The best Latin music of 2026 (so far)

It’s that time of the year again: a mix between Christmas and Halloween for me and Felix. We gift you our best album picks of the year so far — and there’s nothing spookier for us than having to choose. So here it is, the music we’ve loved and listened to the most in the first half of 2026, some of the best (in our opinion) from all of Latin America and its diaspora. — Anamaria Sayre

Artist and albums featured in this episode:

(02:15) Trueno - 'TURR4ZO'
(07:06) Jonathan Suazo - 'Ricano Vol. 2: Fruto de mi Corazón'
(11:16) Broke Carrey - 'HIJO DEL PAÍS'
(15:48) X Alfonso - 'AIRE'
(22:28) Silvia Pérez Cruz - 'Oral_Abisal'
(29:30) Nuevos Rios - 'Nuevos Rios'
(32:17) Criolo, Amaro Freitas & Dino d'Santiago - 'CRIOLO, AMARO E DINO'
(37:33) Sofia Rei - 'Antónima'

This episode was produced by Noah Caldwell. Suraya Mohamed is the executive producer of NPR Music.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy