In 2022, Brazilian singer-songwriter Liniker turned the primary trans lady to win a Latin Grammy. Her seven nominations in 2025, together with these for album and file of the yr, might open extra doorways for Black and transgender artists in Latin music.
When the Latin Recording Academy introduced nominations for the twenty sixth Latin Grammy Awards final month, one identify stood out above the remaining: Liniker.
The Brazilian singer-songwriter earned seven nods this yr, together with all three of the “Large 4” classes she was eligible for: album of the yr for “Caju,” file of the yr for “Ao Teu Lado” (with Amaro Freitas and Anavitória) and music of the yr for “Veludo Marrom.” The one Large 4 class lacking from her slate this yr was greatest new artist.
She beforehand made historical past as the primary transgender lady to take house a Latin Grammy in 2022, when her 2021 LP “Indigo Borboleta Anil” received for MPB (musica common brasileira) album. Come this November, the Araraquara native is extra primed than ever to be on the middle of Latin music’s most prestigious stage.
Her 2024 sophomore solo album, “Caju” (or, “cashew”) has surpassed 262 million streams, and every monitor managed to land on Brazil’s Spotify Prime 200. She has collaborated with such icons as Gilberto Gil, and in 2023, was inducted into the Brazilian Academy of Tradition, assuming the chair as soon as held by samba legend Elza Soares.
Such accolades — honoring the technical and creative worth of her efficiency, songwriting and manufacturing — underscore how her music is shaping new Latin sounds, in addition to representing Brazil on a worldwide scale and increasing inclusion in traditionally unique establishments.
Liniker has lengthy been clear that she desires to be identified first as a musician, whose artistry is rooted in love, intimacy and want. And but, her presence as a Black Brazilian trans lady on the forefront of Latin music carries an simple cultural weight.
In a world the place anti-Blackness and transphobia stay as entrenched as ever, her rise alerts each creative excellence and a profound cultural shift of the tales advised about Black and trans experiences. Alongside fellow gender nonconforming Brazilians like Linn da Quebrada and Urias, in addition to trans artists like Venezuelan musician and producer Arca, and Puerto Rican rapper Villano Antillano, Liniker is a part of a rising motion altering the conventions of Latin pop stardom.
Liniker’s path to this second has been marked by cycles of reinvention that maintain reality to her type and worldly imaginative and prescient as an artist and particular person. She first broke via with 2016’s “Remonta,” an album she recorded together with her former band Liniker e os Caramelows. A fearless mix of MPB (música common brasileira), soul and funk, the file stood out most in songs like “Zero” and “Tua” — which turned viral sensations. Her emotive alto would quickly carry effectively past Brazil’s borders; the band landed a coveted gig for NPR’s Tiny Desk sequence in 2018.
Her 2021 solo debut, “Indigo Borboleta Anil,” expanded her palette to incorporate samba, bossa nova and R&B. Tracks like “Child 95”, “Lili”, and “Psiu” additionally showcased her versatility as a songwriter, who writes about receiving and being in love, embracing and trusting oneself that holds true to her Blackness and lived expertise, and the vulnerability of turning into a solo artist.
Then got here “Caju,” the 2024 file that has dominated this yr’s nominations. The album attracts on samba, jazz, pagode, disco, funk and reggae to make a distinctly Afro-Brazilian mix of pop music; “Ao Teu Lado” and “Veludo Marrom” display her capability to carry a way of intimacy to an expansive efficiency.
In an interview with journalist Pedro Bial, a late-night Brazilian discuss present, Liniker explains that, whereas “Indigo” had targeted on her self-discovery, “Caju” tells a extra narrative-driven story, unfolding a 24-hour lover’s chase from Japan to Brazil. The opening title monitor units the tone: “I wish to know when you’re going to chase after me at an airport/asking me to remain, to not fly.” Fueled by emotional reflection, “Caju” represents a metaphor for Liniker’s journey as a hard-working artist who continues to be a hopeless romantic at coronary heart.
For a lot of — particularly trans and gender-expansive Latinx audiences, myself included — a Liniker live performance looks like each a non-public confessional and a communal celebration.
As a trans Latina dwelling in Brazil, I used to be deeply moved to witness Liniker’s stay efficiency (and the fervour of her followers) in São Paulo, the place she debuted “Caju” with a stay orchestra to just about 8,000 individuals — certainly one of three sold-out nights on the metropolis’s Espaço Unimed auditorium. She additionally captivated international audiences in September at New York Metropolis’s Lincoln Heart, the place she carried out for the venue’s Brazilian Week sequence. Rolling Stone author Carolina Abbott Galvão lauded her as “prepared for the highlight” and praised her command of the stage, in addition to of the pop music business.
In expressing Black trans pleasure at a time when transgender individuals face systematic exclusion and repression all around the world, Liniker gives a window to grasp fuller and extra numerous Latinx realities. In “Lili,” a minimize from “Indigo Borboleta Anil,” Liniker’s reflections on dwelling her reality name upon us all to stay ours as effectively.
“Once you deal with your coronary heart/Once you love your soul/Perhaps you will discover Lili,” she sings in English. “She isn’t hiding anymore/She simply desires to stay/To stay/Her pores and skin is shining now.”
The 2025 Latin Grammys could show a career-defining night time for the artist. However no matter what number of trophies she takes house, Liniker has already carved out a singular area of interest for herself in Latin music — as a uniquely uncompromising and generation-defining artist.
