Hollywood Walk Of Fame List 2015: Sofía Vergara, Eugenio Derbez, Pitbull

By Maria G. Valdez

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced the “Class of 2015 Star Honorees,” 30 celebrities who will be getting their stars on the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame. Among these faces that will be seeing their names in the famous walk starting next year, are three Latinos who have made their ways into Tinseltown. Their hard work and dedication has finally paid off, and the dreams they had when they first came to America are exceeding their expectations.

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Netflixeando: 10 Latino Films You Should Stream on Netflix

By Vanessa Erazo

How many times have you gone to Netflix wanting to watch something but got completely overwhelmed by the options. Or, you try to look for a good Latino movie but — how the hell do you find them? You might look in the “Foreign Movies” section or under “Foreign Language” for films from Latin America but there’s no U.S. Latino movies there. Since they are in English, they aren’t labeled foreign and hence are hard to find, unless you know the exact title you are looking for. Well, that’s why we’re here. We’ve scoured Netflix and watched all the crap movies so you don’t have to.

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Why musician Rubén Blades made the switch from salsa to tango

by April Peavey 

Panamanian musician Rubén Blades is best known for his salsa compositions, but all along, it seems, he was fantasizing about something else.

"I've always wondered how the songs I wrote, that were recorded in salsa, how would they turn out if I recorded them as tangos," Blades says.

These aren't exactly the closest of genres — salsa and tango. I mean, where do you even start? 

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Los Rakas Raise the Bar

By Dita Quinones

Los Rakas have boldly forged a new lane in Latin alternative music with their distinctive “Panabay” sound by fusing hip-hop, reggaeton and Afro-Latino rhythms in Spanglish. They perform Friday, Aug. 22 at the House of Blues and are likely to steal the show from its headliner, Tribal Theory, with their sky-high, energetic live showmanship that will have you chanting, "Soy Raka!"

Cousins Raka Dun (Panamanian) Raka Rich (Panamanian-American), are known for their rock-the-party-get-the-girl anthems with songs like, "Ta Lista," and "Bien Ribetiao." This time around, Los Rakas are penning their U.S. Afro-Latino experiences over club-friendly beats with their new album, "El Negrito Dun Dun & Ricardo." To alleviate any confusion for new and old fans alike, it's the Latin alternative version to OutKasts’ "Speakerboxx/The Love Below."

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Lights, Camera, Struggle? Hollywood Latinos Speak Out

By Raul A. Reyes

Lights, camera, struggle? A recent study from the University of Southern California made headlines after concluding Latinos continue to be the most underrepresented group in Hollywood films. The report only confirms what Latino actors, producers, and advocates already know: It is tough to make it in Hollywood, but it is even tougher for Hispanics.

The study by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism found that diversity on-screen lags far behind that of the U.S. population. Researchers looked at films over a six-year period and found that Latino characters accounted for only 4.9 percent of all speaking roles. In contrast, Hispanics are 17.1 percent of the population, yet are 25 percent of the moviegoing public.

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Roberto Orci talks Latino underrepresentation in Hollywood

BY RAY MONELL

Roberto Orci has thrived as a screenwriter and executive producer in Hollywood, but he hasn't let his achievements obscure the degree to which Latinos are underrepresented in television and film.

His way of responding, in part? Try "Matador," the edgy new espionage thriller on "Machete" director Robert Rodriguez's El Rey network, starring Gabriel Luna as Tony Bravo, a DEA agent who gets recruited by the CIA to pose as a professional soccer player by day while serving as a spy by night.

"The Latin community is about to explode in media," Orci, 41, says of the new channel, which airs "Matador" on Tuesdays at 9 p.m.

"It's no accident that (Rodriguez) and I got together. I've been in the industry 10, 15 years. He's been in it longer. It took us that long to even meet. It took us that long to even pitch each other something. 

Why is that? "I think it's because I'm going through the studio system learning my thing, trying not to raise hell, trying to (earn) my stripes, and he's doing his thing," adds the Mexico City-born scribe, who co-wrote the screenplays for "Transformers" (2007), "Star Trek Into Darkness" (2013) and "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" (2014).

"And it takes a minute for it to occur to all of us to get together and raise hell. Finally, it's all coming to the surface, and the frustration is justified and real."

Already picked up for another 13-episode season, "Matador" features many familiar Latino faces, from Alfred Molina to Elizabeth Peña and Julio Oscar Mechoso.

What's unfamiliar about the show, much like the channel it's on, is that the presence of Latinos behind the scenes won't be as rare a sight as it is in the rest of the industry.

"The Latino Media Gap" - a recent study tracking the state of Latinos in American media - found that when it came to the top ten TV shows from 2010 to 2013, Latinos accounted for just 1% of producers, 2% of writers, 4% percent of directors - and none of the show creators.

During the same period, 2% of directors, 2% of producers and 6% of the writers involved in top-10 movies were Latino, despite the demographic comprising 17% of the U.S. population.

"I've gone to this producers conference, for example, for years where I've talked about the Latino market," says Orci, who'll helm the next "Star Trek" film for his feature directorial debut.

"If someone tries to talk to you as a Latino and they bull---- you, that's where they get in trouble. It has to be authentic, and so, whether or not you speak Spanish or English, if they're gonna try to come at you culturally, they better understand the culture a little bit.

"They think that if they just (present) … some kind of immigrant story, or Spanglish story, that we're gonna go for it. That's not the case."

Orci is fully aware of one of the caveats with having the reins of a TV show - one perfectly summed up by a maxim made famous the Spider-Man saga: "With great power comes great responsibility."

"(The network) is giving you total freedom, and if anything goes wrong, it's all on you," he says.

"There's a bit of pressure; we have to make a good show. But the fact that we're talking about this is a small victory. We can celebrate some progress having been made in increasing diversity in media, but we can't stand still."

Latino Film Producer Named President Of Relativity Studio’s New Multicultural Division

By Fox News Latino

Big-time producer Matt Alvarez has been tapped to join Relativity Media as new executive vice president of production and president of the studio’s new multicultural division.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Alvarez – who produced such films as “Ride Along,” “Are We There Yet?” as well as the upcoming movie about N.W.A., “Straight Outta Compton” – will begin at his new post next month. As head of the multicultural division, he will focus on developing projects with a diverse pool of filmmakers.

“Relativity is a wonderful home for filmmakers and creative talent, as I learned while collaborating with them on ‘Beyond the Lights,’” Alvarez said in a statement, referring to the Gina Prince-Bythewood romantic comedy due out this November. “I am excited to work with Tucker (Tooley, Relativity’s president), Robbie (Brenner, production president) and their entire team on implementing our vision for a multicultural division.”

In a statement, Tooley described Alvarez as one of the most creative and successful executives in the industry, and “the perfect person to build out our new multicultural division.”

“He has a keen eye, remarkable relationships and an incredible track record,” he said. “We have had a great experience working with him on ‘Beyond the Lights’ and look forward to building off that success.”

The new division will launch with “Beyond the Lights,” which stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw (“Belle”) as a young musician on the brink of stardom and features Nate Parker, Minnie Driver and Danny Glover.”

Alvarez began his career at New Line Cinema, where he worked on films like “Rumble in the Bronx.” He later launched Cube Vision with rapper/actor Ice Cube, where he produced the “Barbershop” franchise, the “Are We There Yet?” movies and “Next Friday.”

HIP-HOP PIONEER CRAZY LEGS TALKS RED BULL BC ONE & B-BOYING

BY JESUS TRIVINO 

Crazy Legs isn’t one to boast. So leave it up to us: the Puerto Rican b-boy legend is one of the most iconic Latino figures in hip-hop history. ‘Nuff said. Long before Big Pun, Cypress Hill, Kid Frost, The Beatnuts, and, yes, ladies, even before Pitbull, Crazy Legs (Richard Colón) was holding it (probably spinning on his head while doing so) down. With the Red Bull BC One North America Final, the highly lauded one-on-one b-boy competition, takes place this Friday (8/15) at the Brooklyn Bowl in Las Vegas, its ambassador Crazy Legs talks about the early days of hip-hop, staying in shape, and what’s next for b-boying.

What is your involvement with the Red Bull BC?

I’m an ambassador for it this year and I’m just adding my two cents where I can in terms of what to do or if I have an idea. Being involved with Red Bull can make you involved in almost anything they do especially on the culture side. Red Bull has done a lot more than just one-offs. They really got deep into the scene. They stayed beyond the seasonal scene and have supported events and created their own events when it comes to hip-hop, as well as b-boy on its own.

What do you look for in an aspiring b-boy/b-girl? Should they follow in your footsteps?

I think everybody should create their own lane. I would definitely suggest that if they’re going to follow in my footsteps, then pick the right steps to follow because not everything that I’ve done has been the best decision. I would say that if you are going to follow any of my footsteps, then take on dance form as an art first. If you take it on as an art first, then it’ll stay with you for the rest of your life and you’ll have a true appreciation for it. You’ll understand that it isn’t just about the moves, but it’s about the very DNA of it, which is the music, the response to the music and love for the preservation of dance as well.

You’re one of the Latino pioneers of hip-hop culture. What do you remember most about those early days?

For me, going to my first jam is always going to be my first memory. It was the first time that I witnessed all of the elements happening at the same time. It was summertime in 1977 and you had a lot of things going on in the midst of the Blackout of ’77, the Son of Sam, and the Yankees winning the World Series. I was being introduced to what eventually became known as hip-hop culture and becoming part of hip-hop was like me being born again because it gave me an opportunity to have a voice. It wasn’t something that was thought out, but I knew that I was very shy when I was a kid and as I became a b-boy and became involved with things, my confidence developed. That’s very important to me.

Are you miffed that mainstream media appropriated hip-hop as a solely African American creation rather than something created by both African Americans and Latinos?

When you’re growing up around Afrika Bambaataa and black people and Afrika Bambaataa says, “You know you got black too man, we all together” then it doesn’t really bother you as much. But then you look at it as you grow up and you realize that white America at that time decided that you’re either black or white no matter what you are, in terms of Latino, Asian or anything other than that. I’ve started to feel more slighted now than back then because back then we weren’t on any kind of conscious tip like self-awareness or self-empowerment. We were just kids having fun. You have to think about how old we were. As a 10, 12, 13-year-old person, I’m not going to rise up against the system, especially when I live in the Bronx and it’s just survival mode. This was our way of having some sort of recreation. It just didn’t affect me on that level because I don’t think I knew enough about myself to fight for myself, or my people. That was something that I learned later on.

I have a sense of responsibility because I know that my name carries a certain amount of weight and if I can do something that inspires other Latinos to say, “Hey, that’s one of my people and he’s doing this, and I admire that. I’m going to do that too and I know I can do it because there’s one of us doing it right there.” If I can serve in that manner then I think I’d be foolish to just not do it.

How was your Puerto Rock Steady Festival this year?

It was great. It was better than the year before and it’s growing. As it grows, it’s going to have more of an impact on the community and more of an impact on my opportunity to create a tutoring program in Puerto Rico. It’s something that I really want to have grow as a destination vacation/music festival for people that like many genres of music. It’s not a hip-hop event—it’s all genres. I think we’re on the right track. We’re going to get Puerto Rico tourism involved, we’re going to get the governor’s office involved, and we’re going to keep striving to make it as successful as possible.

After years of b-boying, how is your body holding up?

My body is holding up the way I allow it to hold up. I stay training and working out and it’s really about maintenance and not giving up on yourself. Like anyone else, I’ve been hurt. If you’re an athlete, you’ve been hurt and you know what it's like and I’ve had my share of bumps and bruises. The big thing is being resilient and living to live. I enjoy being an example to my crew because I can’t ask them to be at their best if I’m not doing my best to stay on top of my game. I also want to be an inspiration to my son. I want my son to see me taking care of myself so as he grows up, he can do the same thing and never give up on himself.

Are there any moves you don’t perform anymore?

I don’t even think it’s about “can’t perform.” I just go to events and watch them perform everything. I’ve had my time! I’ll do my moves when I’m teaching. I think you also have to pave the way for the next new talent that’s behind you and be welcoming to them and never be that old person that says, “Oh back in my day . . .” I’m all about being supportive.

Battle rapping is experiencing a rebirth with Total Slaughter. What needs to happen for b-boying to go through a similar revitalization?

The realness is already there. We have somebody in Rock Steady named Myzerse, and she’s one of the newest and hottest battle rappers out there. She’s done three battles already and two of the girls she battled already quit rapping after they battled her. That’s how on fire she is. You look at BC One and it’s a one-on-one battle and it may have a budget to put on all these things, but at the end of the day, you have straight up raw talent out there and they’re training hard and they’re all rookie boys. So what you’re asking me about actually already exists all around the world. It shouldn’t be confused with the fact that it’s coming from a corporation because the integrity behind it is there. Red Bull has enabled b-boys and legitimized them to teach around the world and put food on their families’ tables. I wouldn’t be too scared about the commercial aspect of it because at the end of the day, no one would have heard about hip-hop if there wasn’t a record label. I think there are a lot of great things going on.

When it’s all said and done, what do you want your legacy to be?

Your legacy is written by the way people perceive you so I’ve never really put thought into that. All I can hope is that whatever that legacy is, it only helps my son and my family when I’m gone. I could sit here and tell you the best things in the world and then somebody that’s really important out there calls me an a**hole and maybe he’s so important that people are going to run with that.

Hollywood to Latinas: Shut Up and Get Naked

BY SAMANTHA LEAL 

Thanks, Hollywood. For as many strides as Latinos (and specifically, Latinas) are making on the screen, it seems like not much has changed. A new study has shown that less than 5 percent of actors in top Hollywood films are Hispanic, while Latinas are more likely than any other group of women to appear partially or fully naked on screen. 

Yes, it seems the "sexy" Latina stereotype is alive and well: Latinas represent 37.5 percent of all female nudity (partial or full) on-screen. White women account for 31.9 percent of full or partial nudity, while black women come in at 23.5 percent. And Latinos? They don't fare much better either: they are more likely to be seen in "tight, alluring or revealing" clothing (16.5 percent) than any other group. 

“Hispanics and Latinos are one of the fastest-growing groups in the U.S.,” said Marc Choueiti, one of the authors of the study. “If popular films were the only way to gauge diversity, viewers would be completely unaware of this. Individuals from this group are almost invisible on screen.”

Actress Alma Martinez, most recently seen on FX's The Bridge, told KPCC that the "hot Latina stereotype" has been seen since silent films and continues to this day.

"You’re looking at Lupe Vélez, Carmen Miranda, Salma Hayek," Martinez said. "They’re sexualized Latina women. And they have an accent." But don't mistake her for saying these women don't have talent: "They're excellent," Martinez said. "It’s [the roles] Hollywood gives them.”

Moreover, speaking parts for minorities is, in a word, abysmal. Only about 5 percent of all speaking roles in top movies were Hispanic. In 2010, just 1.5 percent of speaking parts were given to any racial minority. Seriously?

“In reality, we saw no meaningful difference in the representation of characters from underrepresented backgrounds across the six years we studied," said Stacy Smith. Smith is an author and director of the study.

Latinos make up 16.3 percent of the U.S. population and buy 25 percent of all tickets at the box office, yet we are still one of the most underrepresented demographics when it comes to on-screen time and speaking roles. 

Despite what it seems Hollywood wants us to do (be quiet and get naked), we'll keep raising our voice to this issue until it changes. And we'll do so with our clothes on. 

What do you think of these findings? Are you surprised at all? Share in the comments.

Pitbull First Latino Artist With Own Full-time SiriusXM Channel

by Marjua Estevez (@_MsEstevez)

Dade County’s Pitbull has come a long way from his days of gangsta rap, á la M.I.A.M.I. The man born to Cuban expatriates went from being a Lil Chico signed to Luther Campbell’s Luke Records to international brand Mr. Worldwide.

His latest business undertaking? His own SiriusXM channel, making the 33-year-old the first Latino artist to have his own full-time channel on the service.

Via Billboard:

Scheduled to debut in early 2015, the channel will feature both music by the Miami star as well as personal selections from other artists. The anchor of the channel will be a weekly show hosted by Pitbull.

Pitbull’s channel will likely be bilingual so as to serve, both, Latino and mainstream listeners. More details to come. Congrats to Mr. 305.