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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…
Going Back to Move Forward
If anyone knows the secret to moving ahead by looking back it is Juan de Marcos, the man behind the original Buena Vista Social Club Album and all that followed. He talks to Latinolife with frankness about Music, Cuban Identity,…
Radical Beauty
Every now and then, someone special emerges through the cracks in the music industry monolith to grab listeners’ attention. Marta Gómez is one of those artists. Her authentic sound, her story-telling and meaningful lyrics have…
New Era Jazz Queen
What is the outstanding quality that westerners find so baffling about Cuba’s bounty of world-class artists? From Carlos Acosta to Chucho Valdez, you’ll find a common combination unique to this idiosyncratic Caribbean island – a…
Latin American Selection by George Peguero
Hailed as a child prodigy in Cuba, the UK-based artist takes us through the music of his childhood and gives us his selection of the top Latin American tracks ever (with a few honourary Latinos thrown in!)
Fresh Blend
Legendary Latin dance-music pioneers Bomba Estéreo are back on tour, bringing their blend of cumbia, rave and rap to top clubs and festivals across Europe and the US. Founder and maestro Simón Mejía talks to Charley Allan about…
Omar Sosa'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, composer-pianist-bandleader Omar Sosa, one of Cuba’s most celebrated Jazz musicians, grew up…
FUNK FOREVER
Los Amigos Invisibles is arguably the most globally recognized music act from Venezuela since Oscar D'Leon (the Salsa legend on their new album). Breaking onto the international scene on David Byrne’s (Talking Heads)…
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…
Joe Bataan ‘Call my Name’ (Vampisoul)
Joe was one the faces of New York’s Latin music movement in the late 60’s and 70’s. He recorded some of the biggest hits of Latin Soul, Boogaloo, Salsa and Funk, including ‘Gypsy Woman’ and ‘Subway Joe.’ He has become a cult…
Gilberto Gil: “I’ve always felt I was in the best place I could be”
Thirty years after first seeing him in concert at the age of eight, Amaranta Wright comes face to face with the Brazilian music legend Gilberto Gil on his recent visit to London, and gets an insight into the man that inspired her…
Camilo Menjura on life and LUKAS nominations
Camilo Menjura is certainly a very busy musician! The Bogota born multi-talented player is once again up for a LUKAS nomination, having won in two categories "Musician of the year" and "Community worker of the year…
Rumbero de Corazon by Dorance Lorza & Sexteto Cafe
The latest smooth salsa sounds from maestro arranger and vibrophonist Dorance Lorza
Tego Calderón's Fantasy Island Tracks
If you were stranded on a desert island, which tracks would you absolutely need to have to get you through those times of loneliness and despair? Man cannot live on sun and fish alone right? Our castaway this week is Tego…
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…
La Yegros at Rich Mix
La Yegros is so cool. Self-aware and on top of everything that goes on during the show, she comes to stage in high platform shoes, short skirts, afro hair up, really up, and full of colour. Tones of green, pink, blue, yellow, and…
THE FEBRUARY REGGAETON RECAP | 2026
It might only be February, but Reggaeton is currently in one of its most successful months so far. Whether it’s Bad Bunny absolutely blowing audiences’ minds at the Super Bowl or the Premio Lo Nuestro Awards, Latin music has been…
The Phenomenon of Latin Music in the US
Back in the late seventies an outstanding documentary was made about Salsa in New York and its social significance. It became a seminal work. Thirty years later its director Jeremy Marre, commissioned by the BBC, went back to…
The Reggeatón Evolution – Three Decades of Flow
When quintessentially English band Clean Bandit was recently rocking X Factor with their latest hit ‘Rockabye,’ few watching would have known that the country that invented its catchy beat was banned from playing it for years.…
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…
LatinoLife's Christmas Bangers 2018
After a year of reggaetón smashers, the ladies show they rule with hits that are sending the year off with a bang
From Hypnotic Cuba to Stiff British Splendour
From the deep, hypnotic rhythms of Cuba to the stiff splendour of the Royal Albert Hall, composer and conductor Odaline de la Martinez has ridden the waves of a musical adventure. The recipient of this year's LUKAS Lifetime…
One Minute in Time
One of the greatest references of Argentine rock drumming, Jorge Araujo played for years with Los Divididos, one of the best and most popular rock bands in Latin America, and later Gran Martell. Now Araujo launches his second…
TOP TEN Recent Latin Albums produced in the UK
Latin music is not an easy thing to produce, let alone promote, in the UK; you need real instruments, great musicians and arrangements to make it sound good, and there is rarely any money to work on. Despite the lack of exposure…
THE DECEMBER REGGAETON RECAP | 2025
What a year 2025 has been, but don’t wish it away too fast, there’s still a whole month of new music to digest from some of your favourite Latin stars. If you’re after a way to kickstart your new year, how about a brand-new…
THE LONG EXHALE
Not many artists can say their very first release changed the trajectory of their career, but Alvaro Soler certainly can. It’s been a decade since a young Soler burst onto the Latin pop scene with his breakout debut single ‘El…
We Owe Paco So Much
Paco Peña, one of the world's most celebrated flamenco guitarists mourns an irreplaceable Flamenco soul and friend
Goodbye to the Buena Vista Era
Sequel to the album, the movie and the shows that took the world by storm in the late 1990s, and tribute to both the musicians who have passed away and those alive and kicking, the Buena Vista show at London’s The O2 likely…
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
The Demographics of Music
With a name like Che Sudaka, you can't help but be curious. We talk to the band of Latino immigrants in Spain creating a stir in Europe
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…
Rule Colombian Britannia!
This year the BBC Proms pays tribute to a new British-Colombian generation by featuring the London born and bred accordionist Jose Hernando who won the BBC Radio 3 World Routes Academy at only 19. Here the burgeoning star talks…
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NO SALGAS (Don’t Come Out- 2026) by Victoria Linares Villegas from the…
Victoria Linares Villegas talks to Corina J Poore about her debut fiction feature film, ‘NO SALGAS…
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MARCH REGGAETON RECAP | 2026
It’s that awkward transition into Spring and the songs in this playlist have varied energies. There…
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LATIN LONDONER #68 - Hortensia Celis-Valenzuela, Community Organiser
Mexican-born Hortencia Celis has been a central figure to London’s Latin American arts for over…
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Since the days when Mexico was a serious rival to Hollywood in terms of film production and quality…
