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…
Ingratos hermosos
Over a career spanning nearly 30 years Mexico City’s Cafe Tacvba have experimented with a sombrero full of musical genres including rock, pop, jazz, tropical, electronica, and traditional Mexican tunes that they have melded into…
Voice in Residence
In the often vacuous world of Reggaeton, Residente has stood out as one of its most outspoken artists. Even at the Grammy Awards, where he has, perhaps surprisingly, won more than any other Latin artist, the former Calle 13…
The Real Girl from Ipanema
With an urban pop repertoire that glides through Portuguese, Spanish and English, and the looks, moves and charisma to match, it’s no wonder that Anitta is pipped to be the next global female superstar and dubbed as the next…
Brazilian Strings: Interview with Cellist Tania Lisboa
Corina Poore interviews Brazilian cellist Tania Lisboa, who celebrates 30 years based in the UK with a charity concert playing the sublime music of Villa- Lobos, Debussy, Guarnieri and Bridge with Scottish pianist Elizabeth Mucha…
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…
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!
In Defiance for Art
In 2016, the world said goodbye to the Buena Vista Social Club in a farewell ‘Adios’ tour that included shows in the White House, where they performed for President Barack Obama. Or so the world thought. Defined as 'the…
'Salvavidas de Hielo' Jorge Drexler
Blasting away all things vacuous and inane in this world, the Uruguayan singer-songwriter delivers another sublime work of unique musicality and profound lyricism.
Top Ten Dance Tracks To Kick the Year Off
Blast those February blues away with the hottest tracks of the moment
'La Llorona' Chavela Vargas (Milan records)
A finely curated “best of” and a great introduction to the world of the iconic ranchera singer.
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…
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…
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
Fearless Soul
Multi-instrumentalist and owner of a unique voice, Natalia Lafourcade has become one of Latin America’s the most successful artists. Ever since the young Mexican, daughter of a Chilean refugee, first broke into the charts in 2003…
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…
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…
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…
The Midas Touch
While the whole world (yes even Simon Cowell) seems to have caught the Reggaetón bug and new talents (and not-so talented) are battling for no.1 hits on a weekly basis, Puerto Rican singer-songwriter has been riding on a high…
'AS YOU SEE ME NOW' by The Jools Holland Rhythm & Blues Orchestra with José Feliciano
A stunning 14-track collaboration between Puerto Rican guitar legend and Grammy Award winner José Feliciano and Jools Holland's Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, you can really feel how these musicians enjoyed making these…
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…
A Fan’s Dream Comes True
What happens when the UK’s most famous music fan and his long time idol, arguably Latin America’s most gifted guitarist, get together? Corina Poore visited Jools Holland and Jose Feliciano to learn about an English presenter’s…
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…
Straddling Cultures and Continents
One wouldn’t normally associate musicians with early mornings, but Kevin Johansen is no normal musician. At 8.30 am Buenos Aires time, the Alaskan-born Argentine is just back from doing the school-run with his charm and warmth…
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…
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…
The Trailblazers of Latin Hit-Making
From Perez Prado and Vinicius de Moraes to Carlos Santana and Emilio and Gloria Estevan, in our series of articles on Latin-hit-making in the UK, we recognize the heavyweights from Latin America and the Latin diaspora, whose…
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.…
Ozuna ‘Odisea’
Make space for the next superstar of reggaetón, Ozuna. This young is already a veteran of the scene, having cut his teeth as hype man of pioneer reggaetonero Guelo Star. after having enjoyed almost two years of immense chart…
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…
Lizandro Meza “Salsita Mami” (Disco Fuentes)
Colombia's iconic king of Cumbia, LIzandro Meza, delves into the world of salsa with flavour and passion