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MiGente.com - The Power of Latinos---
by Sofia Quintero
More than a decade before Ricky Martin was "Livin` La Vida Loca" and Jennifer López first asked "If You Had My Love," a wave of Latino singers ushered in what was arguably the first Latin pop explosion with a genre known and loved by dance fanatics of all colors: freestyle.
Avant-garde enough for clubs yet commercial enough for radio, this infectious blend of Latin, dance and hip-hop rhythms exploded in major cities across the U.S. From solo acts like Stevie B. and Sa-Fire to trios like TKA and the Cover Girls, the list of successful freestyle artists and their hits seems endless. Even artists such as Marc Anthony and La India who reached mega-stardom by singing in Spanish and recording salsa began their careers with such hits as "Ride the Rhythm" and "The Lover Who Rocks You (All Night)."
But after being poised to become to the Latino community what rap music is to African Americans, freestyle as a pop radio staple went the way of break dancing. True, rare is the urban radio station without at least one program devoted to freestyle music (and often the DJs of these shows are former stars of the genre). There isn`t a major record store chain that doesn`t keep dozens of freestyle compilations in stock. And many freestyle artists maintain a tour schedule, selling out modest venues singing their greatest hits from 15 and 20 years ago.
Yet despite the persisting love for this genre, very few of these artistscould buy a record deal today. It seems that fascination for all things Latino does not translate automatically into a lasting appreciation for our artistic accomplishments.
One of the few freestyle artists to score a crossover hit with the song "Temptation," Corina remembers several instances when being a Latina evoked hostility, like when she conducted a live interview for an R&B station in Washington, D.C. "On the air, the man said, `Oh, you`re Puerto Rican,`" recalls Corina. "You know, they sent me a song just like [yours], but we don`t play that kind of music up in here. But we thought you were a sister." The rejected song was Lisette Melendez`s megahit, "Together Forever".
It didn`t matter that "Temptation" peaked at No. 6 on Billboard, that the video was in heavy rotation on MTV (when it was all-White save for MTV Raps!) or that Corina had performed at the Apollo and with artists such as Ice Cube. All that mattered was that she wasn`t the light-skinned Black girl everyone assumed she was. "Somewhere along the line, Latinos didn`t fit in Black or White," she says. "You had pop, R&B, rap, country . . . and we didn`t fit anywhere until they created the dance list." But soon after landing hits on the dance charts, freestyle singers were pushed out by pop artists like Madonna and Janet Jackson.
It`s not too late for fans to make a difference, says Mickey García, founder and owner of MicMac Records, which produced some of freestyle`s most popular tracks. "I remember hip hop going through a period where radio and clubs were not supporting [it.] Freestyle music is not as popular today as in the `80s, but it still has a chance if we do the same things that the hip-hop community did," García says. This includes refusing to patronize stations and venues that do not play freestyle music.
The artists must also organize. "The freestyle community--the producers, songwriters, etc.--need to stick together and talk about the ways we can help this music become mainstream again," says García. "If we don`t, it could one day be gone forever."
Corina agrees, adding that Latinos must stop competing with each other while giving control to major labels. "We really should`ve done it ourselves," she says, thinking back to freestyle`s heyday. "But we never believed we could do it ourselves. We thought, `I have something to eat and a place to live, and that`s enough.` I don`t care what the industry has. You can`t shut up a people unless they agree to be shut up."
Sofia Quintero is a writer and activist in New York City.
by Sofia Quintero
More than a decade before Ricky Martin was "Livin` La Vida Loca" and Jennifer López first asked "If You Had My Love," a wave of Latino singers ushered in what was arguably the first Latin pop explosion with a genre known and loved by dance fanatics of all colors: freestyle.
Avant-garde enough for clubs yet commercial enough for radio, this infectious blend of Latin, dance and hip-hop rhythms exploded in major cities across the U.S. From solo acts like Stevie B. and Sa-Fire to trios like TKA and the Cover Girls, the list of successful freestyle artists and their hits seems endless. Even artists such as Marc Anthony and La India who reached mega-stardom by singing in Spanish and recording salsa began their careers with such hits as "Ride the Rhythm" and "The Lover Who Rocks You (All Night)."
But after being poised to become to the Latino community what rap music is to African Americans, freestyle as a pop radio staple went the way of break dancing. True, rare is the urban radio station without at least one program devoted to freestyle music (and often the DJs of these shows are former stars of the genre). There isn`t a major record store chain that doesn`t keep dozens of freestyle compilations in stock. And many freestyle artists maintain a tour schedule, selling out modest venues singing their greatest hits from 15 and 20 years ago.
Yet despite the persisting love for this genre, very few of these artistscould buy a record deal today. It seems that fascination for all things Latino does not translate automatically into a lasting appreciation for our artistic accomplishments.
One of the few freestyle artists to score a crossover hit with the song "Temptation," Corina remembers several instances when being a Latina evoked hostility, like when she conducted a live interview for an R&B station in Washington, D.C. "On the air, the man said, `Oh, you`re Puerto Rican,`" recalls Corina. "You know, they sent me a song just like [yours], but we don`t play that kind of music up in here. But we thought you were a sister." The rejected song was Lisette Melendez`s megahit, "Together Forever".
It didn`t matter that "Temptation" peaked at No. 6 on Billboard, that the video was in heavy rotation on MTV (when it was all-White save for MTV Raps!) or that Corina had performed at the Apollo and with artists such as Ice Cube. All that mattered was that she wasn`t the light-skinned Black girl everyone assumed she was. "Somewhere along the line, Latinos didn`t fit in Black or White," she says. "You had pop, R&B, rap, country . . . and we didn`t fit anywhere until they created the dance list." But soon after landing hits on the dance charts, freestyle singers were pushed out by pop artists like Madonna and Janet Jackson.
It`s not too late for fans to make a difference, says Mickey García, founder and owner of MicMac Records, which produced some of freestyle`s most popular tracks. "I remember hip hop going through a period where radio and clubs were not supporting [it.] Freestyle music is not as popular today as in the `80s, but it still has a chance if we do the same things that the hip-hop community did," García says. This includes refusing to patronize stations and venues that do not play freestyle music.
The artists must also organize. "The freestyle community--the producers, songwriters, etc.--need to stick together and talk about the ways we can help this music become mainstream again," says García. "If we don`t, it could one day be gone forever."
Corina agrees, adding that Latinos must stop competing with each other while giving control to major labels. "We really should`ve done it ourselves," she says, thinking back to freestyle`s heyday. "But we never believed we could do it ourselves. We thought, `I have something to eat and a place to live, and that`s enough.` I don`t care what the industry has. You can`t shut up a people unless they agree to be shut up."
Sofia Quintero is a writer and activist in New York City.