I listen to music mostly in the evening. I've come to love what is called world music, like the Zimbabwean Oliver Mtukudzi and the Colombian singer Marta Gomez. I also love the Irish folk singer Mary Black. Other favorites include Chet Baker, Eva Cassidy, and Billie Holiday.
There's an album by Antonio Carlos Jobim - the album with 'The Girl From Ipanema.' That's the most seductive music ever.
I'm reaching a huge audience. I'm doing what artists like Beyonce are doing in terms of selling out stadiums. The difference is my audience speaks Spanish.
I grew up in the sixties watching B.B. King and Tito Puente and Miles Davis and Coltrane, everybody, Marvin Gaye, Jimi. And at the same time, with my left eye I was watching Dolores Huerta, Cesar Chavez, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Mother Teresa.
Books don't live and die by awards. You don't listen to an Hector Lavoe album because it won some awards.
Reggaeton is amazing.
In Puerto Rico we dance to everything.
I don't think a reggaeton song will break again like 'Gasolina' did.
Once I tried to find myself as a musician and a composer, I went back and saw that there was something special about Puerto Rican music. I knew that before, but had never sat down and thought about it. The more I learned about it, the more it found its way into the music I was writing.
One of my reasons for living in California is its close proximity to Mexico. The Latin influence is in every corner of the community. My love of Spanish music hasn't wavered since the '50s. I could hear the blues voicing from the Flamanco families and I always dig for inspiration in Latin music.
Participation is easily obtained with Latin chant.
I played in rhumba bands, mickey mouse bands; all kinds of bands.
One day, my father brings a cassette. He's showing me this, and he's like, 'Look at this guy, his name is Anthony Santos, like you.' I popped it on and started hearing the songs, the music, and I was like, 'Wow, this sounds great.'
I'm a big salsa fan!
I really do love Diana Ross; I grew up listening to her records. I grew up in a little town in Mexico, so while we got the music, we never got the experience of watching her.
The first album I ever bought was Santana's 'Abraxas.' Obviously, I was a huge fan of Carlos because he had the unique guitar sound, and he had incorporated a lot of the percussion and really, really fun rhythmic bass lines in there, too.
Being a New Yorker, I used to dance to Latin music. There was a place called the Palladium on Broadway. And Tito Puente and Tito Rodriguez used to play. So I still have that in my blood.
I love hip-hop, R&B, techno and Latin.
The Florida sound would probably be best defined as heavy bass with high energy dance records. There's a strong Caribbean heritage in Florida which features a lot of uptempo music, and the music accents the sexy, body-oriented sound.
I got so big in the Latin market, it was a bit like being Elvis Presley. The limousines, the screaming girls - stuff I wasn't used to.
'Limbo' has been one of the greatest hits of my career. A great response all over the world, not just Latinos but people in Europe and America.
There's a misconception in my opinion... and it's that we Latinos have to go do an American album, an English album, an Anglo production, to cross over.
Growing up in Caracas, Venezuela, the ubiquitous music is salsa, cumbia, merengue, a little bit of samba.
Reggaeton is what opened the doors for me, and I'm always grateful for that. I'll do reggaeton for life, but I want to show that I'm an artist who can do everything.
It's an honor for me to represent urban music, reggaeton, trap and hip-hop.
