Draft:The 600 of Latin America

"Los 600 de Latinoamérica. 600 discos 1920-2022" is a list of 600 albums from Latin America, compiled by a group of journalists and music communicators from the region. It includes music from all countries, eras, and genres of recorded music, celebrating Latinidad according to the project's introduction. The list, created as an independent initiative, was published on the project's website from April 2024 to July 2024..

Context

In 2021, through an interaction between Jorge Cárcamo and Cristofer Rodríguez (co-author of the book *200 Discos de Rock Chileno*), both from Chile, they compiled essential albums for Latin America from the 20th century. Following this, a group of music journalists and academics from different countries in the region began shaping the 600 albums that would make up the list, covering all periods of recorded history through internal discussions and voting over nearly three years. According to the credits, a total of 19 people participated in the list, including those responsible for editorial decisions, album selection, curation, text writing, and web design, coming from Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, El Salvador, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and Venezuela..

Content

The list includes recorded music from the early days of the recording industry in Latin America in the 1920s (though the oldest album included is from 1937) up to albums released in 2022. It covers a wide range of musical genres, from rock, pop, rap, and electronic music to distinctly Latin American genres such as MPB, bossa nova, salsa, cumbia, tango, ranchera, norteña, vallenato, merengue, bachata, huayno, and various traditional music forms. It features albums from all Spanish-speaking countries, Brazil, and Latin communities in the United States.

Reception

Billboard Magazine highlighted that the album "Re" by the Mexican band Café Tacvba, on its 30th anniversary, has received critical acclaim as follows: "To date, it has received accolades from major media outlets like The New York Times, BBC Music, Rolling Stone, and AllMusic, and was ranked No. 3 on the 'Los 600 de Latinoamérica' list compiled by a collective of music journalists earlier this decade, highlighting the top 600 Latin American albums from 1920-2022.".

The Polish media outlet Beehype features an article by journalist José Luis Mercado, who was part of the project, stating: "The focus of the project is to celebrate Latin identity and its musical history, and it has mostly received positive reactions from the public, who appreciate the representation of Latin American music in such an exhaustive format. However, the organizers acknowledge that the list is also subject to criticism and debate, which they consider a valuable part of the process."

Dianna Rosa Pérez from the Cuban media outlet AM:PM highlights: "It was not like 'drinking a glass of water.' When deciding which albums would remain, the team in charge of the selection acknowledged the impossibility of including all of them, given the number and complexity of most genres. On the other hand, the fundamental idea was not to create an encyclopedic list or to generate a narrowly intellectual vision.".