I landed this piece in Public Radio International (PRI’s The World) for Cuban songstress Daymé Arocena in advance of her Summer tour in the US. Check it out in full here! “My link with Santería is more musical,” she says. “I fell in love with Santería music before the religion.” She’s a classical composer and director trained … Read More
Being a part of the AfroRazones project – as publicist and advisor – has been a transformative experience for me as the daughter of a Cuban-born mother. Last year, while I was handling the publicity for the inaugural MANANA festival in Santiago de Cuba, I made my way to La Habana on a 14-hour truck ride to get to … Read More
Image via The 80% Alliance Here we are and here we’ll stay. Many are awakening to the harsh reality which has slowly been put in place throughout the last few decades (act like you know). Many have been working to build new systems and propose fresh ideas to a deafening status-quo for far too long. Well … Read More
What an awesome 2016! Thank you for the following projects, festivals and creators who trust conrazón to support their projects. Placements include The New York Times, PRI International, Afropop Worldwide, NY1, Los Angeles Times, Bitch Media, Salon, Spark Mag, La Liga Zine, The FADER, Mask Magazine, Racked, Noisey Colombia, RBMA Radio Panamérika, KEXP, Remezcla and many more. Click the links for highlight placement for the following projects: Dayme Arocena … Read More
Puerto Rican producer Eli Omar Rios (aka El Bles) didn’t expect inspiration to come in the form of a YouTube upload. Yet one six-minute video ended up deciding the fate of his new EP I Am Latin Soul. The Orlando-based artist was up late one night, googling videos of his father’s band Clave Tres. The Afro-Caribbean conjunto was … Read More
Bulla en El Barrio @ Afro-Latino Festival of New York 2016 by ©AilynRobles There’s Colombians in New York City and there’s New Yorkers born to Colombian parents – are they ultimately the same? I’m of the latter and half that with a Cuban mother, so it’s something I think about everyday. Do both groups meld into one … Read More
Thanks KCETlink for sending this my way on the airing of Resident Advisor‘s series, Real Scenes. Loved this half hour episode on Mexico City‘s electronic dance scene, its players and how colonization memory still plays out when it comes to access to space, visionary programming and the magic which should come from building an inclusive, … Read More
“I ain’t a Navajo, Blackfoot or Crow. I rep the Iroquois nations for the next 7 generations” – Dio Ganhdih. Photo by Elena Kulikova. I met Dio in New York City a few years ago and loved watching her bounce from different worlds like I was – navigating the wild space where tech & culture intersect in … Read More
Photo credit: Mario Ruben Carrion LATEST PROJECT: “We need to exchange blood…I’m not the star, I’m not a god! I’m just a person! Cuba is a country of 11 million people! We have to be out! The people have to see us!” – Daymé Arocena to NPR Music at SXSW, listen to the full interview … Read More
It’s March and my birthday today. I’ve been putting off reflecting on the last year, 2015 – not because it wasn’t an exciting year – but because time goes and it’s been maddening. But, turning 32 is a milestone to me. It marks 10 years of what’s known as adulthood, right? You graduate college at … Read More