Sofia to Perform at This Year’s Latin Grammys

Raquel Sofia is ready to make a big splash at the Latin Grammys

The Puerto Rican singer-songwriter has been added to the roster of artists scheduled to perform at the annual awards show.

Raquel Sofia

Sofia, who is nominated for Best New Artist at this year’s Latin Grammys, joins a list of performers that includes Juan Luis Guerra, J Balvin, Cho Quib Town, Natalia Jimenez, Will Smith and Bomba Estereo, and fellow best new artist nominees Matisse.

Sofia’s debut album, Te Quiero los Domingos, was released in July.

Sofia, who recently received a Vevo Lift nomination, previously performed backing vocals for Juanes, Shakira and Jean Carlos Canela, before making a name for herself.

Smith and Bomba Estereo will perform their version of “Fiesta,” which is nominated for record of the year in its original version. Balvin is nominated for best urban performance and best urban son for his hit “Ay Vamos” while Guerra is up for four awards, including album and record of the year.

The 16th annual Latin Grammys will air live on Univision on November 19 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Sofia Receives Vevo Lift Nomination

It’s a special is Lift off for Raquel Sofia

The Puerto Rican singer-songwriter, nominated for Best New Artist at this year’s Latin Grammys, has received a nomination in Vevo’s artist development program, Lift.

Raquel Sofia

Launched in 2011, the program lends promotional support to a handful of emerging artists per year, giving them a special landing page on Vevo with exclusive content including interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, video premieres and more to expose their music to a broader audience.

Jessie J, Sam Smith, Lorde, and Tori Kelly are among the famous artists who make up part of the Vevo Lift alumni.

In this current round, Sofia is up for the Vevo Lift slot with Canadian R&B singer/songwriter Alessia Cara and Swedish pop singer Zara Larsson.

Online fan voting determines the winner, but if Sofia — who herself has a love affair with jazz, blues, folk, rock and pop — does anywhere near as well as she’s done on Spotify (17 million total streams and counting), she stands a good chance.

And then there’s the fact that she’s learned from the best, having performed backing vocals for Shakira and Juanes, among others.

“They’re so professional and so talented and they’ve worked so hard, so you get to see why they are at the top,” she recently told Billboard of working with major artists. “So I guess more than advice I learned just from being around them, like osmosis, just absorbing everything that they did, watching them perform. It’s just incredible.”

“I just remember listening to a lot of Bob Marley, the Beatles, Juan Luis Guerra and Shakira. Wanting to do that, especially the songwriting part,” she told us when discussing her childhood in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico and the influences around her debut album, Te Quiero Los Domingos.

Fans can vote for Sofia here until October 19.