Okay, I usually focus all my time on researching the Latin entertainment industry, but I need to take a second to introduce all of you to one of my favorite artists, and I just discovered him last week.
His name is Huecco
I discovered him as I was listening to a radio station on Last.fm of Jarabe de Palo. I listened to “La Reina de Los Angelotes” and I was blown away by the sound of the song, and the quality of his voice. I mean, the whole song is a power punch of creativity and beautiful crisp sound.
Lo and behold, it happens that this song was produced by none other than the guru Thom Russo,whom a few months ago we were so lucky to interview (refer to Thom Russo Interview). It turns out that Thom Russo produced the whole album of Huecco, titled Assalto. And man, is it ever an assault on music (in the sense that he seamlessly combines styles that are not generally supposed to be combined, and makes them sound great).
I only have good things to say about this guy. First of all, every single song has a fresh new sound. He follows well in the footsteps of Cafe Tacuba in his ability to change seamlessly from different genres and in the steps of Manu Chao in his ability to mix sounds that are very unique and because he sings in different languages (French, Spanish, Portuguese). A big stark difference in contrast to Manu Chao, however, is that Huecco’s lyrics are fast paced and more sophisticated. Assalto is his second album as a solo artist. Previously he was involved with the band Sugarless from Spain as their lead man, and I am quite amazed at his ability to reinvent himself.
In an interview he gave, he says that with Sugarless, he felt he was only giving 30% of what he had, and so he needed a vehicle that would allow him to grow and not be constrained. Well LMG amigo, you found it.
Great qualities that make him an LMG Favorite:
- Musically Diverse
- His voice has a great gypsy quality, his guitar has great rumba beat, and he mixes beats from reggaeton, cumbia, salsa, banda, etc.
- Expanding into different Languages
- He is expanding into different markets not only in his styles of music but with his ability to sing in different languages. He sings a great song in French (I show it below) and another one in Portuguese (I don’t link to it but please link to if if you find it).
- He’s got Brains
- He has very articulate in interviews and
- choose the right, Producer Thom Russo with experience in many versatile genres such as hard rock and Latin sounds to produce a very ambitious record of different sounds.
- He is socially conscious and appeals as a good role model
- In his interviews he dicusses that it’s a beautiful thing to break stereotypes, that becaues he has Rasta Dreadlocks, people assume he is into drugs but he is against them and has never tried them.
- He has socially conscious messages with his songs. Look at song Se Acabaron Las Lagrimas (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x466jxJSMK0)
- He is a great interviewer
- If you don’t believe me take a look at his interviews ( I will include them at the end)
- Perfect at Networking and working with his industry
- In one of the videos “Se Acabaron Las Lagrimas” he collaborates with a myriad of media personalities, sports personalities, and politicians from Spain to promote the message against women violence.
- Is already collaborating with other artists and I’m sure in his next Album he will collaborate with many more.
- A great Marketer
- Like a great marketer, he defines the context of his music and defines his music with his own definitions (example: he created the concept of Rumbaton (rumba and reggaeton )and Rumbia (rumba and cumbia)
In my opinion, he is a person to watch out for, and an examplary figure because he is very well rounded and versatile.
I recommend the following Hueccoing:
- La Reina de Los Angelotes (rumba + cumbia + rock = rumbia)
- Huecco – Mirando el Cielo
- Huecco – Creo
- Huecco – Idiota
- Huecco – Tacones Baratos
- Huecco – Je pense a tes Yeux (ode to french classics, amazing)
- Huecco – Mi Guerrera (reggaeton with rumba = rumbaton)
Lastly, here is a great interview he did with Qui es Qui:
Keep an eye out for Huecco, and let me know what you think. Also, remember to
- check out his Facebook group. Throw him some love from LA.
- Visit his website : http://www.huecco.es/blog/
- Check out his MTV blog where he talks about deep stuff: http://blogs.mtv.es/huecco/
Which is your favorite Huecco song?
PS – If you are reading this Huecco, please email me at richard@latinmediagurus.com to Interview you for Latin Media Gurus