SINGER AND FORMER AVENTURA FRONTMAN ROMEO SANTOS EXPLAINS WHY THE DOMINICAN MUSIC GENRE IS THE MOVEMENT TO MOVE WITH

VIBE: Why do you think bachata has crept into the mainstream in the past few years?
Romeo Santos: What really helped the genre is many more artists are jumping to do this type of music. I’ve got a superstar like Usher singing bachata, a tune featuring Lil Wayne. I’m offering people more than just bachata. That captures a new audience that would listen to bachata because Usher is singing.

What was that process like bringing Usher into your world on “Promise”? Did he acclimate easily? 
That was actually a big concern. I was like, “Is he going to feel it’s corny?” But it was a really good experience. An artist like Usher who’s just a great contemporary music contributor, it makes it easy because he adapts to anything. And he’s a great dancer—in a matter of minutes, he was already dancing like he’s been dancing bachata for years. [On “All Aboard”] with Lil Wayne, we didn’t do bachata because that would’ve been weird. We stuck with something I was sure he’d nail, and he’s familiar with, which is R&B.

We all remember reggaeton’s considerable, yet brief, takeover of mainstream music. Did you learn anything from that period? 
Yeah, that’s a very good example that even something good can be overexposed. I’ve learned that you can do something great, but you have to continue reinventing yourself as an artist. So by the time someone else is copying your style, you have something else to offer your audience. What happened with reggaeton is that many artists kept recycling the same sound. But there are a lot of reggaeton artists that are still in their prime—like Daddy Yankee—because they’ve chosen to continue growing, to offer people more than just reggaeton. That’s where I learned to always be able to try something new and not be afraid.

What’s the most unexpected setting where you’ve witnessed bachata dance?
When I was touring Europe [with Aventura] seven or eight years ago, 80 percent of the audience there wasn’t Latin. They were Europeans, Italians, people from Germany—and they were dancing bachata. I was on YouTube the other night and amazed that I saw these Japanese women in Japan—I guess it was a Latin club—and they were dancing to “Promise.” They were dancing with Dominicans, but that’s just a sign that the dancing is becoming just as popular as the genre.

–Courtesy of VIBE.com

A superb new collection of vintage bachata singles is titled Bachata Roja: Amor y Amargue, and indeed the music itself was originally called amargue — which means “bitterness” — for its slow-moving laments about broken hearts and lonely nights. First recorded at the start of the 1960s, early bachata functioned much like weepy country-Western music in America, popular with Dominican truck drivers and in rural bars. But there was always a restless quality in the style, and soon it moved beyond its roots in Cuban son and bolero ballads to incorporate more dance rhythms.

The Bachata Roja anthology includes songs up to the ’80s, but no matter the date, the selections maintain a potent simplicity and directness, reflecting the downtrodden or celebratory sound of plain lives. One advantage of this lack of clutter is that a few added elements — sweet vocal harmonies, extra percussion or a splash of horns — makes tracks like Ramon Cordero’s “El pajarito” jump out.

Since the ’80s, bachata has blossomed in a manner not unlike salsa in the ’70s. It is now a popular, established style throughout the Caribbean and international capitals like New York. This has not been an entirely beneficial development for the music. Like country music when it went mainstream in the modern era, big-time bachata became facile and larded with glossy sounds. The hit group Aventura too often suggests the latest incarnation of a boy band with some exotic beats and Spanish lyrics.

Old or new, bachata is here to stay. My feeling is that the strength of the roots will outlast the big stars in the shiny suits.

–Courtesy of NPR.org

Players in the Latin music industry should collaborate more and promote new artists more creatively, industry leaders said Tuesday at the opening of Billboard’s 23rd Latin Music Conference.

The nearly week-long annual event gathers artists and executives from across the industry, culminating in Thursday’s awards show to be aired live from the BankUnited Center at the University of Miami.

Tomas Cookman, who heads the nation’s biggest independent Latin label, said during a panel session that labels can no longer just produce and promote records by their artists. They must be virtually full-service entertainment companies to survive.

“It’s the new definition of what record labels are, and the quicker people realize what we are, the safer we will be,” said Cookman, head of Nacional Records.

Cookman said especially with artists outside the mainstream Latin genres, producers and labels have to be more creative with their promotions.

Rebeca Leon called for more cross-pollination between Latin artists, similar to what’s being done in mainstream music. She cited Colombian pop star Juanes’ recent work with classic Spanish rocker Joaquin Sabina.

She later told The Associated Press she’d like to see more rock in Spanish played on the air, something she’s discussed with radio executives. She quipped, “I call it ‘Project Save the Guitar.’”

“Look I love urban music. I promote it, but I think there has to be a balance,” she added.

Meanwhile, Billboard’s head of Latin content Leila Cobo, serving as master of ceremonies, questioned Univision Radio President Jose Valle on why Spanish-language radio stations in general don’t play more new artists.

“And I don’t mean playing Juanes new song,” she added.

Cobo acknowledged the latest technology means losing a listener after a few seconds of a song can have a major impact in ratings but she added that radio is still one of the best ways for new artists to be heard.

“Can’t you see this as a nonprofit contribution to the arts?” she jokingly said of the possibility that playing new artists would cause a ratings dip.

“Ratings can’t dip,” Valle responded.

Universal Music Latin Entertainment President Victor Gonzalez said success these days is about contacts and relationships in the industry, but ultimately it’s also about creativity.

“Originality is key,” he said.

–Courtesy of Fox News Latino