My 10 Favourite Samba Songs for Dancing
In the last piece in our series on Brazilian music, samba dancer, academic and enthusiast, Foteini Foteinaki, reveals her favourite Sambas for dancing.
Latinolife's Baile Funk Playlist
With what has become known simply as Funk (or Funke as they pronounce it in Brazil). the rich tapestry of Brazilian music is nowhere more evident in the world of dance floor bangers Forget James Brown and Sly and the Family…
Top 10 Great Brazilian musicians (you might not've heard)
Brazilians love superlatives. The biggest rainforest, the widest river, the richest bio-diversity. Yup, we have a lot to boast about (ignore the one about biggest gap between rich and poor!) and music is no different where our…
Favourite Sambas
My father lead and played in a carnival band for more than 30 years and most of the time, this band rehearsed at our home. They played in clubs for the four nights of carnival parties and the weeks that preceded them. Outside…
Things you should know about...Samba Dancing
It is widely thought that the Samba dance originated in Bahia, where enslaved Africans would gather after long days of labour to perform their religious rituals of Candomblé, Capoeira and Samba dancing in a circle (Samba de Roda…
Top Ten Latin Hits of May 2017
Party season is upon us and here is what's hot in the clubs right now. Enjoy these summertime jams...
Top 10 Hollywood Tunes composed by Latinos
With Latin American directors such as Guillermo del Toro, Sebastian Lelio, Pablo Larrain and Alfonso Cuaron sweeping the Oscars in recent years - - it seems that it was always that way. And, in the world of music, it kind of was…
Latinolife's Spring Break Party Playlist
From Nicky Jam, J Balvin, Zion & Lennox and Prince Royce to De La Ghetto, Bad Bunny, Arcángel, Ozuna, Bad Bunny, Wisin and Karol G, these are the guys making the hits right now. ENJOY!
Top Ten Dance Tracks To Kick the Year Off
Blast those February blues away with the hottest tracks of the moment
Ten Reasons to Love...Astor Piazzolla
Of all history’s great musicians and composers, there are only a few names that last the test of time and are passed down from generation to generation…Mozart, Bach, Elgar, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, to name a…
Top Ten Latin Bangers of 2017
No one can deny that this was the year of 'Despacito.' But more importantly, this was the year that Latin music conquered the world, topping the charts in almost every country on the planet. It was also an unprecedented…
Latinolife's Ultimate Reggaetón Top Ten of 2017
What a year its been for Reggaetón. Finally the unique Latin Caribbean beat we've been pioneering here at Latino Life and La Bomba for the last 15 years has broken the global charts over and over, showing there is no turning…
Things You Should Know About... Day of the Dead
There is still a commonly held view that ‘Day of the Dead’ is Mexico’s ‘Halloween,’ that everyone dresses up as skelatons, and it is truly scary, therefore unsuitable for children. 'Dia de Los Muertos' is in fact a…
Alex Wilson's Top Ten Latin Jazz Albums
From the early 19th century, the mutual fascination and connection between American Jazz musicians and the plethora of Latin American talent gave birth to a whole new world of music we now know as ‘Latin Jazz.’ We asked London…
Jose Luis' Top Ten Latin Summer Hits 2017
We’re still recovering from the plethora of Latin hits that dominated the sound waves this summer – with ‘Despacito’ breaking records around the world (if we hear it again, it'll be too soon). To celebrate having four…
Afro-Peruvian Artists
The influence from Africa is felt in many corners of Latin America and in Peru its light shines brightly through its incredible food, art and above all, its music. It is woven into the texture of Peruvian society and features…
Top Ten South American Political Thrillers
Is it any surprise that Latin America has produced some of the world’s best political thrillers? Latin noir has offered an imaginative terrain for questioning the shady practices of government and exposing the machinations and…
Top 10 Must-Dos in Magical Mexico City
Built on the ruins of the ancient Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, Mexico City has mushroomed into the largest Spanish-speaking city in the world. A melting pot of all that makes Mexico great - food, drinks, art and music - and…
Top Ten Nicky Jam Tracks
One of Puerto Rico's most talented Reggaetóneros, Nicky Jam rose to fame along with the likes of Daddy Yankee, but his career took a dive after a bad run with drugs and criminal misdemeanours. While his peers were becoming…
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…
Top 10 “Must-Dos” in Nicaragua
Charming colonial cities with cobblestone streets, Pacific breakers producing perfect surf year-round, tiny Caribbean islands you can make your own for a day, and the smoothest rum that ever came out of an oak barrel. Nicaragua…
Latinolife's Best Party Tracks of 2016
As the Reggeatón beat continues to generate global party anthems, and mainstream music sees Latin influence on an unprecedented scale, we thought we'd pay tribute to this incredibly appealing and uniquely Latin beat, with…
Things You Should Know About...Zeca Padoginho
The fiesta front man with a Rio samba inspired sound, Zeca Pagodinho is one of Brazil’s best loved artists, embodying the free, easy-going Carioca spirit. “Probably the only one who didn't sell for cheesy samba,"…
Top Ten Latin Funk Classics
Latin artists from Puerto Rico to Colombia, from East L.A. to Spanish Harlem, were getting groovier and earthier throughout the '60s, and the results were wide-ranging and just as freaky as in the parallel Afro-American funk…
Top Ten Contemporary Reggaetón Tracks
Originally from Panama, Reggaetón’s roots can be traced back to the late 1990s, borrowing elements of reggae, rap, and hip-hop, and initially performed in underground venues. As the indisputably catchy beat and swagga soon spread…
Ten Reasons to Love Juan Gabriel
The songs of Juan Gabriel, one of Latin America’s most important singer-songwriters who died this week, have become anthems, re-recorded by the biggest current and former pop stars, such as Marc Anthony, Rocio Durcal, Juanes and…
10 things about Julieta, according to Pedro Almodóvar
In his own words, Pedro Almodóvar offers us clues to the ten themes central to his latest film, Julieta
TOP TEN Marc Anthony Salsa Hits
The king of modern Salsa, who is so big in Latin America that US pop stars line up to duet with him to capture the Latino market. One ambitious lady called J-Lo went further and married the guy, and another presidential hopeful…
Top Ten Brazilian Things To Do This Summer
Despite it taking place over 6,000 miles away, London is gearing up for the 2016 Olympics as if we were hosting it here. What we spent on partying in the great summer of 2012 we are now preparing to shell out on summer parties…
TOP 10 DISCOS FUENTES VINYLS
When it comes to Colombian Music, Discos Fuentes is the daddy. Since 1934 this seminal label has been home to some of Colombia’s biggest commercial artists, yet it was never afraid of the experimental and the weird. When it came…
Top Ten ‘Must Do’s’ in Colombia
Colombia is a country bursting at the seams with extraordinary natural beauty, vibrant music, fantastic food, white (and black!) sand beaches, world-class diving, and endlessly friendly courteous people. Now, it even has a Peace…
Top Ten Traditional Latin American Dishes
The ComidaFest team give us a tasting journey through the most popular and delicious culinary goodies of Latin American cuisine, from awsome Arepas to yummy Churros, a delicious Churrasco, Tamales and Empanadas,
Top 10 Best Guacamoles in London
The world seems to have gone avocado mad. This delicious, healthy fast-food is no longer Latin America’s best kept secret. In the UK alone avocado sales have soared to an astounding £142 million in past year. Petitions have…
Latinolife's Top 10 Chilli Sauces
Here at Latinolife, we can't get enough of Chili Sauce. We put it on EVERYTHING, whether it's tacos and tortilla's or good old English Shepherd's Pie. Here is a list of our Favourite chili sauces
Things you should know about Spanish Oscar Triumphs
After celebrating Latin America's successes at the Academy Awards, we couldn't carry on without bringing you Spain’s most successful Oscar-winning films and individuals within the film industry.