Mexican songwriter and producer Edgar “Edge” Barrera once again was an award recipient at this year’s Latin Grammys for best regional Mexican song for the track “Como Lo Hice Yo,” which Barrera composed for performers Mattise and Carin Leon. The distinction is one Barrera has received four times prior for songs like “Aqui Abajo,” “No Te Contaron Mal,” “Vale La Pena” and “Todo Tuyo.”
But despite having won 20 Latin Grammys and one American Grammy, the 32-year-old recording artist has continually struggled to be recognized outside of the generic confines of Latin music, he revealed in a backstage interview with Variety Studios, presented by DIRECTV at the Latin Grammys.
“What I’m trying to do with original Mexican [music] right now is take away the regional word of it and make Mexican music where we don’t get classified as something,” Barrera said.
Two other songs produced and written by Barrera, “Cada Quien” by Grupo Firme and “Vivo en el 6” with Edén Muñoz and Christian Nodal, also competed for best regional Mexican song at the 2022 award ceremony. His song “Índigo” was nominated for best pop song and song of the year, and Barrera was nominated for producer of the year.
“At the end of the day, we’re still fighting and trying to get a spot on the major categories, which are song of the year, record of the year and album of the year,” Barrera said.
Barrera frequently collaborates with Nodal, a fellow Mexican singer, and their 2021 track “Botella Tras Botella” was groundbreaking in subverting the public’s perception of Mexican styles of music in American spaces. Even still, it didn’t receive a Grammy nomination at the time.
“The success we had with ‘Botella Tras Botella,’ we broke all the records that there were for like an original Mexican song — it was the first [Mexican] song to ever chart in Billboard Hot 100, for example, and we didn’t get a nomination for that,” Barrera said.
