela/Getty Images
The pink-haired pop phenom had the type of breakthrough year most artists dream of in 2024. Her singles “Cómo Pasó?” and “¿Para Qué?” took off, winning her a loyal fanbase. They’ve rooted for her every move, but they were especially thrilled when she remixed “Cómo Pasó?” with her childhood hero Joe Jonas, who she performed with at the Latin Grammys stage. That same night, to the delight of her followers, she also took him the coveted trophy for Best New Artist. Now, Taubert devotees are eagerly awaiting her debut album, expected out soon. —J.L.
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Mula
Image Credit: Williber Cruz and Enmanuel Jaquez*
This June, Mula are roaring back into the spotlight with a new album titled ETERNA, evolving their long running reputation as tropical futurists with a collection of Afro-Caribbean bangers that will live forever. Arriving five years after their last LP, Mundos, the Dominican trio have expanded their signature cocktail of reggaeton, merengue, and techno with collaborations from Jessy Bulbo and Javiera Mena that propelled them into punk rock and four-on-the-floor pop. —R.V.
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Belinda
Image Credit: Christopher Polk/Billboard/Getty Images
Mexican pop icon Belinda spent 2024 introducing us to a brand new era, launching a bunch of hits that speak to the range and versatility that she’s mastered with so many years in the industry. In January, she spilled break-up tea with the spunky “Cactus,” a bright, poppy corrido that hinted where she was headed. Then, she showed off her brand of “coquette corridos” by teaming up with Natanael Cano for “300 Noches.” All we need now is the full album to hear how she keeps developing this sound. —J.L.
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Mawiza
Image Credit: Andie Borie*
This summer, Mapuche metal band Mawiza are dropping their new album, ÜL, a booming plea for re-connection between humanity and nature in the face of impending climate calamity. Hailing from Wallmapu, the sacred territory known today as Chile and Argentina, Mawiza broke through in 2019 with the blistering LP, Kollong, opening shows for Mastodon and Gojira, and cultivating a collaborative friendship with Joe Duplantier. The band wrote and recorded ÜL entirely in indigenous Mapuzungun, now primed for release via French label Season of Mist and a subsequent European tour. —R.V.
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Kevin Kaarl
Image Credit: Hubert Vestil/SXSW Conference & Festivals/Getty Images
Kevin Kaarl blew listeners away with the depth and musicality of his second studio album, Paris Texas. The LP was a blend of folksy traditions and foot-stomping rock, all glossed up with Kaarl’s dreamy production style and introspective lyricism. After massively successful shows and tours across the U.S. and Europe, Kaarl has signaled that he’s back in creative mode and getting ready to drop more music this year. —J.L.
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Astropical
Image Credit: David Giraldo*
A Colombian/Venezuelan supergroup was born last year when Bomba Estéreo’s powerhouse vocalist Liliana Saumet joined forces with Rawayana’s psychedelic pop singer Beto Montenegro on a couple of tracks. Quickly, that turned into a full album and the outfit Astropical formed, merging their shared obsession with astrology and tropical grooves. The quartet, with two members from each band, is dropping a few singles and will premiere its slick sonic stew at the Vive Latino and Estéreo Picnic festivals. —E.L.
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Pink Pablo
Image Credit: Christopher Polk/SXSW Conference & Festivals/Getty Images
Pink Pablo’s 2023 freshman EP, road 2 neverland, was an impressive debut that announced an artist with a talent for fusing rock, rap, and pop in ways that were lyrically deep and sonically appealing. This year, what was initially to be a companion EP morphed over time into a debut LP, and all signs point to it being everything that was great about neverland hiked up to 11. He’s added extra tracks with surprise guest stars, and channeled everything he learned over the last year into what’s one of the most exciting upcoming releases of 2025. —J.A.
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