Jessie Reyez to Host Virtual Performance on St. Patrick’s Day

Posted on March 16, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Jessie Reyez is going virtual…

The 29-year-old Colombian-Canadian Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter is joining forces with Jameson Irish Whiskey to host a fun, St. Patrick’s Day virtual performance on Wednesday, March 17.

“Honestly, it just seemed natural because whiskey’s just been my drink of choice for a long time, since my bartending days and I also innately miss performing,” Reyez told Billboard of her upcoming gig. “So, given the opportunity to do it in a different way, even if its long-distance with a virtual audience, I’m still down for it.”

The immersive show will see the Toronto native perform a “solid mix” of songs from her 2020 debut album Before Love Came to Kill Us, her 2018 EP Being Human in Public and her 2017 EP Kiddo.

Joining Reyez to rep the Six are Junia-T and Savannah Ré, her longtime pals.

“I think Savannah’s dope, I think Juns is dope and I’m really happy to include them,” Reyez said. “I’m happy Jameson gave me the opportunity to actually bring up friends.”

To celebrate Toronto, the event will bring fans through the city’s streets and taken inside The Great Hall – a local venue that has been empty since its doors shut at the beginning of the pandemic. That’s where the trio will perform.

The virtual performance will also celebrate emerging talent over in Dublin, Ireland. Kojaque and Denise Chaila will both perform from there.

While this year’s St. Paddy’s celebrations look a lot different than in years past, Reyez shared some tips for having fun at home. “I feel like drinking alone during the pandemic isn’t the best way to do it,” she said with a laugh. “If you can link up with a homie and put them on FaceTime or put them on Zoom, and you guys can reminisce and have a bottle and put some music on, put some Bob Marley on and vibe, put a green t-shirt on and green beads and do what you can.”

“You can look at the cup half full, even in situations like this, and it’s an opportunity to go outside of your comfort zone,” she added.

And since the show is in partnership with Jameson, and the “Imported” singer is a whiskey fan, we at Billboard needed to know how she drinks her whiskey. “I love it neat or with an ice cube,” she shared. “I love how it gets it done, I love that it’s smooth, I love that it don’t give me no hangovers. It’s the one drink where I was like, this is great, I have a good time and a nice, mellow vibe. You don’t get a hangover. I’m lit, I’m good.”

Tickets to the show are free, but participants have the opportunity to donate to Al Otro Lado, an organization that provides holistic legal and humanitarian support to refugees, deportees and other immigrants in the United States and Tijuana.

The cause is close to Reyez’s heart, as she’s a child of immigrants herself.

“I was born in Canada, my family is from Colombia but my parents originally moved to Canada because it was easier to get papers and they were trying to offer me a bit of life,” she explained. “My dad originally had the plan of going to the States, but he decided to apply for the papers for Canada. We were waiting in Canada to get approved. We waited 16 years to get legally approved, and then we moved to the States.”

“The reason why that hits me is because there’s a lot of talk about immigration, illegal immigration — people have the stereotypical attributions toward Latinos and just this negative air about it,” she continued. “I think that it’s crazy because if you would stop for a second and think, ‘Listen, if you’re in a messed up situation or running away from persecution or you’re looking for refugee status, or you’re looking to give your kid a better life because your current situation is not that, are you going to have the patience to wait 16 years?’ A lot can happen in 16 years, and it’s so easy for people of privilege to say, ‘You could just do the right way.’ The ‘right way’ isn’t set out to help the regular man, so I think if people could empathize more and be easier – I could have easily been born into a different life, and I could have been born into that situation and know that I’d be appreciative if other Latinos were reaching out and helping me.”

Sign-up for the event, which will air globally on Wednesday, March 17 at 8:00 pm ET/PT/GMT/MYT and 9:00 pm CET, is available here.

To cheers Reyez with a glass of whiskey, order some Jameson with one-hour delivery via Drizly here.

Maluma Releases Surprise New Conceptual & Visual Project “7 Días en Jamaica”

Posted on January 29, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Maluma is celebrating island life…

The 27-year-old Colombian singer, known as Papi Juancho, has released 7 Días en Jamaica, a conceptual and visual project that follows the singer during seven days in Jamaica.

Laced with dancehall and afrobeat and featuring his signature reggaetón style, the tracks — which kick off with “Tónika” featuring Ziggy Marley, son of Bob Marley — Maluma, who turned 27 on Thursday, takes listeners into a journey through the Caribbean country.

Taking to Instagram Live minutes before the album-film’s release, Maluma addressed a viral Instagram post where he posed with someone’s belly making fans believe he was expecting a baby. Turns out, it’s actually his new album!

“Yes, I’m going to be a dad! And the baby is born in 30 minutes,” he said with a laugh. “It’s my sixth child… For the people who thought I was going to be a dad. This is my new baby, 7 Días En Jamaica,” he said in Spanish on Instagram Live ahead of the album’s release. “This is a project that I’ve been working on for a long time.”

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“When I was in Jamaica, I had the opportunity to be there with producers and composers for an album that was set to release before Papi Juancho,” he added. “We had it ready, but because of COVID we couldn’t make the videos so we released Papi Juancho first, but we had all the music ready.”

The stunning film follows Maluma as he explores different aspects of Jamaican culture and gets together with a gorgeous love interest he met on the island. He also plays soccer with some children on a dirt field during “Desayun-Arte.”

Juanes Writes First English Song “Goodbye for Now”

Posted on March 16, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Juanes is switching tongues…

The 44-year-old Colombian superstar has written his first English song, “Goodbye for Now,” with the help of PooBear.

The track is part of his anticipated visual album, Mis planes son amarte, to be released in the next few months.

“Four or five years ago I started recording in English, but honestly I find it very difficult,” Juanes told The Associated Press in a recent presentation of his new production in New York.

“I did a few experiments and they didn’t come out very well, until finally this time, after several years living here in this country and knowing the language better, I felt more comfortable doing it,” he said.

Last May, Juanes posted on Instagram a black-and-white photo of him with PooBear seemingly working in Los Angeles. “Making magic,” he wrote.

PooBear, the writer behind R&B hits like Usher‘s “Caught Up” and Chris Brown‘s “She Ain’t You, “is an incredible songwriter,” Juanes said. “We sat there and talked about feelings and things and he would choose the right words.”

“To me this is something very hard to do in English,” he said, “but I really had the desire to try.”

The result is “Goodbye For Now,” a piece that fits in the album’s story line about a time traveler astronaut who lands in present time in search of an indigenous goddess who is the love of his life.

“Let’s say goodbye for now/ And go our separate ways/ It hurts down to my soul watching us go/ It will hurt more if we stay,” Juanes sings in his distinctive mix of Colombian rhythms. “Doesn’t mean I don’t love you/ Doesn’t mean you lose my security/ Doesn’t mean you can’t love me/ Doesn’t mean we will never speak.”

Juanes has sung in English in concert – often something by Bob Marley – and at special events like the Eagles tribute (“Hotel California“) and John Lennon‘s 75th Birthday Concert (“Woman“). He also sang in English with Tony Bennett in a duet of “The Shadow of Your Smile” and included the words “It’s Time to Change” in his hit’s “Odio por amor” title and refrain. But “Goodbye For Now” is his first original song recorded entirely in English.

It’s the only English song in Mis planes son amarte, which also features his singles “Fuego” and “Hermosa ingrata.”

Sofia Receives Vevo Lift Nomination

Posted on October 13, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a special is Lift off for Raquel Sofia…

The Puerto Rican singer-songwriter, nominated for Best New Artist at this year’s Latin Grammys, has received a nomination in Vevo’s artist development program, Lift.

Launched in 2011, the program lends promotional support to a handful of emerging artists per year, giving them a special landing page on Vevo with exclusive content including interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, video premieres and more to expose their music to a broader audience.

Jessie J, Sam Smith, Lorde, and Tori Kelly are among the famous artists who make up part of the Vevo Lift alumni.

In this current round, Sofia is up for the Vevo Lift slot with Canadian R&B singer/songwriter Alessia Cara and Swedish pop singer Zara Larsson.

Online fan voting determines the winner, but if Sofia — who herself has a love affair with jazz, blues, folk, rock and pop — does anywhere near as well as she’s done on Spotify (17 million total streams and counting), she stands a good chance.

And then there’s the fact that she’s learned from the best, having performed backing vocals for Shakira and Juanes, among others.

“They’re so professional and so talented and they’ve worked so hard, so you get to see why they are at the top,” she recently told Billboard of working with major artists. “So I guess more than advice I learned just from being around them, like osmosis, just absorbing everything that they did, watching them perform. It’s just incredible.”

“I just remember listening to a lot of Bob Marley, the Beatles, Juan Luis Guerra and Shakira. Wanting to do that, especially the songwriting part,” she told us when discussing her childhood in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico and the influences around her debut album, Te Quiero Los Domingos.

Fans can vote for Sofia here until October 19.

Mars Delivers Grammy Night’s Most Memorable Performance

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Bruno Mars is becoming the master performer of the Grammys…

Following his high-octane performance at last year’s star-studded event, the 27-year-old part-Puerto Rican singer-songwriter took the stage at the 55th Grammy Awards and, once again, delivered the best performance of the night.

Mars kicked-off his instaclassic Grammy moment with a rousing rendition of his hit single “Locked Out of Heaven,” which sat at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for several weeks.

Shortly after launching into the first single from his sophomore album, Unorthodox Jukebox, Mars was joined by Sting, the man Mars says inspired the hit single to finish up “Locked Out of Heaven” and launch into the Sting’s Police hit “Walking on the Moon.”

Finally, Rihanna, Ziggy Marley and Damian Marley to perform Bob Marley’s “Could You Be Loved” as a tribute to the Jamaica-born reggae legend.

But Mars wasn’t the only Hispanic artist to perform at the Grammys…

Miguel, the leading Latino nominee at the Grammys with five nods, joined voices with Wiz Khalifa to perform his hit single “Adorn.”

The 27-year-old half-Mexican American singer-songwriter’s sizzling-yet-smooth performance has Kelly Clarkson calling it “the sexiest damn thing I’ve ever seen!”

Juanes paid tribute to Elton John with an acoustic, bilingual rendition of one of the singer’s early hits, “Your Song.” The 40-year-old Colombian rockero was a late-addition to the performers’ line-up, but still managed to give a memorable, heartfelt performance.

Natti Natasha: Reggaeton’s Next Big Star

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

It may be a traditionally male-dominated genre… But that hasn’t stopped Natti Natasha from carving out her place in the world of reggaeton.

The 25-year-old Dominican singer, who credits her musical godfather Don Omar and his record label with helping her make her mark in the genre.

“It is a privilege to be with the company and to be supported by such a recognized artist as Don Omar, since I consider him a brother and a teacher, because he has taught me much through his own experiences,” Natasha, whose real name is Natalia Alexandra Gutierrez Batista, recently told Efe in an interview with Efe.

Natasha says the opportunity to be part of the Orfanato Music Group came two years ago, when Don Omar walked into the New York studio where she’d just recorded a song with producer Link-On.

After listening to the track, the reggaeton star called her and asked that she come back to the studio, where he greeted her warmly and praised her work with Link-On.

The video of Natasha’s first single with Don Omar, “Dutty Love,” has logged more than 34 million hits on YouTube, and the cut will be part of Orfanato’s upcoming release Meet The Orphans: The Next Generation.

From an early age, Natasha—who attended the School of Fine Arts in Santiago when she was only 8—has always had an enormous admiration for artists like Bob Marley, Lauryn Hill and Jerry Rivera, and felt great admiration and affection for Hill, who she still calls one of her favorites.

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