Nonpartisan campaign looks to rouse Latino vote through music

A new nonpartisan campaign is betting on the appeal of Latin music to drive Hispanic voters to the polls, with big name endorsements ranging from Los Tucanes de Tijuana to up and coming stars including Joshua Xavier “Xavi” Gutierrez.

The $10 million campaign, called “Grita. Canta. Vota.” — “Shout. Sing. Vote.” — aims to reach Hispanic voters online, on TV, on the radio and through voter registration events, aiming to increase participation.

Brothers Euler and Esau Torres, former touring musicians and founders of LENUSA, a live-entertainment agency, teamed up with nonprofit group Includus Fund for the campaign, which aims to reach 10 million eligible Latinos and directly register at least 100,000 new voters.

“We have a platform, our friends have platforms and all we’re saying is ‘vote.’ Entonces, that’s kind of where we’re where that comes from. ‘Nadie nos va a salvar,’ and so we have to do it ourselves,” Euler Torres told The Hill in a recent interview.

The campaign is backed by a host of musical acts, spanning decades of Latin music, but with a heavy dose of Regional Mexican, a catch-all genre for U.S. Southwestern and various styles of Mexican music.

“Globally, música latina is trending. And not just música latina but specifically Mexican music is hot. It’s on the global platform. It has the global spotlight. And what we’re using is people already listening to this music, but not just like mexicanos or latinos. Like you’re talking about everyone, right?” said Euler Torres.

Still, the campaign is heavily targeted toward Latinos, particularly the 62 percent of U.S. Hispanic voters of Mexican descent, and younger millennial and Gen-Z Latinos.

Younger Latino eligible voters account for 50 percent of the growth in the national eligible voter population since 2020, according to the Pew Research Center.

“As one of the largest growing voting populations in our nation, it’s critical now more than ever for our Latino community to use the power of our vote to ensure our voices are heard and our priorities and needs are not an afterthought,” said Includus Fund founder and President Bacilia Angel.

“With the support of our incredible artist lineup, we aim to inspire and mobilize the Latino community to actively participate in shaping the future of our nation.”

Since 2020, 3.9 million Latinos have joined the U.S. voting ranks, and the Torres brothers say their campaign hopes to help avoid the low participation rates that dogged older generations.

To do that, Grita. Canta. Vota. is recruiting young acts such as Xavi and Prince Royce, but also relying on classics including Los Tucanes de Tijuana and Lupillo Rivera.
“They still listen to Tucanes like that’s their – you know, Ramon Ayala?” said Euler Torres.

“Huracanes!” interjected Esaú Torres, referring to Los Huracanes del Norte.

“Huracanes! You know, and so we’re going out to all these bands because all these bands care and the music — it’s not just Xavi who’s speaking to Gen Z. You know, everybody knows about Vicente [Fernández], everybody knows about Juan Gabriel, even though they’re not around anymore, they still resonate with all age groups within our community.”

But the campaign is relying heavily on newer acts, which the Torres brothers say have infused Mexican and Latino music with influences and techniques from every genre from hip hop to jazz.

“My generation is leading the cultural revolution that’s elevating Mexican music on the global scale. We have a powerful voice and deep pride in our roots. Music unites us and it will mobilize my generation to vote,” Xavi said in a statement about the campaign.

While the campaign’s reach will feature the digital channels generally favored to reach younger consumers, it will also rely heavily on in-person concerts and one very old medium: radio.

“We know our community travels, because a lot of our community still travels following the work,” said Esaú Torres.

“So what we want to do is that a person that’s in California, Florida, Texas, when they change stations — and not just the two top networks, but even independent radio stations — [Latinos] that still listen to radio — as the last report came out, 92 percent of Latinos still listen to radio. That wherever they change the channel, they hear the same message, the same message, the same message, so that we can keep it consistent and this is a nationwide movement.”

And the Torres brothers said taking their message nationally, on large and small platforms, is more likely to reach the Latino voters who fly under the radar of political campaigns.

“How do we know which markets to hit? As we mentioned, my brother and I traveled throughout the country for 17 years. And if I were to tell you that the biggest concert that we performed, in front of 110,000 people, was in Charlotte, North Carolina,” said Euler Torres.

“Charlotte, North Carolina. So what we’re using is our lifetime experience of building these networks of radio stations, media and local influencers in every community that we’re trying to reach and educate,” added Esaú Torres.

The campaign is nonpartisan, something the Torres brothers say reflects the composition of the Hispanic community in the United States.

“A lot of talent wants to stay out of the politics side of it. They understand the importance of participating but not actually advocating for one or the other, and I think we’re all in the same mindset because we have Latinos, like we said, all shapes and sizes, and some are more conservative than others. So we just want to tell them, ‘Look, do your own research. The only information that we’re letting you know is that if you’re a U.S. citizen, register and your vote matters,’” said Euler Torres.