The many contradictions of 'Latin Music'
For some, the term 'Latin music' is too broad to be meaningful. For others, it invokes a sense of pride and resistance. To help break it down, we spoke to an expert on race and music and pop culture.
What exactly is Latin music? Since January of this year, when I started as an intern with Alt.Latino — NPR's indie "Latin music" podcast — the definition of the term has evaded my grasp. And for an embarrassingly long time, I avoided asking the question directly. How could I work for a show about Latin music and not know exactly what fell into the category?
But as I spent more time in my new role, I began to realize that Felix Contreras, who had been hosting and producing the show for more than a decade, didn't have any clear definitions himself. In fact, he was intentionally definitions; not defining the term meant not having to worry about certain boundaries. Can artists from Spain make Latin
