Fluffy
Venezuelan born Fluffy lived in Spain from the age of four, before moving to London at 16. A classically trained opera singer, he fell in love with Hip-hop and began free-styling on the streets in Spain, embracing flamenco sounds, which he then brought to London where he continued to merge his Latino vibe with London influences. Self-taught and versatile, Fluffy has also proved to be a charismatic and prolific performer, making him one of London’s most popular Urban Latin artists.
“It’s been hard to negotiate my Latin heritage with my London identity but it's not impossible. We are having to force our way into the UK industry and make it take notice us.
Most don’t know that Latin music has black roots: everything has to do with drums and percussion, so Afro sounds are basically our sounds.
There are Latin American people, and there are Latin UK people. Our slang is different, our way of talking is different, so we are creating a new sound. We stick to our roots but we fuse it with any type of UK sound you can think of.
I used to go to a church and the fact that I’ve gone into urban music affects the way that some of those people think of me. It shouldn’t be that way, to be honest, but everyone has their own judgement. I still sing to God.
My family drives me to do what I do, to change their living conditions and represent the whole community.
We’re making a new genre here, which is the UK-Latino sound. That’s what I represent. My music is a way of saying thank you for being welcomed into this country.”
Luisa Santiago
Born in Colombia near Cali, the “Salsa capital of the world”, Luisa came to London at the age of three and calls on both her roots in Salsa and a love of UK Soul and R&B. Luisa’s songwriting, piano playing and sweet vocals, honed at The Brit School and in the live arena, have been generating a growing fanbase and media attention. Her latest single with London-based Sikh producer Deewaan named is a testament to British multiculturalism.
“So, I've noticed an issue here in the UK. Latinos are not recognised outside of their own community. We don’t see ourselves in the media. That’s what I'm aiming to do, help get visibility and make some sort of representation in the UK for the Latin community.
We Colombians have specific instruments that we use, so incorporating things like the gaita, it's kind of becoming our thing. Or adding in a Spanish verse to an R&B song, or like Trap or Hip-hop.
When we say Latin music, it should already be called Afro-Latin, because it came from that rich culture, so Afrobeats, for example, it's easy for us to cross over to that, or for Afrobeat artists to cross over to the Latin scene.
I'm not only trying to represent UK Colombians, but UK Latinos, immigrants and minorities. All these communities I identify with. It’s nice feeling that you are part of something bigger.”
P-man
Born in Belgium to Colombian parents from Medellín, P-Man moved to the UK at the age of five and settled in Brixton. P-man is a rapper and leader of the renowned Roce 40, one of London’s most popular Latin Urban music collectives.
“We're thinking about the bigger picture. We’re not just aiming our music at the UK. Latin America has not heard this type of sound. That's what we're aiming for.
I’ll always use both languages in one tune. Even if you hear just one or two words in English, there'll be something in London words and the slang that we use here.
Music-wise, our scene is blowing up. I mean, people are way more interested now and platforms and DJs are pushing it a lot more. All of that is because the global Reggaetón movement has got so hot.
The work is paying off, and at the same time, we’re working together. It’s like ‘he's got one audience and I've got another, so we'll push out to both audiences and they're going to know about both of us.’ If we come together, it just helps everything and we need to be united to make this work. It feels good.”
A Nahomy
A Nahomy is a British Latina artist who honours her Ecuadorian roots, makes using of both Spanish and English prevalent in her music.
“When I’m writing, I don’t think ‘oh I'm going to put this part in Spanish or this part in English, it’s just whatever comes naturally to me in the moment.
I had my first performance at Church when I was six. It was amazing. I still remember the smile on my face.
It’s a big achievement to be one of the main up and coming artists in the Brit-Latin music movement. I’m not going to stop until I’ve made it.
Not a lot of people from Ecuador become known globally (although not everyone knows Christina Aguilera is half Ecuadorian!) Our country is still kind of in a shadow and I want to put it on the map!”
Guala
Guala is a gifted lyricist who fuses Hiphop, Reggaetón, Grime, and Afro-swing and is at equal ease rapping in Spanish or English, single or double-timing. A bit of a sonero (improviser) and a lot of a rapper, this Tottenham boy from Ecuador represents London's innovative Urban Latin sound at its best, fusing UK genres with Latin heritage, with skill, technique and flair. His song ‘You’re not there,’ the first ever grime song in Spanish, was played on BBC1 Xtra and has over 47k views on GrimeDaily platform, and he has just been signed to Candela Records
“In school and on the streets, if I said was Ecuadorian, girls would get disappointed and boys would laugh. At first, it made me feel really bad about representing my country and then when I visited Ecuador, I thought why? My country is so beautiful. Going back was the turning point.
When I started out, I had to work harder and put in more effort to get the same opportunities as others. I make music to create a better life for me, my family and my son and that’s what inspires me to write.
I get inspired by one genre to write for another. Salsa still makes me feel like I want to dance, makes me feel emotional. It gives me ideas for lyrics for a song that could be of a different genre.
The UK is only just beginning to understand that in Latin America there's so many different colours, shades, shapes and languages, differences between our cultures, food, our music, our drum patterns, the way we dance.
We all have our identities, but as soon as a party kicks off we’re vibing to the same tunes, dancing with each other. We share a lot.”
See all of these artists perform at LatinoLife in the Park, the UK's largest Latin Music Festival. For more info visit www.latinolifeinthepark.com
