Vega Alta

Yeah, it was great for me because in so many levels I was emotionally invested in the show because of the music.

I grew up in a very small town in Vega Alta, Puerto Rico, and my mom used to play that music when I was a child.

I was going to ask you about that.

Yeah.

So it is always, always top of mind because it's a way to nurture relationships and to show people that you're thankful for what they have done.

And then My dad, I was just very fortunate, he was the general manager in a credit co-op in my town, in Vega Alta.

And he always told me, So I don't take that as rejection, even though it is, you should not be disconnected from reality.

It is rejection.

Ya son veinticinco dando un gritazo con éxitos a montón.

En Vega Alta, Puerto Rico, esta orquesta se formó.

A ti, bailador, yo te dedico este rico guaguancó.

Aquí ya llegó Abraham Pasó con sabor a callejón.

And creating that blueprint of justification for the art form of Latina representation, adding the heights, became really a way of celebrating where I come from.

I mean, to the point that Carnaval del Barrio quotes my hometown where I was born and raised Vega Alta.

Right.

Because Lin-Manuel's family also grew up in Vega Alta.

And so it was like the universe putting me in a space where I could recognize that actually everything that I lived was enough.

Right.