Melii: 20 Latina Queens Taking Over Urban Music (2024)

The Spanish singer is changing the game with her flamenco influences. Her mix of uptempo and melancholy songs and her spellbinding voice make you feel something different. Rosalía’s intriguing vibe has attracted many successful collaborations with J Balvin on “Con Altura” and “Brillo,” and with Ozuna on “Yo x Ti, Tu x Mi.” Many artists like Juanes and Pedro Capo have her on top of their lists of performers they hope to collaborate with one day.

Her album, El Mal Querer, shows how versatile the Latin urban space can be. Pitchfork’s Philip Sherburne compliments Rosalía and the album, writing: “...she's as commanding a presence as Spanish-language pop has encountered in ages -- less an ambassador for flamenco than the inventor of her own fascinating hybrid.

The Mexican-American singer broke out in 2011, with heavyweights like Jennifer Lopez and will.i.am on her side. She has evolved into a force of nature as she continues to release hit after hit, like "Mayores," "Sin Pijama" and "La Respuesta." With her long-awaited Spanish album debut, Mala Santa, finally here, Becky impressively juggles the Spanish-speaking and English-speaking markets.

“I'm grateful for being Latina,” she told ET exclusively. “It has taught me so many things, and it also made me a little ‘woke’ -- is that what the kids say these days? It makes me woke, it makes me want to learn more about myself and my story and where I come from because, in order to know where you're going, you gotta know where you've been.”

The Caribbean-American singer has already made history by being the first female rapper to have three No. 1 hits. She doesn’t shy away from speaking her mind, which is arguably what draws so many to her. While embracing her role as a mother, to baby girl Kulture with Offset, she is continuing her domination by consistently droppings singles and collaborations, notably with artists like Ed Sheeran, Camila Cabello and Lil Nas X.

She has also started to dabble in acting with a small role in the box office hit Hustlers.

She’s been on the scene since competing on The X Factor when she was just 14 years old, but this Colombian singer made waves with her cheeky song, “Mi Cama.” She has collaborated with big names like Bad Bunny, J Balvin and Ozuna, and has even caught the eye of Sean "Diddy" Combs as a business partner. Karol -- who is a strong supporter of female empowerment -- has also spoken out on the gender gap in urban music, encouraging others to follow her lead.

With her album, Ocean, she hopes it’s a stepping stone toward taking the world by storm. “I want to take that step, being a Latin girl, and doing my Spanish music, but I want to go global. International.” she told ET.

The Dominican singer has gained back-to-back hits with artists such as Becky G, Ozuna, Sebastian Yatra and the Jonas Brothers. She’s been called the “Most-Watched Spanish-Speaking Female Urban Artist” after her video for “Criminal” achieved one billion views. Though many try to pit female contemporaries against each other, Natasha and Becky G rejected that notion and instead collaborated on the chart-topper “Sin Pijama,” which now has also gained over one billion views.

“It's freaking crazy. When you stop and analyze everything and think about everything you do, it's surreal, but you have to just keep on working,” she said of her recent success. “It's a blessing. It's a great time for women.”

The Brazilian sensation gained international success after collaborating with Major Lazer on “Sua Cara,” but long before that, she was already a superstar in Brazil and well known in Latin America for her collaborations with J Balvin and Maluma. Most of her songs are in Portuguese, but she had been dipping her toes in English and Spanish tracks until finally releasing her trilingual album, Kisses.

She previously told ET that Cardi B was one of her inspirations during the making of Kisses, and both have now publicly connected on social media and hint at a future collab. Anitta is proving that she is a multifaceted artist ready for world domination.

With her hit, “Diganle,” this girl from the Bronx showed that ballads can be successful in the Latin urban genre. She diversified her fan base by collaborating with Super Junior on the hip-shaker “Lo Siento,” which was the K-Pop group's first song with a foreign artist. It was also the first K-pop song to land on a Latin chart, which speaks volumes to Grace’s talent.

Grace will also be starring as Nina Rosario in the film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit musical, In the Heights, set to be released in 2020.

The Colombian-American singer has ethereal moody music that’s hard to pin down to one category. Her critically acclaimed debut studio album, Isolation, had a variety of collaborations from Reykon to Tyler, the Creator. She’s not one to shy away from singing in Spanish, as displayed in her song with Reykon, “Nuestro Planeta.” She previously revealed she wanted to make the song for Colombia, and hopes to explore reggaeton more in her music down the line.

She was nominated for her first Latin GRAMMY for Record of the Year in 2017 for her song, “El Ratico,” with Juanes.

After originally gaining a following from Vine, Pons successfully branched out to other social media platforms, where she has since accumulated millions of followers who love to keep up with her comedic videos. She’s had several acting roles and is taking on music with her singles, “Celoso” and “Bloqueo.” Pons has always displayed how proud she is of her Venezuelan roots, so it’s no surprise that she chooses to sing fully in Spanish. It looks like the Latin music market is where she wants to stay!

This Argentinian can rap, sing and switch her flows from Spanish to English effortlessly. She follows her own style and doesn’t believe that there is only one way to be a woman. Her songs, like “Chapiadora,” express just how important girl power is. Plus, her profile got even bigger when Bad Bunny jumped on a remix of Khea’s “Loca” on which she was featured.

While talking to Billboard about her recent album, Error 93, and her creative process, Cazzu said: “I sat down with my producer and we listened to lots of albums. One of the albums we most listened to was Halsey’s Badlands. I love being able to fuse some of the sounds that she uses to create urban music," adding, “I’m simply trying to create what’s essentially in my brain.”

“1,2,3” catapulted the Mexican singer to another level, and it looks like she has found her groove! The 24-year-old opened up to ET about her aspirations. "My three biggest career goals are touring all around the world, selling out stadiums and collaborating with Ed Sheeran," Reyes shared. "And obviously, do what I love and be able, and free, to create what feels the most 'me.'"

She hasn’t collaborated with Sheeran quite yet but did collaborate with Rita Ora and Anitta on the infectious song “R.I.P.”

She’s part of the Colombian group ChocQuibTown, whose other two members include her brother, Slow, and her husband, Tostao. Her voice gives their fusion of hip-hop and salsa that extra spark, not to mention, she also has amazing style. The group is passionate about being a positive example through their music, raising awareness that Afro-Colombian people exist and are an equal part of society.

The group has had some chart-topping collaborations with Zion & Lennox and Farruko on “Pa Olvidarte” and with Becky G on “Que Me Baile.”

Mami became the first Chilean to be signed with Sony Music Latin. Born in New York, she spent her teenage years honing her talents in Chile and impressively grabbed the attention of Sony with her independently produced single and video, “Not Steady.”

Her follow-up singles like “No Te Enamores” and “Fingías” have become viral successes. “I feel that I’ve accomplished a lot for the small amount of time that I’ve been around. I feel so content when I see that my fans relate to my music. That’s a huge accomplishment, having so many people support me,” she told Billboard.

Known in Latin America for being both an actress and part of the pop band Teen Angels, Lali has grown as an individual artist and has made a name for herself since the band disbanded in 2012. Her third studio album, Brava, features Mau & Ricky on her saucy single, “Sin Querer Queriendo.” She was also featured on Mau & Ricky’s mega-collab “Mi Mala” remix. The accompanying music video for the song is overflowing with urban music queens, and is definitely a must-watch!

Landing on Spotify’s viral charts in 16 countries, 19-year old Mariah, has become the fastest-growing female artist in the urban music scene. Her song, “Perreito,” became a huge catalyst for her career and has close to 11 million streams on Spotify.

Meeting producer Nely “El Arma Secreta” changed the vision of her music. “He introduced me to Spanish music. I started out doing trap in English, and when I met him he was like, ‘No, we gotta do something in Spanish,’ and I said, ‘Alright, let's try it out,'" she told Popsugar. "He's a legend in the reggaeton world, and this was a blessing for me, so I just went with it. I tried it out, and we made three hits.”

The Dominican rapper paved her own way by being one of the first female rappers in the Dominican Republic, which is where her nickname, “La Mama Del Rap,” comes from. She credits her multilingual abilities in helping her snag a record deal with EMPIRE in 2017. Her latest album, Dragon Queen, shows that her music is as vivacious as her personality, and even has a song with the legendary Ivy Queen on it.

The stunning Afro-Latina joined the first season of Love & Hip Hop Miami in 2018, which exposed her music to a larger audience as she tries to cross over to the U.S. hip-hop music scene. She released “Insecure” and “What a Bam Bam” to much fanfare. She calls herself “La Negra” as a way to adopt the term positively when many people try to use it as a criticism against her. She also hopes to be as impactful on young Afro-Latinas as her idol, Celia Cruz, was to her.

The Mexican-American rapper has been putting out music consistently for over a decade. She’s got a fierce style of rapping and raps in both English and Spanish. Many of her songs talk about how she navigates both Mexican and American cultures as well as being bisexual.

“I’m proud of my fans. I’m proud of my immediate team that’s always with me. I’m proud of us and this little movement,” she told San Diego City Beat. “And I’m proud of myself because I’ve been right on a lot of things…and for the things that I always said would work to be working just fine, I’m proud that I’m finally starting to listen to myself.”

Melii garnered interest from several record labels in 2017 after she posted a cover of Cardi B’s “Bodak Yellow” and added in Spanish lyrics. After the cover went viral, the Dominicana released some original tracks that were well received like “Icey” and “Como Si Na." Fast forward to 2019, where Melii is now working side by side with artists like Becky G and Saweetie.

In an interview with The Fader, she clarified whether she’s a singer or a rapper. “I’m not boxed into any of that. I write poetry. I’m a poet. Whatever beat that I want in the studio is gonna come out as a rap, or it’s gonna come out singing. Nothing that I’m doing is an act.”

Greeicy was first known for starring in Colombian telenovelas, but she decided to leave acting in 2016 to pursue music. It turned out to be a good decision since she was recently nominated for her first Latin GRAMMY for Best New Artist.

This past summer, Greeicy also got to collaborate with fellow Colombian Juanes on “Minifalda.” “'Minifalda' is a song I adore, a song I absolutely love and one that I hold close to me. It’s a song with beautiful energy," Greeicy told ET exclusively. "After analyzing all the projects that I’ve released and have been featured in, I am very grateful because life has given me the opportunity to come together with amazing people and have been asked to work on songs with people who share the same vibe I have."