Kapo, Edén Muñoz and Sony Music Publishing were among the biggest winners at the 2026 SESAC Latina Music Awards, held Wednesday (May 27) at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles, where the company celebrated the global success of its songwriters and publishers.
For the first time, Kapo was named pop/Latin rhythm songwriter of the year for hits such as “Más Que Tú” (with Ozuna), “Imagínate” (with Danny Ocean), “Luna” (with Wisin) and more. Meanwhile, Edén Muñoz earned regional Mexican songwriter of the year for the fifth time, recognized for songs including “Lejos Estamos Mejor,” which also took regional Mexican song of the year.
The pop/Latin rhythm song of the year award was given to “En Privado,” a bachata-inspired track penned by Manuel Turizo and Kemzo, published by MTZ Publishing, La Industria Music Publishing, and Sony Sounds, and performed by Xavi and Turizo. The song — included in Xavi’s 2026 album Dosis — reached No. 1 on Billboard‘s Latin Airplay and Tropical Airplay charts.
Sony Music Publishing was named publisher of the year across both award genres after scoring 13 award-winning songs during the ceremony.
“Honoring the vibrant Latin music community is a tradition we deeply cherish at SESAC, and we are proud to celebrate the incredible creativity of its songwriters, producers, publishers, and artists,” said Scott Jungmichel, president and COO of SESAC Performing Rights, in a statement. “This music does more than entertain – it tells powerful stories, connects generations, and unites people around the world.”
Celeste Zendejas, svp of SESAC Latina, added, “We are honored to celebrate another remarkable year of exceptional music, recognizing the songwriters and publishers whose creativity continues to shape culture and inspire audiences around the world.”
Guests were also treated to a live performance by Kapo, who continues to establish himself as a rising force in the Spanish-language Afrobeats genre.
The event was sponsored by City National Bank, A&I Music Entertainment, and Rossi Baldivia Klein Fine & Spector. Below, see the main winners of the 2026 SESAC Latina Music Awards.
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Summer can be unpredictable, especially when it comes to your hair. The heat and humidity can transform your hair from straight to frizzy, but a good blow dryer can save the day, especially in an unexpected hair emergency.
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When it comes to the best hair dryers, we like Dyson’sSupersonic Nural, which the brand says is it’s “most intelligent” hair dryer yet. Released in 2024, the 10-inch hair dryer is still one of our daily go-tos, thanks to features like sensor technology that reduces heat damage and a slew of “new and improved” attachments, including a gentle air attachment, styling concentrator, wave and curl diffuser, wide tooth comb and flyaway attachment. Don’t just take our word for it: Beyonce has been seen using the Dyson Nural too.
Right now, you can get the Dyson Supersonic Nural Hair Dryer for $100 off — the cheapest price we’ve seen all year. Dyson rarely discounts its products so this is a deal you’ll want to take advantage of.
What you’ll like this: the Dyson hair dryer is equipped with sensors that automatically reduce heat as the Nural gets close to your head, and a scalp protection mode automatically reduces the heat to 131-degrees, an “optimum temperature for scalp comfort and drying speed,” per Dyson.
Depending on how close it is to your hair, the Nural’s LED lights will adjust from yellow (low heat) to orange (medium heat) or red (high heat) when in Scalp Protect mode.
I tested the Dyson’s Supersonic Nural hair dryer during a trip overseas, and it came in handy when my flat iron failed the vibe check. It’s surprisingly lightweight, not too bulky or loud, and works rather quickly. My hair was silky smooth and felt healthier — not fried.
Another bonus: the Nural is smooth to the touch and has a motion sensor that turns the blow dryer off when you put it down. Plus, it’s compact enough to throw in your luggage and take on summer vacation.
The Dyson Nural Supersonic hair dryer is available in multiple colors online at Amazon but the “amber silk” colorway is the one with the current $100 discount. Don’t wait long though as Amazon pricing could change at any time, so we recommend adding this Dyson to cart while the sale is still live. See more details here.
Looking for a cheaper alternative? Amazon sells this top-rated ionic blow dryer that promises faster drying with no heat damage and less frizz.
This set comes with the lightweight handheld hair dryer, plus interchangeable diffuser and nozzle attachments. More than 73% of shoppers give this Dyson alternative a full five-star rating.
Young MC is the latest artist to walk away from the lineup of the Great American State Fair, the event celebrating America’s 250th anniversary.
The “Bust a Move” rapper was initially announced to the bill, alongside the likes of Martina McBride, Flo Rida, C+C Music Factory, Vanilla Ice, Milli Vanilli, The Commodores, and others, all of them participating in the 16-day “national exposition” kicking off June 25 and wrapping up July 10, with musical performances every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.
In a social post, Young MC confirms he is out. “I HAVE INFORMED MY AGENTS THAT I WILL NOT BE PERFORMING AT THE FREEDOM 250 EVENT,” he writes. “The artists were never told about any political involvement with the event. And despite the claims by the organizers that the event is non-partisan, SPIN magazine describes it as Trump-backed. I hope to perform in D.C. in the near future at an event that is not so politically charged.”
A description on the Freedom 250 website downplays the political angle of the 250th anniversary event. “The celebration will unite and showcase all 56 U.S. states and territories in a single World’s Fair-scale event,” reads the blurb. “This is an opportunity for visitors from across America to experience an unforgettable celebration of the people and traditions that define our nation.”
Also featuring carnival rides and stations showcasing the cultures of all 56 American states and territories, the festival will mark the finale of President Donald Trump’s year-long Great American State Fair, which also involves activations in state fairs across the country. The twice-impeached president first previewed plans for the celebrations in July last year, with the White House promising at the time that the administration would “throw the greatest birthday party in American history.”
Young MC joins Morris Day & The Time, which separately left the line-up with the message: “Contrary To Rumor, Morris Day & The Time Will Not Be Performing At The ‘GREAT AMERICAN STATE FAIR.’” A caption for the post adds “It’s a no for me,” with a smiley-face emoji wearing sunglasses.
Born in London, England, to Jamaican immigrant parents, and raised in New York city, the 59-year-old Young MC (real name: Marvin Young) was one of hip-hop’s earliest hitmakers on the Billboard charts, and enjoyed several top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100.
As a songwriter, he’s credited with two 1989 smashes for Tone-Loc that enjoyed crossovers, not just in the U.S. music scene but on charts and airwaves around the globe. “Wild Thing” went to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 – at the time, the genre’s highest peaking hit on the flagship chart – while “Funky Cold Medina” nearly duplicated the feat, reaching a No. 3 best. In the same year, he nabbed another classic, this time as a solo artist with “Bust a Move,” which blasted to No. 7 on the Hot 100 and won a Grammy Award for best rap performance.
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With all of the experience he’s gained along his journey, Cudi is joining the movement We Are Enough as a founding partner, the organization announced Thursday (May 28), in the midst of Mental Health Awareness Month. We Are Enough is an initiative launched to remove the stigma surrounding mental health and benefit those struggling.
“Been open about my struggles for years — I know what it’s like to be in that dark place,” said Kid Cudi in a statement. “That’s why I’m excited to be a founding member of We Are Enough — a reminder that we already enough, just as we are. 100 percent of proceeds go straight to nonprofits doing the real work on the ground for mental health.”
To kick off the partnership, everyone in attendance of Cudi’s NYC show of his Rebel Ragers Tour at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night (May 30) will receive a We Are Enough bracelet.
We Are Enough was founded by entrepreneur Blake Mycoskie, who faced his own mental health struggles while battling depression, which led him to creating the initiative. Mycoskie is best known for building TOMS into a global footwear brand.
According to the organization’s website, We Are Enough’s mission is to “spread reminders in every form — bracelets, messages, actions, community — until feeling ENOUGH becomes the cultural default.” The organization will donate 100 percent of profits toward benefiting mental health initiatives.
The “Pursuit of Happiness” rapper’s Rebel Ragers Tour started in April and comes to MSG on Saturday, before heading to Camden, N.J.; Hartford, Conn.; Mansfield, Mass., and Bangor, Maine, to kick off the first week of June.
When Mallrat returned with 2025’s Light Hit My Face Like A Straight Right, the project wasn’t so much a reinvention, but a creative revelation.
With Light Hit My Face (released via Nettwerk in North America, and via Dew Process / Universal Music Australia in Australasia), the Brisbane-raised, Melbourne-based artist built a new world, a universe. It’s a collection that staddles both the future and nostalgia, built with bricks that are both organic and electric.
On it, Mallrat (real name: Grace Shaw) showcases her vocals, which at times take an otherworldly turn with the help of AutoTune; her maturing songwriting; and features an array of collaborations, including contributions from Cub Sport’s Tim Nelson, Australian producer Styalz Fuego, and U.S. producer Buddy Ross. Shaw’s production on Light Hit My Face earned her producer of the year plaudits at the 2026 Queensland Music Awards, a badge she’s particularly proud to wear. Mallrat was also nominated for album of the year at the QMAs, and best solo artist and best pop release at the 2025 ARIA Awards.
“This was the first time that I was super-intentional with the world building with all of the visuals for the album, especially,” Shaw tells Billboard. “The worlds that I was building was a parallel universe, a southeast Queensland, where magic appears through strange little portals.” The album’s artwork features Shaw climbing on board a Hills Hoist clothesline, an Australian icon that’s right up there with Vegemite, koalas and the Lamington. In Mallrat’s world, it’s no ordinary Hills Hoist. This is a portal. “I imagined it as a conductor of magic,” she says with a laugh.
Mallrat presented some of that magic on opening night of Vivid Sydney 2026, with a set at Tumbalong Nights on Darling Harbour last Friday, May 22, where she fronted a three-piece lineup, which included a live drummer and a keyboardist who would switch it up with a guitar for the right number. “Hi Sydney, how’s everyone feeling tonight. I’m so happy you’re here,” Mallrat, wearing a white shirt and matching cans, told the audience after opening with album cuts “My Darling, My Angel” and “Pavement.”
It’s a more robust lineup to Mallrat’s arena tour of Australia earlier this year in support of Kylie Minogue, when she performed alongside a DJ.
Mallrat emerged as a fully-formed indie-pop artist in 2016 with the first of several EPs, Uninvited. Career streams across her catalogue, which include the timelessly charming “Groceries” and the cuter than a bug’s ear “Charlie,” which she performed for Vivid Sydney, are north of 500 million, reps say.
American audiences will get to enter Mallrat’s world later this year. U.S. and Canada live dates get underway June 13 at Seaport District NYC, and include a tour in support of Swedish artist Tove Lo. Those Tove Lo Estrus dates wrap up Oct. 1 in Mexico City, Shaw’s first visit to Mexico’s capital. “I’ve always wanted to go there,” she enthuses. “I’m so excited about that.” It’s her second visit to North America in just 12 months, following Mallrat’s opening spot of MARINA’s run last September and October.
Mallrat’s universe is expanding. The goal, she tells Billboard, is “making more albums. I’m working on maybe what could be two albums, or maybe it’ll just be one. As well as alongside my own music, tinkering away at writing and producing with other artists that I find really exciting. I’ll just have to cross my fingers that all that stuff comes out.”
It’s a too early to lock in the style and sound of Mallrat’s next project. “But I have been playing with a more electronic sample-based direction,” she explains, “and then I’ve been playing with a more live indie direction and then I’ve also been like experimenting with some kind of indie folk stuff. So, what I need to figure out now is where to concentrate my energy. Because it’s all fun.”
Tumbalong Nights is part of Vivid Sydney 2026, which runs to June 13. Vivid Sydney is presented by Destination NSW.
It’s been a long time since Jeff Mills worked his techno wizardry on Sydney audiences. Almost 25 years. Almost a lifetime. He broke that spell Friday night, May 22, with a marathon masterclass at Sydney Opera House, an Australian exclusive performance celebrating his iconic Liquid Room Mix.
Mills is an architect of Detroit techno, a founding member of the Underground Resistance. He’s known fondly as The Wizard for concocting magic at the decks, a world-class vinyl technician who thinks multiple stages ahead of the next drop, pulling at dizzying speed from his crate anonymous, white label cuts that would have the rest of us cooked.
Getting down to business in the Studio, a nightclub proper hidden underneath those famous sails, Mills got his Vivid LIVE opening night performance away with a history lesson, a 30-minute documentary on his legendary three-hour set at Tokyo nightclub Liquidroom. Recorded in 1995 at Tokyo nightclub Liquidroom, it’s a moment that’s spoken of in hushed tones. The live benchmark in progressive techno.
All told, Mills mixed more than 200 records on the night. Mills, the producer, worked many of his own tunes into that set for the first time, fresh from the studio to the wheels of steel. They were “so cutting edge,” he explains in the doc, and “reflective of what was happening deep in the underground of Europe and America.”
Many were masters and white labels, and they’d go on to become well known wherever techno is played. Some were pressed on 14” copper acetate, a format that was expensive, hard to find, and which, he says in the film, played at twice the volume as wax. The detonations can be easily spotted on those YouTube streams. “I knew I wanted to make the audience scream,” he recounts of his motivation. “So I knew I had to do something that exploded.”
“The Bells” was one. Perhaps his signature track, Mills made the track on one afternoon. “It took me a few hours,” he admits. After all these years, “The Bells” is still ringing, as it did on opening night in Sydney.
Mills last visited Australia in 2024 with his “Tomorrow Comes The Harvest” jazz-electronic project, a collaboration with Jean-Phi Dary and Prabhu Edouard. And before that in 2016, for a project with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) and fellow Detroit scene-builder Derrick May. On a drizzling night at the SOH, Mills got to work with vinyl, an appropriately austere scaffolding as his backdrop. No pre-programmed bits, no cheating, just lights, lasers, and a tireless smoke machine.
“DJing at a higher level than just mixing records together is quite complex,” he recently told Billboard’s Katie Bain. “It’s like being an athlete, like a tennis player. You have so many things you need to think about at the same time, as time is moving forward. You literally have to split your mind into multiple parts, and you have to pay attention to each one of these things at the same time, so your peripheral sense becomes enhanced.”
Although released by Sony Music on CD and cassette at the time (but not on DVD, against his wishes), the Liquid Room Mix has never been officially available digitally until now. It’d be considered a myth, if the set hadn’t been recorded for posterity.
Mills completed a two-night stand for Vivid LIVE on Saturday, May 23. Vivid LIVE is the annual contemporary music centerpiece of the Sydney Opera House, and part of the broader Vivid Sydney festival, which runs through June 13, and is owned, managed and produced by the New South Wales government, Destination NSW and Feel New Sydney.
Read Billboard’s “20 Questions” with Jeff Mills here.
