“He said, “I want to talk to the girl with the accent,” and I got pissed off and grabbed the phone and was like ‘Yo, what the fuck?'”
Puerto Rican multi-hyphenate Rosie Perez was on “Desus & Mero” this week and she was stunning, sporting her famous curls and flashing her dimpled smile under a hat only she and Pharrell have enough swag for. But don’t get it twisted — she’s from Brooklyn — Rosie will put you in your place if she has to. Several times, she had to give Mero the “don’t play with me” look. They’d laugh and carry on, but her ability to check these two when their questions got out of hand will remind you of your tia who you know better than to mess with.
They asked some great questions, which led to Perez telling the story of how Spike Lee “discovered” her. She also recalled how the famed director asked Public Enemy to write a song for her to dance to and how that song ended up being “Fight The Power.” Yes, the same “Fight The Power” that made the title scene from “Do The Right Thing” an iconic moment in dance, cinema, music, hip-hop, and civil rights.
Perez also discussed Harvey Weinstein and what it’s like being a survivor of sexual assault. Perez described how difficult it was to overcome the guilt she carried after her assault: “Over time, all of sudden, you go, âFuck that shit, I didnât do nothing wrong.ââ
The 53-year-old actress also spoke about her new NBC series, “Rise,” where she plays a bounty hunter. Have I used the word iconic yet to describe her? Because Rosie Perez is iconic.
Check out the extended cut of their interview to see Perez mean mugging something serious.
Luis Fonsi is kicking off 2021 with a new single. The Puerto Rican superstar premiered the music video for “VacĂo” on Feb. 18 featuring rising Boricua singer Rauw Alejandro. The guys put a new spin on the classic “A Puro Dolor” by Son By Four.
Luis Fonsi throws it back to his romĂĄnticas.
“I called Omar Alfanno, the writer of ‘A Puro Dolo,’ who is a dear friend,” Fonsi tells Latido Music. “I told him what my idea was [with ‘VacĂo’] and he loved it. He gave me his blessing, so I wrote a new song around a few of those lines from ‘A Puro Dolor’ to bring back that nostalgia of those old romantic tunes that have been a part of my career as well. It’s a fresh production. It sounds like today, but it has that DNA of a true, old-school ballad.”
The world got to know Fonsi through his global smash hit “Despacito” with Daddy Yankee in 2017. The remix with Canadian pop star Justin Bieber took the song to new heights. That was a big moment in Fonsi’s music career that spans over 20 years.
“Despacito” remains the second most-viewed music video on YouTube with over 7.2 billion views. The hits did not stop there. Later in 2017, he teamed up with Demi Lovato for “Ăchame La Culpa,” which sits impressively with over 2 billion views.
Not only is Fonsi working on his new album, but also he’s giving advice to music hopefuls for the new season of The Voice that’s premiering on March 1. Kelly Clarkson tapped him as her Battle Advisor. In an exclusive interview, Fonsi talked with us about “VacĂo,” The Voice, and a few of his greatest hits.
What was the experience like to work with Rauw Alejandro for “VacĂo”?
Rauw is cool. He’s got that fresh sound. Great artist. Very talented. Amazing onstage. He’s got that great tone and delivery. I thought he had the perfect voice to fit with my voice in this song. We had talked about working together for awhile and I thought that this was the perfect song. He really is such a star. What he’s done in the last couple of years has been amazing. I love what he brought to the table on this song.
Now I want to go through some of your greatest hits. Do you remember working with Christina Aguilera for her Spanish album?
How could you not remember working with her? She’s amazing. That was awhile back. That was like 1999 or something like that. We were both starting out and she was putting out her first Spanish album. I got to sing a beautiful ballad called “Si No Te Hubiera Conocido.” I got to work with her in the studio and see her sing in front of the mic, which was awesome. She’s great. One of the best voices out there still to this day.
What’s one of your favorite memories of “No Me Doy Por Vencido”?
“No Me Doy Por Vencido” is one of the biggest songs in my career. I think it’s tough to narrow it down just to one memory. I think in general the message of the song is what sticks with me. The song started out as a love song, but it turned into an anthem of hope. We’ve used the song for different important events and campaigns. To me, that song has such a powerful message. It’s bigger than just a love song. It’s bringing hope to people. It’s about not giving up. To be able to kind of give [people] hope through a song is a lot more powerful than I would’ve ever imagined. It’s a very special song.
I feel the message is very relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic we’re living through.
Oh yeah! I wrote that song a long time ago with Claudia Brant, and during the first or second month of the lockdown when we were all stuck at home, we did a virtual writing session and we rewrote “No Me Doy Por Vencido.” Changing the lyrics, kind of adjusting them to this situation that we’re living now. I haven’t recorded it. I’ll do something with it eventually. It’s really cool. It still talks about love. It talks about reuniting. Like the light at the end of the tunnel. It has the hope and love backbone, but it has to do a lot with what we’re going through now.
What do you think of the impact “Despacito” made on the industry?
What was the experience like to work with Demi Lovato on “EchĂĄme La Culpa”?
She’s awesome! One of the coolest recording sessions I’ve ever been a part of. She really wanted to sing in Spanish and she was so excited. We did the song in Spanish and English, but it was like she was more excited about the Spanish version. And she nailed it! She nailed it from the beginning. There was really not much for me to say to her. I probably corrected her once or twice in the pronunciation, but she came prepared and she brought it. She’s an amazing, amazing, amazing vocalist.
You’re going to be a battle advisor on The Voice. What was the experience like to work with Kelly Clarkson?
She’s awesome. What you see is what you get. She’s honest. She’s funny. She’s talented. She’s humble and she’s been very supportive of my career. She invited me to her show and it speaks a lot that she wanted me to be a part of her team as a Battle Advisor for the new season. She supports Latin music and I’m grateful for that. She’s everything you hope she would be. She’s the real deal, a true star, and just one of the coolest people on this planet.
A lot of new music. Obviously, everything starts today with “VacĂo.” This is literally the beginning of what this new album will be. I’ve done nothing but write and record during the last 10 months, so I have a bunch of songs. Great collaborations coming up. I really think the album will be out probably [in the] third or fourth quarter this year. The songs are there and I’m really eager for everybody to hear them.
If youâve ever wondered what someone with a bulletproof vest and an AR-15 would look like flossing â the dance, not the method of dental hygiene â apparently the answer to that question can be found on TikTok.
Unfortunately, itâs not as a part of some absurdist sketch comedy or surreal video art installation. Instead, itâs part of a growing trend of drug cartels in Mexico using TikTok as a marketing tool. Nevermind the fact that Mexico broke grim records last year for the number of homicides and cartel violence, the cartels have found an audience on TikTok and that’s a serious cause for concern.
Mexican cartels are using TikTok to gain power and new recruits.
Mi historia para @USATODAY: How Mexican drug cartels are using TikTok to entice young people into organized crime https://t.co/q9Cp3QLWUb
Just a couple of months ago, a TikTok video showing a legit high-speed chase between police and drug traffickers went viral. Although it looked like a scene from Netflix’s Narcos series, this was a very real chase in the drug cartel wars and it was viewed by more than a million people.
Typing #CartelTikTok in the social media search bar brings up thousands of videos, most of them from people promoting a “cartel culture” â videos with narcocorridos, and presumed members bragging about money, fancy cars and a luxury lifestyle.
Viewers no longer see bodies hanging from bridges, disembodied heads on display, or highly produced videos with messages to their enemies. At least not on TikTok. The platform is being used mainly to promote a lifestyle and to generate a picture of luxury and glamour, to show the ‘benefits’ of joining the criminal activities.
According to security officials, the promotion of these videos is to entice young men who might be interested in joining the cartel with images of endless cash, parties, military-grade weapons and exotic pets like tiger cubs.
Cartels have long used social media to shock and intimidate their enemies.
âDid the cartels just roll out their TikTok marketing strategy?â https://t.co/eewDHuWZc4
And using social media to promote themselves has long been an effective strategy. But with Mexico yet again shattering murder records, experts on organized crime say Cartel TikTok is just the latest propaganda campaign designed to mask the blood bath and use the promise of infinite wealth to attract expendable young recruits.
âItâs narco-marketing,â said Alejandra LeĂłn Olvera, an anthropologist at Spainâs University of Murcia, in a statement to the New York Times. The cartels âuse these kinds of platforms for publicity, but of course itâs hedonistic publicity.â
Mexico used to be ground zero for this kind of activity, where researchers created a new discipline out of studying these narco posts. Now, gangs in Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, and the United States are also involved.
With a quick search on TikTok, you can find all sorts of cartel related content.
A search of the #CartelTikTok community and its related accounts shows people are responding. Public comments from users such as âY’all hiring?â âYall let gringos join?â âI need an application,â or âcan I be a mule? My kids need Christmas presents,â are on some of the videos.
One of the accounts related to this cartel community publicly answered: “Of course, hay trabajo para todos,â “I’ll send the application ASAP.” “How much is the pound in your city?” âFollow me on Instagram to talk.â The post, showing two men with $100 bills and alcohol, had more than a hundred comments.
