Red Bull Batalla 2022, the world’s largest Spanish-language freestyle competition, has unveiled the top 16 MCs competing at this year’s U.S. final round in Miami on October 8. Here are the official finalists that are still on the run.

Out of over 7,000 aspiring MCs that applied, the competition has its final 16 competitors. This list was determined at the qualifiers in Dallas on July 16 and in L.A. on July 30. These names include: El Poeta from Phoenix, AZ, Pailot from Durant, OK, Adonys from New York, NY, Link One from Caguas, Puerto Rico, OneR from Tamarac, FL, Nico B from Miami, FL, Macías from Colorado Springs, CO, and Outlaw from San Juan, Puerto Rico. You can relive the L.A. qualifier show via streaming now.

These 16 MCs will join the 2021 Red Bull Batalla USA National Finalists, and 2022 Red Bull Batalla USA Regional Cup Winners on the national stage in Miami. The Red Bull Batalla USA National Finalists who automatically advanced from 2021 are: Reverse from West Palm Beach, FL, Eckonn from Orlando, FL, McBetho from Irving, TX, and Cuban from McAllen, TX. The other participants are the 2022 Red Bull Batalla USA Regional Cup Winners: Freites from Orlando, FL, Santos from New York, NY, Jordi from Austin, TX, and J Luna from Los Angeles, CA.

What comes after? The winners from Miami will have the opportunity to represent the U.S.A. at the World Final that will take place in Mexico City in December. As reported before, the World Final counts with the participation of nine countries, including the U.S., Mexico, Spain, and Colombia.

Best of luck to all the competitors making their way to this year’s Red Bull Batalla 2022 World Final! 

This event is free and open to the public but pre-registration is required. Includes Museum admission.

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In 2004, the pulsating, intensely catchy beats of Daddy Yankee’s mostly Spanish song “Gasolina” hit dance clubs around the world, helping launch the Puerto Rican artist — and reggaeton — into the mainstream.

The song, and Daddy Yankee, “triggered the explosion of urban Latin music worldwide,” as one music publishing executive phrased it. Even so, “Gasolina” never made it past No. 32 on the Billboard charts.

More than a decade later, “Despacito,” sung by Daddy Yankee and fellow Puerto Rican Luis Fonsi, featuring Justin Bieber, reached the No. 1 spot on the charts in May. It was the first Spanish-language song to top the charts since “Macarena” in 1996.

And now, Daddy Yankee — whose genre of music was once shunned and censored in his native Puerto Rico — has become the No. 1 artist on Spotify, the first Latino artist to reach the global spot. The 40-year-old surpassed 44,735,586 monthly listeners and ousted Ed Sheeran to top the list, Spotify announced Sunday, according to the Associated Press.

Daddy Yankee’s rise to the top of the charts marks a milestone for the Latin music industry. It also reflects how the growth of the Spanish-speaking population in the United States, and the emergence of music streaming services such as Spotify, have boosted a new surge in Spanish-language songs entrenched in Latino culture.

Speaking in Spanish in a video posted to Twitter, Daddy Yankee, whose real name is Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez, looked back on his decision to commit to the music industry in 1992.

“No one believed in me, it cost me many sacrifices, many moments lost with my family,” Daddy Yankee said. “I had to face prejudice and discrimination.”

“But today this genre called reggaeton is the most listened to in the world,” he continued, thanking his fans. His chart-topping recognition belongs not to him, he said, but to the genre as a whole.

“Family, we did it,” he said. He also spoke in English to his “brothers around the world who have embraced our culture. … You’re part of it.”

“We’ve been on this way for a long time now,” he said.

“The musical digital revolution has unified the world and this is the proof,” Daddy Yankee said. “We are all in the same boat with no labels or stereotypes.”

Que Viva La Musica Latina!

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