On the heels of his playful cumbia, “Vida de Rico,” the 26-year-old Colombian singer, whose full name is Camilo Echeverry, has released a savory bachata single dubbed “Bebé.”
For his new single, the Latin Grammy-winning artist joined voices with El Alfa, one of the Dominican Republic’s biggest artists, to bring this fresh tune to life.
The melody fuses traditional guitar riffs found in bachata with a hint of urban.
“I approach music from my imagination, from what my heart asks of me, and right now what it wants is to dance with someone really close,” Camilo expressed.
“‘Bebe’ is a tribute to the sound that represents this song with the special affection I feel for the Dominican Republic, a country I love with all my heart.”
Co-directed by Evaluna Montaner and Cristian Saumeth, the music video was filmed in Samaná, Las Galeras, and Las Terrenas in the Dominican Republic.
The 25-year-old Mexican singer/actress has joined voices with two of Latin music’s hottest up-and-coming artists for her new single “Friend de Semana.”
In collaboration with Brazil’s Luisa Sonza and Spain’s Aitana, Danna Paola dropped the playful and catchy reggaeton-meets-cumbia track perfect for any friends with benefits.
“Quiero bailar contigo este fin de semana / I just wanna see you pa’ matar la’ gana’ / Ya sabes que te toca entrar por la ventana / Tú no te aguantas, tú no te aguantas,” the powerhouses sing in the flirtatious lyrics.
Directed by Charlie Nelson in different parts of a school, the music video offers up major Elitevibes.
The 29-year-old Mexican singer-songwriter has released his new single “Llámame,” a playfulelectrocumbia track that finds him experiencing a roller coaster of emotions while out with a group of friends.
In “Llámame,” released along with a music video, Raymix is crushing hard on his friend and wondering if he’s feeling the same. The story’s unexpected twist will keep you on the edge of your seat so you’ll have to watch until the very end.
The video was filmed in Mexico City and directed by Raymix’s brother Pablo Gómez Moreno. It’s the first time Raymix, who came out as gay in June, features a man as his love interest in a music video.
“It’s time to be courageous though I understand it takes time and it’s not easy,” Raymix previously told Billboard. “We should modernize our music too because cumbia can fall under two categories, urban and regional Mexican, both with heteronormative standards of masculinity. We see the typical macho guys all the time.”
He continued, “Why not change the game? You don’t know how happy I am for doing what I did and for my new team to support me. They played a huge role in this. Here I am, showing the world that we can and should evolve. The most important thing is to be happy.”
El Fantasma is giving back to the community in a special way…
The 30-year-old Mexican singer is teaming up with Fuerza Regida to kick off Tecate‘s new monthly virtual concert series and community fundraiser El Patio Tecate on Friday, August 21.
The El Patio Tecate concerts, part of Tecate’s “Mexico is in Us” campaign, will take place from August through December with each event highlighting a different sub-genre of Latin music while offering fans a reimagined festival-going experience featuring a multi-cam and immersive livestream concert supporting both Mexican-American arts and culture.
Filmed near downtown Los Angeles, the first concert live stream will focus on regional Mexican andcumbia, and will also feature Mexican-American DJs.
“Our team couldn’t be more excited to finally unveil Tecate’s new virtual concert series that will soon provide both music-lovers and beer-drinkers across the country with access to some of today’s hottest Latin artists. These livestreams will look to offer fans a high dose of interactive entertainment in celebration of Mexican-American culture and music,” said Belen Pamukoff, Tecate brand director.
“The maverick spirit that lives in each of these talented music artists will be on full display allowing viewers at home to not only feel inspired, but to be their true authentic selves while embracing their own diversity,” she added.
Tecate’s designated charity partner for the campaign is the Latino-led non-profit No Us Without You, which helps immigrants within the local Los Angeles culinary community.
The charity is now feeding more than 1,000 families per week providing food security to the most disenfranchised hospitality workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and 100 percent of the funds raised via direct donations before and after each concert will go directly to the No Us Without You.
Carlos Vives is celebrating Colombia’s indigenous roots in music in a special way…
The 59-year-old Colombian singer-songwriter is launching a special documentary, El Mundo Perdido de Cumbiana, this Friday, August 21 on the Grammy Museum’s digital museum.
In May, Vives released his 14th studio album, Cumbiana, which married Colombia’s past with the future. The album shed light on the indigenous roots of Colombian music in a 10-set production that includes collaborations with Jessie Reyez, Alejandro Sanz,Ruben Blades and others.
Vives decided to bring his extensive research and musical exploration to the masses via the documentary, which is directed by Carlos Felipe Montoya and produced by Isabel Cristina Vasquez from Mestiza Films.
Vives spotlights the history of the amphibian universe to better understand the origins of cumbia and vallenato music, the ancestral spirits that inspired his latest production, and the environmental challenges the Magdalena River ecosystem is facing.
“I discovered a lost world. That’s the truth,” Vives previously told Billboard.
“We’ve always spoken about our African heritage in music. We’ve always thought that the most uplifting elements of our music came from Africa or from European rhythms like polka. But it turns out it comes from Andean or indigenous music. This album highlights the joy of the fusion of African, European, and indigenous music.”
El Mundo Perdido de Cumbiana, which also elaborates on the creative process of Cumbiana, will be available at 1:00 pm PT on Friday, August 21 at the Grammy Museum website for 72 hours only.
Following the screening, Vives will attend an exclusive conversation with NPR Alt Latino’s Felix Contreras to further discuss the documentary.
This year’s Premios Juventud will include a special segment, honoring 25 years of Selena Quintanilla’s music and legacy, with the 33-year-old Dominican singer-songwriter among the artists set to take part.
In addition to Natasha, Selena’s brother and producer of her biggest hits, A.B. Quintanilla III, will participate in the special dedicated to la Reina de la Musica Tejana.
The other artists participating in the Selena tribute include Karol G, Danna Paola, Ally Brooke and Greeicy.
“For me being part of this special was a real honor. She is a woman that after all these years, and everything that has happened, is a legend. I never hard the chance to meet her while she was here but she is an icon, an icon that lasts a lifetime,” Greeicy tells Billboard.
“How amazing is it that she has inspired so many with her music. It was very challenging for me to create the energy and portray her flavors of cumbia. It was a beautifully difficult challenge and it was very special because I learned from her music and I’m going to keep enjoying it with respect and I hope to honor her. To have the privilege to prepare this special with her brother, who knew her, lived with her, and spent her life with her, is very special. It was a hard challenge for me because I felt like I was speaking directly to her. The special is going to be really great, it was beautiful to be able to create it with him, he was wonderful to work with,” she adds.
With 12 nominations, J Balvin leads the 2020 Premios Juventud, followed by Karol G, Bad Bunny and Anuel AA.
Confirmed performers include CNCO, Ozuna, Natanael Cano, Pitbull and Gloria Trevi, to name a few.
Following all the safety guidelines, PJ 2020, broadcasting live from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, will feature artists performing at the venue, a virtual audience, an innovative integration of the latest state-of-the-art, augmented and virtual reality technologies for award presentations, intros and musical performances.
The 47-year-old Colombian pop singer/songwriter is reversing roles in the music video for her latest single “En Mis Tacones.”
On her latest track, her first release since signing an exclusive record deal with BMG, Fanny Lu recruited Mexican singer Paty Cantú and California-native rising artist Melanie Pfirrman, resulting in a new female empowerment anthem.
Fusing urban, vallenato, cumbia and pop rhythms, the bilingual “En Mis Tacones” conveys the message that women are hard-working and independent, among many things.
And with lyrics like “put yourself in my heels so that you understand and that it is clear who is in control,” Fanny says she wanted to pay homage to an important part of femininity: the heels.
“It’s an invitation to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, especially men in the shoes of women,” Fanny expresses. “But it is also an important message for all human beings to have compassion and be understanding of others. There’s nothing more appropriate than putting yourself in each other’s shoes!”
Fanny Lu’s reference to heels isn’t just metaphorical, but also literal in the video.
Unlike the song, which was recorded in 2019, the music video, directed by Iñigo Abaroa and produced by Miguel Ferrer of Magic Films, was filmed during the coronavirus pandemic.
The innovative production shows all three artists using a game controller to control with their male counterparts, who are trying to balance themselves in heels.
Toward the end, the three men finally understand the powerful message of “En Mis Tacones” and can easily manage walking, modeling and even dancing in a pair of pumps.
To make the video come to life during the quarantine period, Magic Films sent professional equipment, including lights, props, a smoke machine and more, to each artist and directed their shots via video calls.
For the rest of the year, Fanny Lú tells Billboard she’s going to focus on creating more empowering music for women, working on special collaborations, and helping her son kick off his music career as well.
The 35-year-old Mexican American singer and television personality has released the animated music video for “Jolene,” her cover of Dolly Parton’s 1974 hit single, featuring Becky G.
Chiquis, the daughter of late banda singer Jenni Rivera, and Becky G revamped Parton’s iconic song, giving it a saucy Western-cumbia twist.
“Her and I have been wanting to work together for so long, but we didn’t know what genre,” Chiquis tells Billboard of working with Becky G. “She thought she was going to come to Regional because she sings really pretty with mariachi. I sent her two songs, one a little bit more urban, which I thought she was going to choose, and also ‘Jolene,’ which she absolutely wanted to do because she’s a huge fan.”
“Jolene” is the lead single from Chiquis’ 10-set album Playlist. In the lyrics, the two powerhouses confront each other about liking the same man.
“You think of country music and you think Dolly. We both loved the song and it happened so organically,” she adds. “I was happy because we can bring something new to the song, which is great as it is, but together we brought the Latino flavor with cumbia.”
The track was recorded at the studio right before the coronavirus outbreak. The music video, however, was recorded at home during the quarantine. In the animated clip, Chiquis and Becky G star in an action-packed Old Western film.
“It was all done with a green screen. I was at my house and Becky was at hers,” Chiquis says of the process. “There was a photographer that made us do all these crazy moves as if we were holding a gun, bending over and running away. It was very cool and something very, very different for me to see it all come together. It’s crazy cause we look real but we’re drawn at the same time.”
“A lot of people were waiting for Becky and me to do something together because we have a really nice friendship,” she notes. “Even though we were not together in the video, people won’t even tell because of our crazy connection. I think people are going to love it; it’s something different, it’s something fun.”
The 58-year-old Colombian singer-songwriter has released his latest album, Cumbiana, a search for the indigenous roots of Colombian music.
The album has been described as “exuberant, soulful, beautiful and important without ever sounding overbearing,” by Billboard.
The album features duets with Jessie Reyez, Ruben Blades and Alejandro Sanz,and ittreads that line between what’s commercial and what’s artistic.
“I discovered a lost world. That’s the truth,” Vives simply states, speaking from his home in Bogota, where he’s been in lockdown for the past two months.
“We’ve always spoken about our African heritage in music,” he adds. “We’ve always thought that the most uplifting elements of our music came from Africa or from European rhythms like polka. But it turns out it comes from Andean, or indigenous music. This album highlights the joy of the fusion of African, European and indigenous music.”
Marrying Colombia’s past with the future, Cumbianahas already delivered a chart hit with “No Te Vayas.” Edgier still is current single “For Sale,” a mix of traditional beats with reggaeton, a touch of rap and Sanz’s flamenco strains. Of course, Vives wrote the rulebook for Colombian fusion.
His 1994 album, La Tierra Del Olvido, where he marries Colombia’s most traditional folk beats — vallenato, cumbia, porro— with rock guitars and drums and pop sensibility, is the original blueprint of the sound that would later define the work of acts like Juanes, Fonseca and even Shakira at times.
But Cumbiana expands its realm. So much so that this is the first of a three-album project.
