Luis Rivera-Figueroa’s research focuses on the transnational flows of Latin music in the United States, Latin America, and the Hispanic Caribbean. His monograph research project, “Reggaetón on the Global Stage: Race, Place, and Mainstream Latinidad” studies how imagined geographies shape ideas of race in the star images of música urbana artists -such as Luis Fonsi, Karol G, and Bad Bunny- as they become mainstream representations of Latinidad in the U.S. He has published articles about Bad Bunny's star image and gender performativity in the Journal of Latin American Communication Research and about Billboard’s Hot 100 Chart as a music industry tool that constructs ideas of the mainstream in Flow. In addition, Rivera-Figueroa has worked on the editorial team of journals such as the Journal of Latin American Communication Research, The Velvet Light Trap, Designis, and Flow TV.
Rivera-Figueroa holds a PhD in media studies from the University of Texas at Austin and an MA in communication theory and research from the University of University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras.