Prince Royce English Songs and Album

Source by Claudia Balthazar 

Latino Pop star Prince Royce is working on his first English language album hoping to follow in the footsteps of Spanish-speaking stars Ricky Martin and Enrique Iglesias.

"After releasing three Spanish albums, I felt more prepared as a musician and a songwriter," Royce said in an interview with Idolator. "I can now connect to many different English-speaking countries that don't know who Prince Royce is."

Price Royce has dominated Billboard's Latin Songs chart in the past few years with hits like "Las Cosas Pequeñas" and "Darte Un Beso." The heartthrob, raised by Dominican parents in Bronx, New York, was nominated for four Latin Grammys last month.

The singer has promised his fans that he is by no means leaving his Latin roots. Even in his English songs, there's a hint of his Latin and tropical sound.

Read more.

Rubén Blades & The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis

Pitbull to host the American Music Awards for the second consecutive year

Source by Jaylon Thompson

Two times's the charm for Pitbull.

The Cuban-American rapper is set to host the American Music Awards for the second consecutive year, Dick Clark Productions announced Monday.

“Mr. Worldwide” hosted the 2013 AMAs and for many of the 12 million viewers who tuned in, his presence on stage – and that of other Latino stars – was a point of controversy and xenophobia.

Viewers took to social media to not only criticize the rapper’s hosting, but to question why he was chosen to host because he “isn’t American.

But it looks like Pitbull and Dick Clark Productions, who puts on the American Music Awards, have shrugged off the criticism. The 2014 AMA will air live Nov. 23 from the Nokia Theatre on ABC.

A few days later, Pitbull will perform during the halftime show on Thanksgiving Day when the Dallas Cowboys play the Philadelphia Eagles. The Nov. 27 game will take place at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and will air on FOX.

Iggy Azalea is the leading nominee at the AMAs with six nominations. John Legend, Katy Perry and Pharrell Williams have five nominations each. Lorde is up for four honors at the fan-voted show.

Latino superstars Marc Anthony, Enrique Iglesias and Romeo Santos are up for the favorite Latin artist award.

Those acts are all nominated for artist of the year, competing with Beyonce, Luke Bryan, Eminem, Imagine Dragons and One Direction.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Salsa stars to gather in New York to honor Cheo Feliciano

Source by Ruth E. Hernandez Beltran.

Latin music stars will gather at New York's Madison Square Garden on Friday to honor Puerto Rican salsa and bolero singer Cheo Feliciano, who died in a car accident in April.

"Cheo was one of the 'last of the Mohicans' and a very talented one," Willie Colon, who shared the stage many times with Feliciano as members of the legendary Estrellas de Fania band, told Efe.

"His death hurt me a lot, it was a shock," the trombone player, singer and composer, one of the stars who will participate in the Oc. 24 homage, said.

The 79-year-old Feliciano, known for his rendering of standards such as "Triste problema," "Amada mia," "Pa'que afinquen" and "Anacahona," among other hits, was killed on April 17 when the car he was driving swerved and crashed into a concrete pole.

The Madison Square Garden stage where Feliciano himself performed will be taken by Colon, Gilberto Santa Rosa, la India, Oscar D'Leon, Tito Nieves, Jose Alberto "El Canario", Raulin Rosendo and Sergio George with the Los Salsa Giants band for a show titled "La Salsa Vive" (Salsa Lives On) to highlight Feliciano's five-decade music career.

Colon, who will travel from Los Angeles where he is to perform on Oct. 23, recalled Feliciano, whose career began in New York with the Joe Cuba orchestra, as a man "of good humor and an incredible personality."

"When I was with Estrellas de Fania, the thing I liked most was to perform along with Cheo, to see him, to be able to work with him," Colon said. "He was a fast thinker, both in English and Spanish, and had a wonderful philosophy of life. People enjoyed being around him and wherever he went things would lighten up."

"All the songs he sang would come out in a unique expression. He had a peculiar syncopation, a way to shape phrases, he was a brilliant character," Colon said.

Gilberto Santa Rosa, known as "El Caballero de la Salsa," remembers of Feliciano mostly for "his humility and comradeship."

"He never made a distinction between the star level he was in, and us, the generation coming up behind him," Santa Rosa said.

"From the first time I met him, he always treated me as an equal and I never saw him keeping his distance," Santa Rosa said. EFE

Latin Grammy Watch: Rubén Blades, Miguel Bosé, Calle 13 to Honor Joan Manuel Serrat

By Justino Aguila 

The Nov. 19 gala and musical tribute includes Tania Libertad and Joaquin Sabina. 

Panamanian salsa singer Rubén Blades, Spanish crooner Miguel Bosé and Puerto Rico's Calle 13 are among several entertainers paying tribute to Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year Joan Manuel Serrat. 

 

Joan Manuel Serrat to Be Honored as Latin Grammy Person of the Year

The Barcelona-born Serrat will also be in the company of other fellow artists including Peruvian songstress Tania Libertad and singer/songwriter/poet Joaquín Sabina who will gather during a gala and tribute dinner on Nov. 19 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

The tribute dinner and concert is being executive produced by Jose Tillan and Greg Fera is the producer. Dan Warner is the musical director and Gustavo Borner is the audio/mix supervisor. 

Last year Bosé was the person of the year and was given musical tributes by Laura Pausini, Ricky Martin, Carlos Vives, Carlos Santana, Juanes and Alejandro Sanz, among others.

AMA 2014: Marc Anthony, Romeo Santos, Enrique Iglesias are up for favorite Latin Artist

Source by Fox News Latino

Marc Anthony, Enrique Iglesias and Romeo Santos are continuing their musical accolades with nominations at the American Music Awards.The superstars of Latin music – in salsa, pop and bachata, respectively – will duke it out for the award for favorite Latin artist.

Dick Clark productions announced Monday that Australian rapper Iggy Azalea was the lead nominee this year with six awards. The “Fancy” performer’s nominations include artist, new artist, and single of the year for her No. 1 smash hit.

John Legend, Katy Perry and Pharrell Williams have five nominations each, while Lorde is up for four honors at the fan-voted show. Those acts are all nominated for artist of the year, competing against Beyonce, Luke Bryan, Eminem, Imagine Dragons and One Direction. The 10 nominees will downsize to five after calculating fan votes received through Nov. 13. The American Music Awards will be Nov. 23 at Los Angeles’ Nokia Theatre and will air live on ABC.

Based on reporting by the Associated Press.

US TOUR: Juanes is keeping it 100% Latino.

By Kike Posada.EFE   

Despite his years of experience, thousands of hours onstage and worldwide success, Colombia's Juanes suffers - and enjoys - the nerves of a novice in his aim to triumph in the United States without renouncing his language or his roots.

"I love it, it's like I'm starting all over, it's another system and I want to conquer this new stage in my life and give it all I've got. That's not easy because my usual audience isn't here, but it's great when you see that Americans enjoy the music without prejudice," he told Efe Sunday night, minutes before his performance in Texas at the Austin City Limits Music Festival. READ more of the article HERE.

New Cuban Hip-Hop Meets Old Cuban Soul

Source by by Jasmine Garsd

For me, nothing beats falling down a musical rabbit hole, where encountering a single artist or record sets you off on a long path of discovery.

My recent journey into Latin soul started a few months ago. Two things set it off. First, we did a fantastic show about La Lupe, Queen of Latin Soul. I'd heard her, but speaking to biographer Juan A. Moreno-Velázquez, I got a real taste for who she was. If you haven't already, give that episode a listen.

Around the same time, we spoke to Argentine musician Juana Molina. She brought, among other things, a collection of music her parents played in the house when she was growing up. Within that collection was a woman named Graciela and an erotic song called "Ay Jose." Its sensuality — especially for that time period, the 1940s — piqued my interest.

READ MORE.

[VIDEO + AUDIO] On Fania Records And The Music That Made It Matter

Source by NPR Staff

Fifty years ago, New York City musician Johnny Pacheco and his lawyer friend Jerry Masucci started a small Latin music record label and delivered their first albums to record stores across the city — from the trunk of the musician's car.

From these humble beginnings, Fania Records eventually became a global brand, spreading the sound of salsa from the dance clubs of New York to the rest of the world. Felix Contreras, co-host of NPR Music's Alt.Latino podcast, says the impact of the label and the musicians it brought together — Celia Cruz, Willie Colón, Rubén Blades and the rest of what would come to be known as the Fania All-Stars — was social and political as well as musical

"The early 1970s was a political coming-of-age of Latinos across the country," Contreras says. "Fania was the soundtrack for the empowerment for many of these communities, because it was brash, it was vibrant, it was new. It embraced the Afro identity of Latin America. And it made me — a young Chicano teenager in California, just discovering music — want to be part of this exciting new sound and movement."
Hear more of Contreras' conversation with NPR's Rachel Martin, as well as some of the music that made Fania matter, at the audio link. Listent to the audio.

Watch the video.

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.

Ruben Blades Releases New CD TANGOS Today

Tangos, the stunning new CD from Ruben Blades, is set for release via Sunnyside Records today, June 24th.

The best songs are those that provide messages that reach beyond the genre into which they are born. There are lyrics that can move people deeply, even when the composer and listener are separated by oceans.

The tremendous poet, composer and actor Rubén Blades is the sort who can plumb the depths of human emotion. Over his industrious and varied career, Blades has been a voice of passion, awareness and social consciousness throughout the Spanish-speaking world. He also possesses a wide-ranging interest in ideas and art, which has led to his involvement in projects with intriguing musical blends, including his new recording Tangos, a fascinating partnership of Blades's classic salsa compositions with Argentinean tango.

Blades's interest in tango music led him to reach out to his long time friend and collaborator Carlos Franzetti. Both were intimately involved in the New York Latin jazz and salsa scenes of the late 1970s and early 1980s and they befriended each other while working on a number of recordings, including the massive releases of Siembra (1978) and Maestra Vida (1980) and the music for the films Beat Street (1984) and Q&A (1990).

The initial idea for a collaboration using tango material was proposed nearly a decade ago but plans were delayed while Blades served as the Minister of Tourism for his native Panama from 2004 to 2009. Blades never forgot the idea and he began to hint at a possible tango project with Franzetti while touring Latin America shortly after his term ended.

Blades's hints led to an invitation from Gustavo Mozi for the two to close the World Tango Festival in Buenos Aires during the summer of 2010. The Festival gave Blades and Franzetti the perfect opportunity to tackle the project.

Franzetti began by arranging five of Blades's compositions for their performance: "Pablo Pueblo," "Ligia Elena," "Ella," "Paula C" and "Pedro Navaja." At the Festival, Blades and Franzetti were accompanied by the fantastic Leopoldo Federico Orchestra, which also recorded the pieces shortly thereafter. Once they returned to New York, Blades and Franzetti worked on arranging another six compositions, which were recorded with a tango quintet, with the strings and woodwinds recorded later in Prague.

Ruben Blades has proven himself to be one of the greatest lyricists and songwriters of our time. The idea to frame his lyrics with the tremendous arrangements of Carlos Franzetti in the tango idiom only increases the drama of his poetry. Tangos will prove to cement the legacy of this master songwriter and the ability of his songs to transcend musical borders.

Tangos is set for release June 24th on Sunnyside Records.

PITBULL releases 2014 World Cup's Official Song “WE ARE ONE (OLE OLA)”

By Franco Panizo

The official 2014 World Cup song is here.

Pop stars Pitbull and JLo and Brazilian musical artist Claudia Leitte released their collaborative track for this summer’s tournament on Tuesday, and it is titled ”We Are One (Ole Ola).” Pitbull can be heard through the majority of the tune, but JLo and Leitte do have verses of their own.

In addition, FIFA revealed the official World Cup album tracklist on Tuesday. It features songs from Shakira, Ricky Martin, Avicii and more.

The video for the official World Cup track has not yet been released, but is expected to drop shortly. It was filmed in South Florida earlier this year.

“We Are One (Ole Ola)” comes out just a couple weeks after Shakira dropped her World Cup-inspired “La La La” track.

Give “We Are One (Ole Ola)” a listen.

This video is the 2014 WORLD CUP’S OFFICIAL SONG “WE ARE ONE (OLE OLA)”

Three Music Docs tops the SD Latino Film Festival's DOCUMANIA!

If you are attending the 21st San Diego Latino Film Festival, make sure you watch one of these Documania! music documentaries.

Havana Film Festival New York (HFFNY) APRIL 3-11, 2014

If you missed last's year Havana Film Festival New York. Dont' miss this year's 15th anniversary.

The Havana Film Festival New York (HFFNY) is an internationally recognized film festival celebrating Latin American cinema. In its 15th anniversary, HFFNY features more than 40 films from the most exciting cinematic talent from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Venezuela and the United States

Tulipanes Latino Art and Film Festival Begins

September is Hispanic Heritage month and the 2013 Tulipanes Latino Art & Film Festival celebrates it.  The Festival’s opening night begins with a “Movie & Tapas” on Tuesday, Sept 10th at 7:30 P.M. For more information, visit the website tulipanes.org or call 394-0000.

Story by:  Diane E Coston (source WHTC)

SiriusXM Radio airs Ruben Blades music on Channel 533

Saturday September 14th you can't miss a day full of Ruben Blades music!! Channel 533 on SiriusXM Radio.... For a Free 7 day trial visit

MTV VMAs All-Time Best of Latino Artist Videos

The MTV's Video Music Awards are coming up and guest who's going to steal the music video spotlight. Latina magazine has put together an A-List of Latino music videos who may bring home the MTVs moon man. 

 

And the 2013 MTV's VMA award for Best Latino Artist goes to?

Cypress Hill’s ‘BLACK SUNDAY' Celebrates 20 years

 

Who you trying to get crazy with, Ese? Don't you know that PETER JACKKNIFE is loco.

This past weekend on July 20th, West Coast hip-hop group of the ’90 hip-hop era, Cypress Hill, celebrated their released of the 2nd album, Black Sunday. This highly-acclaimed album made noise in the hood 20 years ago and it reached Platinum success for the first Cuban-American/Latino hip-hop group.

Cypress Hill Black Sunday Album Track listing

1. I Wanna Get High
2. I Ain't Goin Out Like That
3. Insane In The Brain
4. When The Shit Goes Down
5. Lick A Shot
6. Cock The Hammer
7. Lock Down
8. 3 Lil' Putos
9. Legalize It
10. Hits From The Bong
11. What Go Around Come Around, Kid
12. A To The K
13. Hand On The Glock
14. Break 'em Off Some

Listen to the Cypress Hill Black Sunday Full album. Enjoy it 

LATIN MIXX to honor RUBEN BLADES the 2O13 LMX ICON AWARD

The 8th annual Latin Mixx Conference and DJ Choice Awards has announced its official content line-up for the highly coveted Latino DJ award show. This celebration will showcase events that will highlight workshops, exhibits, expos and social media networking. Plus it will include a tribute to Rubén Blades. This year LMX will introduce a unique contest for DJ´s to enter and win an exclusive opportunity to spin LIVE on the #1 Latin Radio Station in the Tri-State area. The 2013 LatinMixx conference and award show will kick-off July 9th and extent to the LMX DJ Choice Awards presentation on July 11th. It will be hosted by one of the country's most prominent and recognized DJs/Radio Personalities Alex Sensation, alongside fitness and cover model, Vida Guerra.

See you at the LatinMixx Awards!!!!