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Imperio Bamba: 'Mis Cosas Favoritas' Review
London-based Imperio Bamba's sound mixes cumbia, chicha and afro with psychedelic synths and screaming guitars. Arden Farrow reviews their EP 'Mis Cosas Favoritas' which includes the single 'Los Amantes'…
Let The Juice Loose!
Hailed as the most exciting new face in Latin music, Cuban singer, composer and producer, Cimafunk offers a subtle and bold mix of funk with Cuban music and African rhythms. Jose Luis Seijas talks to Cuba’s latest cool cat to…
Eliades Ochoa's Fantasy Island Discs
If you were stranded on a desert island, which tracks would you absolutely need to get you through those times of despair? Our castaway this month is Eliades Ochoa, known as Mr Chan Chan in his hometown of Santiago de Cuba, from…
THE LUKAS MUSIC WINNERS 2019
Undoubtedly the best ever year in terms of the range and quality of nominations, we proudly present this year’s LUKAS winners 2019 for Outstanding Contribution to Music
Dominican Shades
Lara Morgenstern reflects on the enviable coolness of Vicente Garcia, when she meets the Dominican singer-songwriter, clad in sunglasses on a cloudy London day.
‘Cumbia was a means of liberation’ - An Interview with Sonora Dinamita
About to celebrate it’s 60th birthday, Sonora Dinamita was making Cumbia before the hipsters of Europe and Asia, who embraced the genre, were an apple in the eye of music marketeers. The Cartagena Cumbia group, who then moved to…
Sounds Like London - Part 2
In part 2 of our feature on a new generation Latin musicians in London producing a Spanglish melting pot of unique sounds, we profile more emerging bi-cultural artists.
Sounds Like London
A new generation of Latin musicians in London are creating entirely new genres as they draw on and fuse the sounds of urban London and British pop with tropical beats and melodies to produce a Spanglish melting pot of unique…
TIEMPOS DE GLORIA
From revolution, exile, immigration and hardship to becoming the world’s first ever mainstream Latina pop star. Gloria Estefan recounts her life to Amaranta Wright in an intimate interview that reveals the ecstasies, agonies and…
LATIN LONDONER #25 - Jamy - Singer-songwriter
Jamy is a Colombian singer, whose latest critically-acclaimed Tropical album "Cuentos de la Luna" (Moon tales), includnig Bachat and Kizomba - was produced in the Dominican Republic and is available on iTunes, Spotify…
LATIN LONDONER #24 - Baldo Verdu - band leader
Once described as 'a Latin-swing-coup-d’état by a guy who was clearly out of his mind', this songwriter, guitarist and percussionist hails from one of Venezuela’s most illustrious Afro-folk musical families. Baldo’s…
Total Eternal Gozadera
It’s not unusual for someone who’s never been to an ‘Amigos’ concert to emerge saying ‘that was the best concert I’ve ever been to.’ The energy and commitment to ‘total party’ in the live performances of Venezuela’s most popular…
Afro-Cuba returns to Africa via London
A triumphant reunion for Boncana Maïga’s transatlantic charanga orchestra Las Maravillas De Mali...not so much a reunion as a reformation. Octogenarian master flautist, composer and arranger Boncana Maïga was the only original…
Things That Matter to…Omara Portuondo
One of the most inspirational women in music and known for her vibrant live performances, Omara Portuondo rose to fame in the 1950’s in pre-revolutionary Havana in the vocal group Cuarteto D'Aida, before becoming a huge name…
Louie Vega’s E.O.L. Soulfrito @ Royal Festival Hall
Little Louie Vega's Nuyorican soul turns the South bank concert hall into a club night. Latinolife's review with special video reportage
House of Sounds
Little Louie Vega has Latin music running through his veins. Nephew of the late great salsa icon, Hector Lavoe, this New York-based DJ and producer extraordinaire, has influenced the sound of House music worldwide, notleast as…
Latin Londoners of 2018
As Latin artists are making the mark ever more indelibly in the UK, we celebrate those who stood out this year, earning the support from both the public and the discerning LUKAS judges to win awards for their artistic excellence…
Composing History
There are few bands in the world that can claim a life at the top for almost 40 years: the Rolling Stones, Cuba’s Van Van, Venezuela’s Guaco. And Grupo Niche is another one of them - a household name in Colombia and among Salsa…
Carlos Vives’ Fantasy Island Tracks
If you were stranded on a desert island, which tracks would you absolutely need, to get you through those times of despair? Man cannot live on sun and fish alone right? Our castaway, Carlos Vives, one of the most emblematic…
The People's Salsero
At first dismissed for his wordy complexity, Rubén Blades - composer, singer, salsero, lyricist, narrator, poet, social conscience and political activist - soon proved to be Fania Record's biggest money spinner and Latin…
The Latin Momentum: the Story of The LUKAS
The Latin UK Awards, known affectionately as the LUKAS, was launched 7 years ago to recognize the impact of Latin culture in the UK. Today it is Europe’s only Latin Entertainment Awards ceremony and its widest-reaching Latin…
Two Beats One Soul, feat. Little Louie Vega
A beautiful tribute to bi-cultural ingenuity as Little Louie Vega heads up this latest gem in a long tradition of Cuban-Nuyorican collaborations
J Balvin's Fantasy Island Tracks
If you were stranded on a desert island, which tracks would you absolutely need, to get you through those times of despair? Man cannot live on sun and fish alone right? Our castaway, J Balvin, one of Latin America’s hottest urban…
Little Louie Vega's Fantasy Island Tracks
If you were stranded on a desert island, which tracks would you absolutely need, to get you through those times of despair? Man cannot live on sun and fish alone right? Our castaway, Little Louie Vega, the world renowned house…
The Gentleman with the Bad Ass Voice
Gilberto Santa Rosa shows no sign of slowing down. Jose Luis Seijas caught up with the Puerto Rican icon to discover that the rumours were true: he really is ‘The Gentleman of Salsa,’ as often referred to - the nice guy of Latin…
THE LATIN HIT TIMELINE
We’ve gone back decades and delved into our archives to bring you a definitive Latin hit timeline…from the 1970s and Julio Iglesias to Maluma’s Hawái via Ricky Martin and ’Despacito’. Remember the lost years of Latin Cheese? from…
Just Another Lonely Latin Hit?
We’ve seen it before, the querky pop tune with a tropical feel that gets under the UK’s skin for a while. Every so often they hit this cold little island, create a Latin craze and then disappear. In the nineties we had ‘Mambo no.…
Lizandro Meza “Salsita Mami” (Disco Fuentes)
Colombia's iconic king of Cumbia, LIzandro Meza, delves into the world of salsa with flavour and passion
Divine Sensuality
From his lyrics that verge on magical realism, to his intensely sensual melodies, the undecipherable enigma that is Juan Luis Guerra has defined a generation who have danced to his music and dreamed his dreams. Latino Life steals…
Juan Luis Guerra’s Fantasy Island Tracks
If you were stranded on a desert island, which tracks would you absolutely need, to get you through those times of despair? Man cannot live on sun and fish alone right? Our castaway, Juan Luis Guerra, one of Latin America’s…
Explosive Alegría
It would seem that anything Gente de Zona touches turns to gold. Whether it’s putting Enrique Iglesias back at the top of the charts, or keeping Marc Anthony relevant, everyone who’se anyone in music goes to this Cuban Reggeatón…
'Yo amanecí' Andres Landero (Vampisoul)
A fantastic compilation of Colombia's King of Cumbia
TOP TEN Bachata Artists
With its hypnotic beat and heart-renching melodies, this Dominican music began to take the world by storm when Urban Latin took over Latin nightclubs and romantics were left wanting. But Bachata has a long history; from rural…
Mother Earth
At a time when Shakira, Carlos Vives, J Balvin and Maluma are some of the hottest artists in the planet, it is easy to forget that it was an indigenous folklore singer who kicked the global door open for Colombian artists. Totó…
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Lila Downs is back – with not one but Dos Corazones – a new song which she will be debuting live in…
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Reggaeton Revolution: 20 years of UK Urban Latin Culture
Back in 2004, when the UK music industry was ignoring reggaetón and Maluma was in nappies,…
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Things That Matter… Jards Macalé
Having worked with some of the biggest names in Brazilian music, including Joao Donato, Gal Costa,…
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Top Ten Mexican Male Singers of all Time
Since the days when Mexico was a serious rival to Hollywood in terms of film production and quality…
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Top 10 Female Reggaeton Artists
We may have come a long way since the days of overt misogyny in Urban Latin Music, but the industry…
