Aguilar to Headline TR3s’ Next “MTV Unplugged” Special

Pepe Aguilar is about to get unplugged

The 45-year-old Mexican American ranchera and mariachi singer-songwriter has been chosen to be part of TR3s’ (formerly known as MTV TR3s) next MTV Unplugged special.

Pepe Aguilar

Aguilar, known for his velvety voice and refined arrangements, has long alternated between pop and ranchero. But he’s best known for the latter, especially since he’s almost always wearing a charro outfit.

Aguilar also has rocker roots though, and has long talked about delving in that genre. His MTV Unplugged special could be the perfect opportunity.

“I normally fuse Mexican music with other rhythms and concepts,” Aguilar told Billboard in an exclusive interview. “Here it’s going to be the other way round. I’m going to have a traditional musical foundation—drums, bass, guitars, piano, organ—and we will incorporate mariachi to that.”

But it won’t only be mariachi. Although Aguilar and TR3s are still fine-tuning the production details, Aguilar’s MTV Unplugged special will be a fusion of sounds, produced by Emmanuel “Meme” del Real, one of the founding members of Mexican alt band Café Tacuba (and co-producer of Juanes’ latest album). This will mark the first time Aguilar is produced by someone other than himself, much less a rocker.

“Meme comes from a completely different background than mine, so joining these two experiences will be very interesting,” says Aguilar, who plans on covering several of his big hits.

Aguilar’s MTV Unplugged album is slated for release later this year.

TR3s’ last MTV Unplugged was Juanes’ 2012 MTV Unplugged, which earned album of the year honors at the 2012 Latin Grammys Awards.

Juanes Releases First MTV Unplugged Track

Following last month’s taping of his MTV Unplugged special, Juanes is releasing the first single from that night’s taping.

The 39-year-old Colombian rockero released La Señal today on iTunes.  Produced by legendary Dominican singer/songwriter Juan Luis Guerra, the song has a definite tropical feel.

Juanes

La Señal is the first Latin single ever released by Universal Music Latin Entertainment specially mastered for iTunes.

Starting today, fans can pre-order the full Juanes MTV Unplugged album, also mastered for iTunes, with songs “specially tuned for higher fidelity to give fans the best possible listening experience on their computers, stereo’s and all Apple devices.”

Meanwhile, Juanes MTV Unplugged will premiere on Sunday, May 27thon MTV Latin America and Monday, May 28th on MTV Tr3s, with the album released in stores and digitally the following day on Tuesday, May 29th.

 

Unplug with Juanes!

If you’ve ever dreamt of singing a duet with Juanes, here’s your chance.

The 39-year-old Colombian rockero has launched a contest with Tr3s: MTV, Musica y Mas to give his most talented fans the opportunity to sing a duet with him during his recently announced MTV Unplugged special to be taped in February.

Juanes

To take part in the contest, participants must submit their performances of a Juanes hit, like “A Dios Le Pido,” “Me Enamora,” “Fotografia” or “La Soledad.

Each week, Juanes’ fans will vote on their favorite performances until a group of finalists are chosen. Then, Juanes will make the ultimate selection.

The contest, which kicked off this week, runs through January 9, 2012. For more information, visit the official contest page.

Meanwhile, Juanes’ MTV Unplugged special will be filmed at the New World Center in Miami Beach in in February 2012. It’ll be directed by Juanes’ longtime friend Dominican singer Juan Luis Guerra.

Calle 13 Joins Fight to Protect Latin American Children

They’ve recently broken records at the Latin Grammy Awards. Now Calle 13’s Rene “Residente” Perez and Eduardo “Visitante” Cabra are working to end child trafficking and the exploitation of children in Latin America.

The Grammy-winning urban hip-hop duo has joined a special UNICEF campaign to raise awareness about the serious problems that youth in Latin America are facing.

Calle-13

“We want to cooperate on any campaign that helps the development of young people and Latin American countries,” said Perez. “For me, it’s very important. Latin America worries me because for us, we’re comfortable in the United States and Puerto Rico … (but) there it’s uncomfortable.”

The campaign includes a documentary entitled “Esclavos invisibles” that focuses on how child exploitation and trafficking is affecting Latin America. It was produced with UNICEF and directed by Calle 13.

The Puerto Rican group unveiled the campaign at UNICEF’s New York City headquarters and announced that it had donated the rights to Perez’s composition “Preparame la cena” for the music video to promote the first-of-its-kind campaign.

“We’ve traveled practically all through Latin America and we know about this and other problems,” says Perez. “So, I worked on the number ‘Cancion para un niño en la calle‘ along with Mercedes Sosa, which speaks about children who are exploited sexually, at work, who wind up addicted to drugs.”

The MTV Latin America and Tr3s networks on Tuesday will broadcast the “Esclavos invisibles” documentary.