Music of Latin America

it? Yes, we are three friends that founded it.

So what we saw is that all of us love dancing, right? And we do mostly Latin dances and it's like a lot of partner dance into it, like bachata, salsa, for example.

What we have been experiencing since we started is that the dancing community is not always super inclusive.

To start with, it's very binary.

I just like to think about it as sexy.

There's another genre within the Afro house that it's Afro-Latin.

Okay.

And then Afro-Latin suits me very well because it...

It's very on my roots.

Yes.

So house isn't specifically one thing, depending upon the community making that house.

It could have elements of African influence, elements of Latin American influence, elements of disco, jazz, R&B, gospel, and you get a really nice melting pot of musicality mixed with that heavy 4-4 rhythm which makes people

dance.

Do you know what? That is so true.

And it's a beautiful thing.

What was the sound when you were growing up in the neighborhood, and did that influence you at all? Because you're in there learning classical, learning Beethoven, and then with Clave Azul, you're learning more salsa and that kind of Latin music.

But we got hip-hop, we got reggae, we got all kinds of music.

So what was it like with that whole mix? Because I mean, uptown opera, like when you're uptown, you hear everything.

And the minute that I got in, I asked the director of the Recording Academy of the New York chapter.

I asked him, hey, how can I get deeper involved with the Recording Academy? And he said, do you want to join a committee? So I joined a committee.

I became co-chairman of the Latin Music Task Force.

That's what it was because I showed I showed a deep interest in making a difference.

Mm.

You know, with, with dance, whether it's Latin dance or ballroom dance, there's movement, there's rhythm, there's music, there's memory [laughs].

There's a lot of, lot of memory of, of steps.

There's social connection, which is great.

grow Whoa, better let that breathe Nuff of them talk, but they just can't speak Fall in behind like you got no speed If you want that, I got what you need Yeah

I'm going to take you on an Afro-Latin house journey for just a little bit.

Here's the world premiere of a track that's coming out on my label, Grind City Recordings, on September 4th.

It's by my boys, Nino Bilemo and Elvin Traverso.

Tiene montuno, Borinquen tiene montuno.

[aplausos] [música instrumental latino]

¡Eeeva! [música instrumental latino]

Hi, this is Vicky Sola inviting you to join me every Saturday afternoon at one p.m. Eastern Time for Que Viva la Música, right here on Mundo Salsa Radio, where salsa is done right.

Join me as we pay tribute to the masters and also give a voice to our independent artists.

We did a whole show about his dad, Willie Bobo.

And, uh, Sen, I've, I've heard you online on, in social media talking about how your family actually knew Celia Cruz, that you're, you know, on, on either end this conversation right now, you guys have deep roots into, like, the very beginning, the foundations of Latin music in this country with the Nuyorican Willie Bobo thing and, and Celia Cruz from Cuba, knowing the family.

Like, I don't think people understand or realize the connection you guys have to that history.

Yeah.

Sin miedo controlo esta calle.

Y no me vale lo que me dice nadie.

I wanna go back to something that you touched on at the beginning when you talked about the explosion of Latin music, and I think the most, uh, visible expression of that right now was the popularity of the Bad Bunny, um, participation in the Super Bowl, and it raised the level and awareness of Latin music of all kinds, I think, even to the point where I was seeing on social media.

And there were a...

So let's start off with Day by Edwidge Danticat.

This is the newest novel from Danticat, who is a Haitian-American novelist, winner of multiple awards and prizes for her work, such as Brother, I'm Dying, Claire of the Light Sea, Krik? Krak! My favorite novel of hers is The Farming of Bones.

I learned so much about history that we weren't taught in school reading that book.

Her books are always incredible.

My guess is this will be an Oprah pick, but we'll see.

I've been wrong the last couple of times, so I don't know.

But this newest novel is about a Haitian-American woman named Magnolia.

She is a real estate agent in Miami, and she's in a store at the mall one day when a gunman comes in and opens fire, and she runs and hides, and she's safe.