Latin Grammy Nominee Cucu Diamantes Is Mas Fuerte

One of the silliest aspects of Kanye West’s rude interruption of of Taylor Swift’s VMA honors for best female video was that Beyonce wasn’t even nominated for the award Swift received. To make matters worse, Beyonce ended up winning the  best video category.

Let’s hope everyone behaves themselves at the 10th annual Latin Grammy Awards in November.

Tonight I went through the complete scorecard of nominees and listened to some artists in my favorite category: alternativa.

Here are some songs and singers that are worth a listen:

• Más Fuerte by Cucu Diamantes. This Cuban singer is of Spanish, African, Chinese and French heritage—influences which can be heard in her music. She is also the lead singer of the Grammy-nominated band Yerba Buena. Find out more about her in this NPR interview.

• Millones by Camila Moreno. Folky style, acoustic guitar and crystal-clear singing voice.

• Bestia by Hello Seahorse! I like this quirky Mexico City band, but this particular Halloween-themed song is not one of my favorites.

• Moving Macaco. Catchy, half-English, half-Spanish song. Original YouTube video seems slightly subversive (good). YouTube video done in collaboration with National Geographic seems commercial (bad).

Check out Cucu Diamantes, here: