Despite Latinx artists’ dominating the music sphere in recent years, Austin City Limits Music Festival did not offer much variety in their headliners. Kali Uchis, the only Latina headliner this year, dropped out of the festival via her Instagram story on Tuesday morning, leaving behind a Latina-shaped gap in the lineup.
Although ACL has featured names like Karol G, Rosalia and the Mars Volta, who headlined the festival in 2008, Uchis would have been the first Latina headlining act for the festival. In a year in which Peso Pluma’s corridos made history at the VMAs, Uchis’ performance would have left a mark on ACL’s history.
“She was a big drop for them and for me too,” mathematics senior Isaiah Keo will be attending ACL for the first time this year. Keo said he was looking forward to catching Uchis’ set before Kendrick Lamar’s headlining act, especially since her repertoire consists of both English and Spanish songs.
“I’m Hispanic too, so I was really excited to see a Hispanic artist so high up in the lineup and I’m a little disappointed she didn’t go,” Keo said.
Uchis is in the top 100 of Spotify’s most streamed artists in the world, according to her artist page. For Keo, the lack of Latino representation in this year’s lineup was surprising.
“There’s been a pretty large surge in Latin music over the past year or two, and I feel like it’s just kept growing, so that was kind of a shock whenever I saw the lineup,” Keo said.
Natalie Guerrero, a health and society sophomore, bought ACL tickets for the first time this year mainly to watch Uchis’ performance. She has listened to Uchis’ music for about five years and recently wrote a paper on the Latina artist for her Latino studies class.
Guerrero said she admires Uchis, who shares a similar background of having immigrant parents, and because Guerrero understands how difficult it is for Latinx artists to rise in the ranks.
“I think she would have been a really big impact, especially since she’s so big in the Latin community,” Guerrero said. “And it’s like all the other little artists that I listen to or the big artists don’t resonate with the Latinx community.”
Guerrero points out the other smaller Latinx artists playing at ACL, such as Eddie Zuko, but having major artists like Uchis who are important to the community is what really stood out to her.
Although Uchis has canceled her performance, ACL attendees can get their daily dose of Latinx artists with a wide selection of diverse music: Ivan Cornejo, Kevin Kaarl, Eddie Zuko, Caramelo Haze, The Altons, Nemegata and Mars Volta.
Texan en Español reached out to ACL coordinators but received no response. The festival announced on Twitter/X that the Jamaican group Major Lazer would be Uchis’ replacement.
Editor’s note: This story was originally reported in Spanish. Check out more of our original Spanish reporting on our Texan en Español Reporting page.
