Sean Paul Wins First Latin American Music Award
Niña Bonita, Sean Paul‘s 2023 collab with Colombian singer Feid, has earned the Dancehall superstar his first Latin American Music Award.
The song won the award for “Collaboration Crossover Of The Year” at the 2024 Latin American Music Awards gala, which was held on Thursday (April 25) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The other songs nominated in the category were Dientes by J Balvin, Usher, and DJ Khaled; El Merengue by Marshmello and Manuel Turizo; Ojala by The Rudeboyz, Maluma and Adam Levine; and Vocation by Ozuna and David Guetta.
Paul was also nominated for ‘Best Crossover Artist,’ but lost to Marshmello.
“It feels good,” Sean Paul told DancehallMag. “A lot of times you do somethings outside the norm and you not sure where it will lead you but you just have faith and step.”
“Me working within the Latin genre is something I’ve done from the early stage of my career. I remember the early days going to NY and it was evident I had a strong Latin crowd and I did over a song Punkie in Spanish and from there my fan base in that market started to grow,” he added.
“I’m always looking to diversify my fan base and to receive this acknowledgement is a great feeling, Hard work really pays off.”
In August 2023, Niña Bonita topped the Billboard Latin Airplay Chart, Sean Paul’s first song to do so in six years. Previously, he accomplished that feat with his 2017 collaboration with Enrique Iglesias, Súbeme La Radio (Turn Up The Radio).
The song’s official video has racked up over 57 million views on YouTube.
Paul’s other Latin collaborations include Dem Time Deh with Manuel Turizo, Passion Whine with Farruko, No Me Controles with Rvssian, and Danny Ocean, El Vibe with Farina, and Karmika with Karol G.
During the gala on Thursday, Ky-Mani Marley joined Farruko during his performance of Rasta Reggae (Jamming), an original song released earlier this year on the Bob Marley: One Love soundtrack.
Feid took home a total of six awards, including ‘Streaming Artist of the Year’, ‘Collaboration of the Year’ and ‘Global Latin Song of the Year’.
Karol G also earned the most wins for the night with six awards, including ‘Artist of the Year,’ ‘Best Urban Artist,’ ‘Global Latin Artist of the Year,’ ‘Album of the Year’, and ‘Best Urban Album.’