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The third time might be the charm for Edgar Barrera, Mexican Composers and producers nominated for third consecutive year Grammy In the Songwriter of the Year category, non-classical.
Barrera has competed in all but one year since the category was launched in 2023. He said he was very proud to be nominated for 2026 Grammy Awardswhich opens in Los Angeles on Sunday.
If Barrera wins, he will become No. 1 Latino received accolades in this category and adds this award to an impressive career that has garnered 29 Latin Grammy Awards and a Grammy Award for Best Tropical Latin Album.
“Opening doors for a new generation and Latin composers who are making music,” he said in a video interview with The Associated Press. “It takes away the stigma that you have to write songs in English or that you have to do things a certain way to be considered.”
The non-classical songwriter of the year honor is part of the general Grammy field, which also includes song of the year, record and album of the year, non-classical new artist and producer of the year.
Barrera’s nomination reflects the diversity of Latin music, from contemporary Mexican music with Fuerza Regida and Grupo Frontera’s “Me Jalo,” to Shakira’s pop hit “Soltera,” and Karol G’s fusion with “Milagros.” Barrera’s range was especially wide, which he attributes to his hyperactivity.
“I get bored very quickly, sometimes when I’m constantly making a certain beat or processing a sound. I can’t spend more than two weeks doing the same thing,” he said. “For me, I don’t want it to become like a factory.”
His ideals transcend musical genres or specific rhythms and are to “bring out the best in an artist.”
Barrera spoke in Texas, where he is working with Colombian artist Silvestre Dangond. Before that, he was in Hermosillo, Mexico, with Carín León, where he says they recorded about 20 songs for his next album.
Barrera’s road to Grammys
Grammy week is intense, especially for Barrera, who said he often takes advantage of gatherings of music stars to record.
“I had a lot of meetings in the midst of the Grammy chaos,” he said.
Although his work style is usually relaxed, it would be better for him if he worked with friends. He said when he went into the studio, he wanted to laugh and have a good time with the musicians.
“At the end, when there’s an hour left before the session ends, we write the song and record it,” he said. “I like this style of work.”
Of the songs Barrera wrote that were considered for nomination, one in particular represents a career milestone – Carlos Santana’s “Me Retiro,” a collaboration with Grammy-nominee Grupo Frontera.
“Carlos has been an inspiration to me for as long as I can remember,” Barrera said. “My dad introduced me to music through Santana. We were spending Christmas with my family and they showed me videos of me playing when I was 10 or 9 years old, all Carlos Santana songs.”
Santana was Barrera’s first concert. He said his seat was in the last row of the forum, so far away that he had to carry binoculars. Things were very different when he performed live on the Latin Grammy stage with Santana last November, and things were very different when he began working with the star guitarist on his next album.
“I came from a town, a city, where being a composer was not a job, not even what I had planned,” Barrera said. “It’s a dream for me to go into the studio with Santana and keep making more music, you know? I can’t believe it.”
Shakira and Karol G are two great songwriters in their own right, so delving into their universe as a collaborator has been an equally enjoyable experience for Barrera.
Take Karol G, for example, and having an artist like Marco Antonio Solís join her on “Coleccionando Heridas” from her Grammy-nominated album “Tropicoqueta”, who usually doesn’t sing songs he didn’t write, while Shakira nailed it on her hit “Soltera.”
“I really enjoy working with artists like them who are so passionate and great representatives of Latin music,” Barrera said. “They are among the strongest artists in Latin America.”
Barrera has his own take on country music
Next up, Barrera will collaborate with Anglo artists, whom he cannot name.
“I learned that what they were looking for from me was that Latin sound, that sound that I knew how to do and loved doing…being myself in the sessions and flowing with them rather than trying to be an American producer,” Barrera said.
He also plans to pursue a career in country music, preferably in Nashville.
“I wanted to work in Nashville and start from scratch and find inspiration and inspiration.”
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For more coverage of this year’s Grammy Awards, visit: www.apnews.com/hub/grammy-awards