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
Bad Bunny Drops Surprise New Album
Partially recorded during quarantine, Benito Martinez delights his fans for the second time in a row this year with an unexpected album.
Real People Hurt
The female voice of self-assured sensitivity, angst, frustration, betrayal, love, yearning and truth was once a staple of music. But somewhere along the line the frank and authentic female vocalist has been lost. Cue the…
Telajeta Musica de Venezuela in London (White Label)
A daring new take on Venezuelan music by a collective of London-based musicians including Caracas-born Ernesto Marichales on drums and percussion. Re-arranged and ‘jazzified’ by the whole band, Musica de Venezuela brings classics…
THE MAY REGGAETON RECAP
This current heatwave is throwing off my natural calendar, from taking one glance outside you might think this was ‘The August Reggaeton Recap’ but instead it’s May’s – I promise. Unlike the weather, a lot of these newly…
Pascuala Ilabaca @ Rich Mix
Accordion-wielding Chilean songstress Pascuala Ilabaca wows and woos her East London Audience. By Sarah Quarmby
When White Peak Met the White Isle – Classic Ibiza Lights Up Chatsworth
For 10 years, Classic Ibiza - a five-hour live performance of Balearic-infused dance anthems, played by the 32-piece Urban Soul Orchestra - has been recreating raves in the stunning grounds of stately homes across the UK. Caracas…
Venezuela Reconstructed
The winner of two 2017 LUKAS (Musician and Alternative Act of the Year) Ernesto Marichales is making waves on the London music scene with his daring and experimental re-arranging of traditional Venezuelan music. Performing with…
THE LATINOLIFE TALENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
In May 2025, LatinoLife was invited to be the PRS Foundation's first ever Latin Music Talent Development Partner. This prestigious award and funding formalises what LatinoLife has been doing for 20 years on an informal basis…
TAMBOLERO by Totó la Momposina y Sus Tambores (Real World)
A wonderfully ambitious remixing and remastering of her classic album La Candela Viva.
Nature’s Children
We can all recognize the low whistle opening To My Love, or the growing drum and guitar rhythm of Fuego. Fans of Colombia’s hippest electro-tropical outfit will be dying to see Bomba Estereo after its 4-year break since Ayo. With…
SOYO by Dom La Nena (Six Degrees)
A global album with a Brazilian soul, a nostalgic feel but full or raw energy from a truly modern day globe-trotting Bohemian.
La Casa del Ritmo: A film about ‘Los Amigos Invisibles’- a biopic by Javier Andrade.
This documentary has the story of the band woven into a key live performance shot at the Highline Ballroom in New York City in March 2011, created with the backing of the group’s own label, Gozadera Records. The film screens on…
Music, Baseball and Cacao
It’s not only Rio Ferdinand who sees himself as the next Simon Cowell, baseball legend Bobby Abreu has put his weight into promoting Venezuelan music worldwide, with a marketing strategy only fitting for a baseball star.
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…
Paisa Prince
Since the last time we talked to J Balvin (cover of 2016 autumn edition), the Medellin born artist has soared to new heights and become one of a handful of urban Latin artists who have conquered the world. Hits such as 'Mi…
LINA TUR BONET & MUSICA ALCHEMICA bring new shine to ‘Il Grosso Mogul’ of Vivaldi
LINA TUR BONET & MUSICA ALCHEMICA have recently released a superb new recording of ‘Il Grosso Mogul’. The CD “Antonio Vivaldi Il Grosso Mogul, Violin Concertos & Sonatas” includes some of the lesser known music of Vivaldi…
Convoque Seu Buda Criolo (Sterns)
The Latest album form the increasingly respected Brazilian rapper and soul singer.
TEN YEARS OF MADNESS: A History of LatinoLife in the Park
From their 25 years together, Venezuelan-born José Luis Seijas and Argentine Amaranta Wright have been part of the rise of Latin music, from a marginalised genre to the world’s most streamed. The couple had already been creating…
Latinolife’s Worst One-Hit Latin Wonders
British consumers love a bit of kitch, and there’s nothing like a foreign-ish song to give the drunken punters a laugh on the pub dance floor. From the pastiche to the parody, they were painful at the time, but now a dying genre…
Surrogate Latino #6: Jonny Liebeck, Latin Jazz Pianist and Bandleader
Jonny impressed us so much with his Latin soul/jazz/funk quartet at last year's London Latin Music Conference. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music and Trinity Laban, the young Liebeck is quickly making a name for…
It Takes Three to Tango
Plaza Francia is changing perceptions in the tango world. Consisting of ex-Gotan Project’s Christoph Müller and Eduardo Kakaroff and solo singer Catherine Ringer, the Paris-based group is propelling tango music into mainstream…
Things That Matter to...CRIOLO
Dubbed as "the most important figure on the Brazilian pop scene" by Caetano Veloso, Criolo is a hard-hitting MC of the people who has had massive cross-over success in Brazil.
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…
The Pulse of Hispanic Heritage
Julián Duque is the Colombian entrepreneur behind Immigration Records, a label born out of migration, identity, and the shared drive of a community that never stops creating. His journey reminds us that being Hispanic isn’t…
Ana Moura at the Cadogan Hall
Ana Moura’s last week’s show in London sold out weeks in advance. Yet the selection of the Cadogan Hall in the heart of Chelsea – home of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) – seemed a good choice. The venue provides the…
Capicua - 20 years taking feminist hip-hop to the rappers' boys' club
Ana Matos Fernandes, the rapper known as Capicua, Is one of Portugal’s most well-known hiphop lyricists. Born in Porto in 1982, she has a degree in Sociology and a PhD in Human Geography; her lyrics are as sharp and informed as…
Típica 73 Tunes That Rock the Dance Floor
When it comes to NY salsa, rare were the bands that could compete with Típica 73 in their heyday. One of the most progressive, experimental but also heartfelt bands from the scene they had some of the most acclaimed singers of…
LATINO LIFE’S ULTIMATE REGGAETON RECAP 2025
It’s impossible to ignore the amount of Latin music and culture that has found itself at the forefront of the global music scene this year. Even more so, there’s been a rise in Latin-led music documentaries courtesy of some of…
Susana Baca'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? Our castaway this month is Susana Baca, the greatest international exponent of Afro-Peruvian music, having…
The New Latin Hit-Makers
The last article in our series on Latin Hit-making, Jose Luis Seijas spots the emerging talent from Latin America who, with luck on their side, will be the Latin hit-makers of the next few years. These are the names to look out…
Arsenio Rodriguez - Como se Goza en el Barrio. Havana & NYC recordings 1946-1962’
Grosso! Recordings Arsenio Rodriguez, aka the ‘Marvellous Blind man’ is one of Latin music’s greatest unsung heroes. A true genius, he created the roots s of what eventually would become Salsa. He died poor and forgotten in the…
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…
Reggaetón’s Songsmith
Justin Quiles is not your average reggaetón star. The US-born Puerto Rican is not only one of the hottest urban singers out there, with over five billion combined streams, but also one of the most sought after songwriters in…
THE SEPTEMBER REGGAETON RECAP
September brings a temperature drop but the artists’ this month are still making some fire records. From a bossa nova song performed in Portuñol to a track with six artists taking their turns to show off their fast and sharp flow…