Fort Myers, FL-based Mexican music outfit La Vibra Norteña formed back in 2019. And since their formation, the band has specialized in norteño sax — or norteño with saxophone and accordion. Their debut single, last year’s “Mil Veces,” showcased their contagious energy while establishing a distinct take on norteño.
Building upon a growing profile within the regional Mexican music scene, the Fort Myers-based outfit released “Bachata Rosa” earlier this year. “Bachata Rosa” showcased their versatility and growth as musicians while showcasing material that paired emotional lyrics with captivating melodies.
La Vibra Norteña’s latest single “Adios Amor” is a gorgeous bit of norteño that pairs with traditional oompah oompah-like groove the genre is known for with a gorgeous melody and achingly earnest vocals in a heartfelt, bittersweet ballad. If you’re leaving your lover for a period of time — and maybe you’re a bit uncertain when you might reunite, this song will express the hurt and longing you may feel right now.
Formed back in 2016, the Austin-based outfit Superfónicos — Jaime Ospina (vocals, gaita, percussion), Nicolás Sanchez Castro (bass, melodica, vibes backing vocals), Nick Tozzo (Congas, tambor alegre, timbales, percussion), Daniel Sanchez (drums, percussion, backing vocals), Chris “Zumbi” Richards (trombone, bombardino), Evan Marley Hegarty (keys), Erick Bohoroquez (guitar, backing vocals), and Andreas Villegas (guitar, backing vocals) — have specialized in a sound that features elements of Colombian funk, cumbia and Afrobeat, informed by the fact that most of the band’s members have deep roots in Colombia.
While highlight the country’s Caribbean coastal sounds, it is also a celebration of the human spirit, telling stories of the displaced, folkloric tales form the countryside, and the reminder to let go and embrace experiences that are more connected to the earth and our ancestors.
2018’s Suelta EP was recorded with Black Pumas‘ founder Adrian Quesada, 2019’s Cumbealo EP was record with Spoon‘s Jim Eno, and their full-length debut, the recently released Renaceré was recorded with Grupo Fantasma’s, Caramelo Haze’s and Money Chicha‘s Beto Martinez.
Renaceré translates into English as “I will be reborn” and thematically, the album’s material touches upon rebirth resilience and the cyclical nature of life through the lens of their unique take on Colombian Roots fusion, which owes as much to Africa and the Americas, as it does to Colombia — and the bandmembers’ Colombian heritage. According to the band’s Jamie Ospina, “This record is a celebration of the resilience of the human spirit and life. We all went through hard times in the last 4 years but here we are; breathing, singing, dancing and what not.” Nicolás adds, “The cycle of life and the concept of rebirth play heavily into the theme of the record. Many ups and downs happened during this period, for the band and society as a whole, but ultimately we came out of the process stronger, like a blade forged in the flames.”
The album’s recording process spanned several years, beginning just before COVID-19 lockdowns and concluding earlier this year. Most of the album was recorded at Beto Martinez’s Lechehouse Music, where Martinez captured the sounds and textures of Colombia’s Caribbean Coast with gaita flue and tambor alegre. “We also use the Bombardino (Euphonium) on many tunes. It is commonly used in Colombian Cumbia arrangements but is not as common stateside,” the band says. Additional recording took place at Public Hi-Fi with Spoon’s Jim Eno and Electric Deluxe with Aaron Glemboski.
Renaceré latest single “La Verdad” is a lush and strutting bit of psychedelic cumbia anchored around buzzing and twinkilng keys, shuffling rhythms, expressive horn bursts paired with an incredibly catchy hook and chorus. The song’s narrator tells a tale about a juglar (a troubadour) searching for his lost love and losing his mind. Ultimately, the song — and its narrator — suggests that those who are deemed crazy often hold the truth.
Initially starting her career in earnest back in 2015 under the name Cristina E, emerging Miami-based Latin music artist CENCA released her debut single “Recommitted,” before joining a local band by the name of Lovechild. After a four year stint as Lovechild’s frontperson, CENCA decided to step out into the spotlight as a solo artist.
As a solo artist, the emerging Miami-based artist found and gradually transitioned to a new sound that features elements of Reggaeton, Latin pop and Afrobeats. CENCA’s latest single “Tequila” is a buoyant, sultry and summery bop that reveals a grown and sexy, club and lounge friendly quality — but as the Miami-based artist explains, the song is anchored around a defiantly feminist anthem, featuring a message about freedom and inner strength.
“‘Tequila’ is a song that reflects the struggle to free oneself from a dead-end relationship and find the courage to go against the current.” The song encourages the listener to trust themselves, recognize that they’re enough and leave anything behind that no longer serves them. And the song also encourages the listener to have the courage and clear-headedness to see dysfunctional and repetitive cycles and to break them, in order to achieve significant change.
Directed by Andre Nagle, the accompanying video for “Tequila” sees CENCA recognizing that she’s in a dead-end, dysfunctional relationship and finding the courage to leave it for the comfort, emotional sustenance and support of her friends.
With the release of her debut EP, 2021’s six-song Yo Soy, emerging and rising Miami-based Puerto Rican singer/songwriter Yari M quickly established a sound that meshed Urban Latin R&B and pop rhythms. Yo Soy EP track “Freshy” garnered some traction with a remix that featured Randy and Brray, which amassed over 1 million YouTube and Spotify streams.
Building upon growing momentum, the emerging and rising Puerto Rican artist appeared on Randy’s 2021 album Romances de Una Nota, showcasing Yari M as the only female artist on the album, among a collection of notable Latin artists.
2023 saw the release of “Esta Lloviendo,” a bachata tune that debuted at #19 on Billboard‘s Tropical Airplay Chart, amassing over 500,000 streams. “Esta Lloviendo” was released through her label Black Diamond Music, where she’s the Vice President and the owner of the first Dolby Atmos studio in Miami. which allows her the creative space to create and bring her artistic vision to life.
Yari M’s career has been frequently marked by her commitment to growth and her desire to bring a fresh sound to her audience. She’s currently working on her first album while working with various Latin artists to expand both her repertoire and her sound.
Her latest single “La Noche” is a slickly produced bop featuring glistening synth arpeggios, skittering reggaeton-meet-trap like beats serving as a lush and woozy bed for Yari M’s coquettish and yearning delivery. The result is a summery track that’s lounge and club friendly.
Jhon Edison Villamizer is a rising Cúcuta, Colombia-born, Medellín-based singer/songwriter, best known in Latin music world as Reijy. Villiamizer’s career started in earnest over a decade ago, with a string of hits that captivated audiences in his hometown while revealing an artist . He has collaborated with a who’s who list of acclaimed Latin music artists including Feid,Amaro, Kevin Florez and a lengthy list of others.
Solidifying himself as an up-and-coming artist in Colombia, Villamizer recently relocated to Medellín, where he signed with DINASTIA Inc, one of the country’s highly renowned labels.
The rising Colombian artist plans to release a new song every month over the course of the next year, to showcase his unwavering dedication and passion for his craft. His latest single “EFECTO w” is a lounge and club friendly bop anchored around skittering trap beats, fluttering atmospheric synths and remarkably catchy hooks. The production serves as a lush and sainty bed for Villamizer’s delivery, which sees him alternating between vulnerable croon and swaggering braggadocio. The song reveals an artist, who seems to write an effortless and summery hook-driven bop.
Lowadel Olivares Dominguez is a rising, 20-something, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic-born and-based singer/songwriter, best known as Lowa OD. And in a relatively short period of time, the young and rising Dominican artist has quickly established a sound that blends Afro-Caribbean rhythms and pop melodies pareidw with unique vocals inflections.
Last year, Olivares Dominguez took the Latin music industry by storm with the release of “Ayayai,” a song that quickly became a summer anthem for fans across Central America, South America and Europe while amassing over 200,000 streams across social media platforms. Adding to a growing international profile, DJs around the world have played his music in clubs and venues, introducing him and his work to new audiences.
Now, late last year, I wrote about “Luna Y Sol,” a slick, hook-driven and radio friendly blend of contemporary R&B, hip-hop, reggaeton an Afrobeats built around a looped Spanish guitar melody, twinkling tropical-inspired production and skittering trap beats serving as a lush bed for Olivares Dominguez’s plaintive vocal. “Luna Y Sol” is a breezy and escapist bit of pop that tells the story of young love and adventure with a lived-in specificity that gives the remarkably accessible song its beating heart.
Continuing to build upon a growing profile, the rising Dominican artist will be releasing the INEFABLEEP, an effort that thematically focuses on his different emotional experiences within the various relationships of his life. The effort’s first single “Ocasional” is a vibey bop that’s simultaneously lounge, club and radio friendly. Anchored around a reggaeton-meets-pop-meets Afrobeats production featuring skittering trap beats, glistening synths and a supple bass line serving as a lush and satiny bed for the rising Dominican artist’s easy-going yet soulful vocal.
“‘Ocasional’ or ‘Ocassional’ (in English) portrays a relationship with a woman who is after man, but the man isn’t interested in a relationship of love. This depiction of an intimate modern relationship with a smooth afrobeat style beat bumping to carry to story will get young people around the world out of their seats and moving.”
Blessmon is a somewhat mysterious and emerging Spanish artist, who caught my attention last year with “Ariana,” a slickly produced, lounge and club friendly reggaeton-meets-R&B bop featuring atmospheric synths and electronics and skittering beats paired with the Spanish artist’s yearning and subtly Autotuned vocal.
The Spanish artist’s latest single, the sultry “Blessi” continues a run of lounge and club friendly reggaeton for the grown and sexy cohort featuring skittering beats, atmospheric synths and the Spanish artist’s yearning delivery singing about a woman who wants his narrator to take his time — if y’all dig what I’m saying. It’s the sort of song, you want to wine down with that pretty young thing you want to see naked.
Indy Fontaine is a Cuban-born, Miami-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, who can trace the origins of her career to her early childhood: Singing alongside her uncle and his old guitar, she fell in love with music when she as three. And by the time she turned six, she was enrolled full-time at music school in Sancti Spiritus, Cuba, where she trained to be professional vocalist and musician.
Fontaine went on to graduate at the top of her class from Havana‘s prestigious National School of Art. By the time she graduated, she already had over a decade experience playing gigs all across Cuba, including music festivals, live radio and TV sessions and more.
Upon graduation, she joined Sol y Sun, an act that has played sets across the international music festival circuit between the States and Cuba, including some of the most popular venues in Havana. Sol y Sun also frequented national TV and radio shows.
The Cuban-born singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer relocated to the States, where she steps out into the spotlight as a solo artist. Her forthcoming 11-song, full-length debut reportedly ranges across a number of genres and styles Adult Contemporary, Easy Listening, Soft Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock and R&B — with songs in English and Spanish. The album’s material is rooted in the song-as-story tradition, inspired by love and real life situations.
Fontaine’s latest single “El Amor No Alcanza,” which translates into English as “Love Is Not Enough” is the Cuban-born artist’s subtly modern take on bolero, a genre that originated from Eastern Cuba that frequently focuses on affairs of the heart in a sophisticated fashion. Built around arrangement that features twinkling keys, electric guitar, a gorgeous flute line, along with bongo-driven percussion and serves as a lush bed for Fontaine’s yearning and heartbroken delivery, “El Amor No Alcanza” details the emotional drama of a tumultuous relationship with a seemingly lived-in experience — although it’s informed by a friend’s relationship.
Jonathan Christian Picart is a Tampa-born, San Juan, Puerto Rico-raised and-based singer/songwriter, who can trace his music career to his interest and passion for music at a very young age: He frequently listed to Salsa, reggaeton, and American hip hop on the radio.
Back in 2019, he released his debut single as Yonna Picart, the Jangel El Antidoto-produced “#Se Te Mete.” By 2020, he released five more singles, “#borracho,” “#etiopia,” “#5g, “#Noteconocen,” and “#tevibran,” which continued his ongoing collaboration with Jangel El Antidoto.
The Tampa-born, San Juan-based singer/songwriter’s latest single “Bluebella” is a slickly produced and swaggering, club and lounge friendly bit of reggaeton built around skittering trap-meets-reggaeton beats, glistening synths serving as a lush bed for Picart’s delivery, which alternates between yearning and swaggering within the turn of a phrase. It’s a much-needed blast of summer and sweaty dance parties.
Mike Alfonso is a Santa Marta, Colombia-based salsa singer/songwriter and musician. His latest single “Empezar De Nuevo” is a breezy and remarkably catchy bit of salsa with Caribbean rhythms that features some of the country’s best players.
Thematically, “Emepzar De Nuevo” is an old-timey love song that tells the story of a couple, who gives their love a second chance to get it right and make it better. If you’ve had that “one who got away” in your life, this song will be for you.
Sonically, Alfonso’s latest single brings back fond memories of parties in Corona, Queens and of hearing salsa blasting out of car stereos, portable radios and speakers in parks and apartments in the summer.
Best known for his roles in This Is Us, Good Girls and DMZ, Marcel Mendoza is an emerging singer/songwriter and pop artist, with a unique voice and style. When Mendoza was 16, he wrote and recorded his first song “Impossible,” with Portuguese DJ and production duo Club Banditz, a pop/EDM track that landed at #2 on the Portuguese charts. That early success led him onto the stage at El Paso‘s Sun City Music Festival, where he performed the song in front of thousands.
Mendoza is gearing up to release his debut EP, an effort that will reportedly embrace a variety of genres and styles including Latin Urbano, R&B and pop while reflecting his evolution as an artist and his commitment to creating music that transcends boundaries.
His debut single, and the EP’s first single “Apretadita,” is a loving homage to El General‘s “Rica y Apretadita,” that sees Mendoza reimagining the beloved song by modernizing it but while preserving the essence of the original: While being a sleek and breezy, club friendly banger that sounds like a bilingual synthesis of Drake, The Weeknd and Bad Bunny, the song seamlessly blends elements of hip-hop, dancehall, reggaeton, R&B and contemporary pop paired with Mendoza’s delivery, which alternates between hip-hop swagger and plaintive R&B croon.
“’I chose ‘Apretadita’ as my first single because I believe it best showcases what I am capable of doing as an artist,” Mendoza explains. “I have such a diverse multicultural background and I felt like this was the perfect blend of genres that I will cover for upcoming songs.”
Mendoza goes on to explain that the song’s chorus pays homage to El General’s “Rica y Apretadita” and that his take incorporates his Caribbean roots — he claims roots in Puerto Rico, Cuba and Costa Rica — while remaining true to himself and drawing inspiration from his hometown of Atlanta.
