Leslie Grace to Headline the Fiesta de la Flor, Honoring Selena Quintanilla

Leslie Gracewill be in full bloom this summer…

The Fiesta de la Flor festival, which is dedicated to celebrating the life and music of Selena Quintanilla, returns for its fifth year to the late Tejano singer’s hometown of Corpus Christi, Texas. 

Leslie Grace

The 24-year-old Dominican American singer/songwriter has been announced as the headliner of the second day, where she’ll be joined onstage by many special guests, including FarinaLuis Coronel and Noriel, to sing some of her hit singles.

Grace will also be joined by Texas-based producers Play-N-Skillz, who together with Wisin and Frankie J dropped a fresh cover of Selena’s “Si Una Vez” in 2016.

“Headlining Fiesta de la Flor will be such a full circle moment for me because, in a way, I’ll be able to officially say thank you [to Selena] for showing me, and so many like me, that our dreams are valid and worth fighting for by simply being who we are,” Grace said in a statement.

Fiesta de la Flor will take place April 12 and 13 in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Becky G Joins Fans for Special Lyric Video for Play-N-Skillz’ English Remix of Selena’s “Si una vez”

Becky G has met her mash

The 20-year-old Mexican American singer-songwriter and Power Rangers’ Yellow Ranger, Frankie J and Kap-G have come together with their fans in the new lyric video for Play-N-SkillzEnglish remix of “Si una vez.”

Becky G

The video is a mash-up of homemade videos sent in from fans singing the late Selena Quintanilla‘s iconic song.

Play-N-Skillz released the English remix with Becky G and Kap-G back in February, just weeks after releasing the Spanish version, featuring Leslie Grace and Wisin.

The two versions combined have collected nearly six million streams in the U.S. since its release, according to Nielsen Music.

To date, the song has also sold 24,000 downloads.

Play-N-Skillz Releases Video for Urbanized Version of Selena’s “Si Una Vez”

Play-N-Skillz are paying homage to La Reina de la Musica Tejana

The Latino American rappers and record producers, consisting of brothers Juan “Play” Salinas and Oscar “Skillz” Salinas, have released the music video for their new single”Si una vez” featuring Leslie Grace, Frankie J and Wisin.

Play-N-Skillz

The production duo’s new version of Selena Quintanilla‘s classic song has Grace and Frankie J as lead singers while the Puerto Rican reggaetonero drops a few rap verses, giving the tune an urban twist.

“Rest in peace la reina, Selena,” Play-N-Skillz say at the end of the video honoring the late Tejano singer.

Mars: This Year’s Top Latino Grammy Nominee

It comes as little surprise that Bruno Mars is this year’s Latino Grammy darling…

Following the release of his critically acclaimed sophomore album Unorthodox Jukebox, the 28-year-old part-Puerto Rican Grammy-winning singer has received four Grammy nominations for the 56th annual awards, the most of any Latino artists this year.

Bruno Mars in GQ

Mars, a 19-time nominee who earned a Grammy in 2011 for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for his first career smash hit “Just The Way You Are,” is nominated in two major categories. He’s up for Record of the Year and Song of the Year for his No. 1 song “Locked Out of Heaven.”

In addition, Mars’ latest studio effort is nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album and his ballad “When I Was Your Man” is up for Best Pop Solo Performance.

But Mars isn’t the only Latino artist to receive multiple nods this year…

Miguel, who won the award for Best R&B Song during the 2013 Grammys, is nominated for two awards.

The 28-year-old half-Mexican American R&B singer is up for Best R&B Performance for his duet with Kendrick Lamar, “How Many Drinks?,” as well as Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for his collaboration with J. Cole, “Power Trip.”

Paquito D’Rivera, meantime, is nominated for two awards.

The Cuban Grammy-winning alto saxophonist, clarinetist and soprano saxophonist is nominated for Best Improvised Jazz Solo for the track “Song for Maura,” as well as Best Latin Jazz Album for the album of the same name.

Other Latino nominees include Marc Anthony, Gloria Estefan, Intocable, Frankie J and Carlos Vives.

The nominations were announced during the Grammy Awards’ special on CBS on Friday night.

The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the organization that awards the Grammys, used to announce the nominations through an ordinary news conference. But for the last six years, it has tried to stir excitement with a primetime TV special with the rapper and actor LL Cool J as host. Performers on Friday’s show included Lorde, Robin Thicke and, by satellite, Taylor Swift from Sydney, Australia, and Katy Perry from Toronto.

The 65th Grammy Awards, dubbed music’s biggest night, will be held on Sunday, January 26, 2014.

Here’s a look at this year’s Latino nominees:

Record of the Year
GET LUCKY
 Daft Punk & Pharrell Williams
RADIOACTIVE 
Imagine Dragons
ROYALS Lorde
LOCKED OUT OF HEAVEN Bruno Mars
BLURRED LINES
 Robin Thicke Featuring T.I. & Pharrell

Song Of The Year
JUST GIVE ME A REASON 
Jeff Bhasker, Pink & Nate Ruess, songwriters (Pink Featuring Nate Ruess)
LOCKED OUT OF HEAVEN 
Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine & Bruno Mars, songwriters (Bruno Mars)
ROAR 
Lukasz Gottwald, Max Martin, Bonnie McKee, Katy Perry & Henry Walter, songwriters (Katy Perry)
ROYALS 
Joel Little & Ella Yelich O’Connor, songwriters (Lorde)
SAME LOVE
 Ben Haggerty, Mary Lambert & Ryan Lewis, 
songwriters (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Featuring Mary Lambert)

Best Pop Solo Performance
BRAVE Sara Bareilles
ROYALS Lorde
WHEN I WAS YOUR MAN Bruno Mars
ROAR Katy Perry
MIRRORS 
Justin Timberlake

Best Pop Vocal Album
PARADISE Lana Del Rey  
PURE HEROINE Lorde  
UNORTHODOX JUKEBOX Bruno Mars  
BLURRED LINES Robin Thicke  
THE 20/20 EXPERIENCE – THE COMPLETE EXPERIENCE
 Justin Timberlake


Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
VIVA DUETS
 Tony Bennett & Various Artists [Featured artists include Chayanne, Thalia, Christina Aguilera, Franco De Vita, Gloria Estefan, Juan Luis Guerra, Ricardo Arjona, Romeo Santos, Vicentico and Dani Martín)
TO BE LOVED Michael Bublé
THE STANDARDS Gloria Estefan
CEE LO’S MAGIC MOMENT Cee Lo Green
NOW
 Dionne Warwick

Best R&B Performance
LOVE AND WAR 
Tamar Braxton
BEST OF ME Anthony Hamilton
NAKAMARRA
 Hiatus Kaiyote Featuring Q-Tip
HOW MANY DRINKS? 
Miguel Featuring Kendrick Lamar
SOMETHING 
Snarky Puppy With Lalah Hathaway

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
POWER TRIP 
J. Cole Featuring Miguel
PART II (ON THE RUN) Jay Z Featuring Beyoncé
HOLY GRAIL
Jay Z Featuring Justin Timberlake
NOW OR NEVER 
Kendrick Lamar Featuring Mary J.
REMEMBER YOU 
Wiz Khalifa Featuring The Weeknd

Best Improvised Jazz Solo
DON’T RUN
 Terence Blanchard, soloist  
SONG FOR MAURA Paquito D’Rivera, soloist  
SONG WITHOUT WORDS #4: DUET Fred Hersch, soloist
STADIUM JAZZ Donny McCaslin, soloist
ORBITS
Wayne Shorter, soloist

Best Latin Jazz Album
LA NOCHE MÁS LARGA Buika  
SONG FOR MAURA 
Paquito D’Rivera And Trio Corrente
YO
 Roberto Fonseca
EGGŪN Omar Sosa
LATIN JAZZ-JAZZ LATIN Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz Quintet

Best Latin Pop Album
FAITH, HOPE Y AMOR Frankie J
VIAJERO FRECUENTE Ricardo Montaner
VIDA Draco Rosa
SYNTEK Aleks Syntek
12 HISTORIAS Tommy Torres

Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album
L OBJETO ANTES LLAMADO DISCO Café Tacvba 

OJO POR OJO El Tri  
CHANCES 
Illya Kuryaki And The Valderramas
TREINTA DÍAS 
La Santa Cecilia
REPEAT AFTER ME Los Amigos Invisibles

Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano)
EL FREE
Banda Los Recoditos
EN PELIGRO DE EXTINCIÓN Intocable 

A MI MANERA
 Mariachi Divas De Cindy Shea
ROMEO Y SU NIETA Paquita La Del Barrio
13 CELEBRANDO EL 13 Joan Sebastian

Best Tropical Latin Album
3.0
 Marc Anthony
COMO TE VOY A OLVIDAR Los Angeles Azules

PACIFIC MAMBO ORCHESTRA Pacific Mambo Orchestra
SERGIO GEORGE PRESENTS SALSA GIANTS Various Artists
 (Featuring
CORAZÓN PROFUNDO Carlos Vives

Best World Music Album

SAVOR FLAMENCO Gipsy Kings
NO PLACE FOR MY DREAM Femi Kuti
LIVE: SINGING FOR PEACE AROUND THE WORLD 
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
THE LIVING ROOM SESSIONS PART 2 Ravi Shankar

 

Best Instrumental Composition
BOUND AWAY
 Chuck Owen, composer (Chuck Owen & The Jazz Surge)
CALIFORNIA PICTURES FOR STRING QUARTET Gordon Goodwin, composer (Quartet San Francisco)
KOKO ON THE BOULEVARD 
Scott Healy, composer (Scott Healy Ensemble)
PENSAMIENTOS FOR SOLO ALTO SAXOPHONE AND CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
Clare Fischer, composer (The Clare Fischer Orchestra)
STRING QUARTET NO. 1: FUNKY DIVERSION IN THREE PARTS
 Vince Mendoza, composer (Quartet San Francisco)

Durcal to Tour with Joan Sebastian and Pepe Aguilar

Shaila Durcal is getting ready to leave a special footprint on her fans…

The 32-year-old Spanish singer-songwriter will be co-headlining a tour with Mexican stars Joan Sebastian and Pepe Aguilar.

Shaila Durcal

Entitled Dejando Huella…Una Historia Musical, the 16-date tour will kick off in Kansas City this September.

The tour was originally slated to begin June 22 in Washington DC, but the first eight tour dates were postponed. Dejando Huella may have been affected by an overcrowded Latin tour schedule that included a triple-threat tour featuring Chayanne, Marc Anthony and Marco Antonio Solís; the Jennifer López, Enrique Iglesias and Frankie J. tour; and Vicente Fernández‘s farewell tour.

Dejando Huella stood out from others because it included Latin equestrian shows that have traditionally been part of Aguilar and Sebastian’s sets, as well as jaripeo performances that are considered a form of bull riding practiced in Mexico.

Here’s a complete look at the Dejando Huella tour dates:

Sept. 22: Kansas City (Sprint Center)
Sept. 23: Chicago (Allstate Arena)
Sept. 28: El Paso, Texas (El Paso Coliseum)
Sept. 29: Laredo, Texas (Laredo Energy Arena)
Sept. 30: Hidalgo, Texas (State Farm Arena)
Date TBA: Phoenix, Ariz., (US Airways Center)
Date TBA: San Jose, Calif. (HP Pavilion)

Frankie J. Joins Jennifer Lopez & Enrique Iglesias’ Tour

It’s Blackjack time for Frankie J.

The 36-year-old Mexican R&B singer has signed on to perform on 21 of the 26 dates on the Jennifer Lopez and Enrique Iglesias summer tour.

Frankie J.

The announcement comes after Wisin & Yandel dropped out of the highly publicized tour due to “timing issues” and “a host of things” that led to their announcement, according to Randy Phillips, president of AEG Live.

Frankie J, known for his smooth R&B vocals and earlier in his career for being part of the Kumbia Kings, will join Lopez and Iglesias on July 20 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

“I am super excited to join Enrique and Jennifer on this adventure,” Frankie J. said in a statement through Universal Music Latino. “They are global superstars and I am honored that they invited me to be a part of their tour. I look forward to performing for my fans across the country.”

Frankie J., who was raised in Southern California and sings in both English and Spanish, will will debut his latest single “Tienes Que Creer en Mi” later this month during the Premios Juventud. The awards show is scheduled to air on Univision on July 19.