Mexican band Latin Mafia helps carry the flag for Latin music at this summer's Lollapalooza

Chicago Tribune

2 days ago

On the last night of Lollapalooza Sunday, festival goers had a choice to make: A$AP Rocky, Sabrina Carpenter or Latin Mafia.
Latin Mafia, formed in 2021, is a Mexican indie pop band of three brothers, twins Milton and Emilio and Mike de la Rosa. Their debut Lollapalooza performance on the Grove stage in Grant Park was, in a word, hectic: Milton and Emilio each ripped off their shirts, one of them scaled the stage's scaffolding and the other threw himself into the crowd. The band brought out Omar Apollo, a Mexican American alternative artist, to join the ruckus.
Latin Mafia's appearance at Lollapalooza felt, to many, like a tribute to Latin music. The band, after all, is not nearly as famous as 2023 headliner Karol G, who, along with artists like Bad Bunny, have brought Latin artists more of a mainstream following in the United States over the last few years. Alongside The Marías, Young Miko and Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso, the de la Rosa brothers made sure that Latin music was heard at this summer's festival.
Many of their fans, though, said they wished that Lollapalooza organizers C3 Presents could do more to highlight Spanish-language performers — especially given that Latino and Hispanic people make up nearly 30% of Chicago's population.
'Being Mexican, it's awesome to see artists that are also Mexican on stage,' said Giselle, a 26-year-old from Chicago who asked to use only her first name. 'I wish that there was more, because there's good music being made in our community, and I wish that they were given the spotlight a little more.'
Chicago residents Jose Perez, 38, and Kat Diaz, 30, worked a bar at Lollapalooza but managed to make it to Latin Mafia's and Young Miko's performances. They have both worked Sueños, too, the Latin music festival earlier in the summer in Grant Park also organized by C3 Presents. While Sueños gives Chicagoans the opportunity to celebrate Latin music, Perez and Diaz both pointed out that Lollapalooza draws in a much bigger crowd and therefore provides more exposure for its performers.
'To have a platform here for Latin music would be huge, not only for Latinos, but for the general population, because it's growing so much,' Perez said.
Noah Estrada, 27, who lives in San Diego County, has been to a number of music festivals over the years, including Coachella in Southern California, Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas and Portola in San Francisco. Estrada has noticed that these big festivals tend to bring out the same Latin performers, as if they 'travel in packs.'
'It's whatever's trending that year,' he said. 'You'll get The Marías and some of these other big Latin names together all at once, instead of on their own.' (María Zardoya, lead singer of The Marías, was born in Puerto Rico and often incorporates Spanish into her songs).
Latin Mafia, for instance, performed at Coachella in 2024. Estrada appreciates how they use synthesizers in their unique sound, and being half-Mexican, he has a bit of a sentimental reason for choosing the band to be his Lollapalooza closer.
The crowd that gathered to hear Latin Mafia took over The Grove, shouting excitedly in Spanish when Milton or Emilio urged them on. Almost everything the band members said or sang during their show was in Spanish, which didn't seem to pose a language barrier for anyone in the crowd.
Jailine Cortez, Samantha Quiroga and Natalie Reyes, who are all 26 and live in Chicago, bought tickets just for Sunday. Reyes and Quiroga have been to Sueños several times, but never Lollapalooza, until now, because it didn't seem to have much of a draw for Latin music fans.
As Latin Mafia sang its final number, the brothers passed around a Mexican flag.
'I love to see Mexican representation anywhere in the world,' Giselle said. 'It makes me so proud.'
As he walked up and down the stage, singing in melodic Spanish, one of the twins wrapped the flag around his shoulders. The red, white and green trailed behind him like a cape.