Myke Towers photographed on Sept. 22, 2021 at the Faena Forum in Miami.
Mary Beth KoethFrom career milestones and new music releases to major announcements and more, Billboard editors highlight the latest news buzz in Latin music every week. Here’s what happened in the Latin music world this week.
Myke Towers Makes Fashion Moves
Myke Towers and Puma have joined forces for the brand’s newest Motorsport campaign. Towers, who’s “been a fan of the brand for many years,” becomes Puma’s first-ever Motorsport Lifestyle Ambassador, creating content and marketing campaigns that mesh the fashion, music and car cultures. “We are going to go fast and do some really cool things; looking forward to this partnership,” the Puerto Rican artist said in a press statement. The official campaign photos were shot in Towers’ native Puerto Rico. See the photos below:
A Jhayco Love Playlist
For their first Valentine’s Day as a couple, Jhay Cortez and Mia Khalifa not only shared key moments of their date on social media, but Cortez also curated a special playlist for Mia. Available exclusively on TIDAL, fans can enjoy the playlist called “A love letter from Jhay Cortez to his beloved Mia,” which includes songs by Bruno Mars, Rihanna, Santana, Alicia Keys, The Weeknd, and Cultura Profetica, to name a few. Listen to the playlist here. On Valentine’s, Cortez also celebrated that the Bad Bunny-assisted “Dakiti” surpassed one billion streams on Spotify.
The First Valentine’s
Speaking of Jhayco and Mia, this week, many artists shared their first-ever Valentine’s Day with their partners. On social media, Jay Wheeler posted the sweet surprise he had for his singer girlfriend Zhamira Zambrano, a bed full of gifts and balloons. Argentine lovebirds Duki and Emilia celebrated their new relationship with a second collaboration dubbed “Esto Recién Empieza” and Nicky Jam showered his model girlfriend Aleska Genesis with a Valentine’s-themed yacht date.
A Dream Latinx Festival
This week, Tropicália and La Tocada announced a major one-day festival called “Besame Mucho.” Taking place on Saturday, Dec. 3 at Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium, the festival includes a multigenerational lineup, which features pop, regional Mexican, merengue, cumbia, and rock artists. Among the confirmed Latin acts are Los Tigres del Norte, Julieta Venegas, Café Tacvba, Zoé, Sin Bandera, Juanes, Banda El Recodo, and many more. The three separate stages are Rockero stage, Las Clásicas (The Classics) stage, and Te Gusta El Pop? (You Like Pop?) stage. For more information, visit besamemuchofestival.com.
The Bichota Crocs
On her 31st birthday, Karol G unveiled her collaboration with Crocs, in celebration of self-love. The Colombian singer released two versions: the Karol G X Crocs Classic Clog ($70) and the Karol G X Crocs Mega Crush Clog ($110), decorated with charms designed by the “Bichota” singer herself including hearts, pins, and colorful pompoms. “Today is a reminder to all my fans to celebrate self-love,” Karol G said in a statement. “My collab with Crocs has been an amazing experience, it was such an honor to be able to work on the design and create the Jibbitz charms to truly express the message I wanted to come across when people saw them: LOVE, SELF-LOVE!”
NEWS
Jacob Alon recently opened up to NME about collaborating with longtime inspiration Kae Tempest, while also sharing why they continue to admire artists who speak openly on political and social issues.
The Scottish singer songwriter spoke with NME backstage at the Ivor Novellos last Thursday, May 21, where they picked up both the Rising Star award and Best Song Musically and Lyrically for ‘Don’t Fall Asleep’.
The recognition follows a huge year for Alon, who also earned the Critics’ Choice Award at the 2026 BRITs and became the first Scottish artist to win BBC Music Introducing’s Artist of the Year title.
The success arrives alongside the release of their highly praised debut album ‘In Limerance’, which came out last year and led to a support slot on Kae Tempest’s recent ‘Self-Titled’ tour. During those shows, the pair performed a moving rendition of George Michael’s ‘Freedom’ together. Speaking backstage at the Ivors, Alon also confirmed that they have recently been in the studio with Tempest working on new music.
“Kae is one of my absolute heroes,” they said. “We’ve been in the studio this week actually, writing together. I’ve never felt closer to another creative mind before.”
Although Alon avoided revealing too much about the collaboration, they described the experience as “the biggest privilege to witness his genius and to be in the presence of something raw and beautiful”.
They went on to say they are “really excited for the world to witness” the music they have been creating together.
The ‘Of Amber’ artist also spoke with NME about the importance of using their platform to stand up for causes they care deeply about. In recent months, Alon held a Palestinian flag during the BRITs and appeared at the Trans Mission event in London, where they defended those being “scapegoated by people who want to distract everyone from the real problems in society”.
“I’m endlessly inspired by those that use their voices and their platforms to speak out about what matters. I’m trying to do that myself,” Alon explained to NME. “It’s not easy to know what the right thing to say is sometimes, but I think the effort made to do that is always worthwhile.”
The remarks echo comments Alon previously shared with NME at the BRITs earlier this year, where they said they believe “music is important and can make a difference”, while also teasing a brighter direction for future releases compared to their emotional and introspective debut album.
“Going into making something new, it’s already different. It’s a different place to create from because now I know what’s out there,” they shared, joking that the next era may lean into punk influences and that all the praise might finally go to their head.
Later this summer, Alon is set to join the packed line up for Lewis Capaldi’s headline performances at BST Hyde Park. The concerts take place on Saturday July 11 and Sunday July 12, with Conan Gray, The Vaccines, Absolutely, Nieve Ella and more also appearing across the weekend. Find any remaining tickets here.
At the 2026 Ivor Novellos, other major winners included CMAT for Best Album, Fraser T Smith and Kae Tempest for Best Contemporary Song, and Sam Fender taking home Songwriter Of The Year.
Rosalía was named International Songwriter Of The Year, while Radiohead’s Thom Yorke received the Academy Fellowship award presented by Harry Styles. George Michael was also honored posthumously with the Academy Fellowship award.
