To see the impact of the worldwide rise of Latin music, Cruzito can feel the change at home in Montreal, the city he and his family moved to from Honduras when he was eight years old.
"In the early 2000s, I felt I had to be over there to have any chance of making it," he says, referring to Latin America. "[But] today, the landscape is completely different."
Cruzito is one of Canada's most notable reggaetón exports. As a teenager in the early 2000s, he realized that if he wanted to find success in the music industry, he had to move back to Latin America, settling down in Puerto Rico. He signed to the prestigious Pina Records when he was 17, and these days he's working as the artistic director of Joy Ride Latino, a new offshoot of Montreal's Joy Ride Records. With a career that stretches back more than two decades, he is one of the only Canadians to have made reggaetón in the genre's two defining eras.
He credits his Canadian roots and R&B sensibilities with allowing him to stand out initially. "I was bringing a refreshing romantic aspect to the reggaetón scene back then," he remembers.
Cruzito lived in Puerto Rico at the height of reggaetón's early popularity but moved back to Canada to be closer to his family. This latest phase of his career has coincided with an explosion in reggaetón's global audience: Bad Bunny was recently named Spotify's most-streamed artist for a second year in a row, and Canadian superstars like Drake and the Weeknd have tapped into the Latin market by singing in Spanish on recent singles.
Cruzito has continued to grow alongside his genre, making moves to maximize his reach both in Latin America (by touring in Chile, Peru and Colombia) and Canada (by releasing an album in French, 2018's Dédicace). When the opportunity to help lead the development of Joy Ride Latino presented itself, Cruzito knew he wanted to use his experience to help develop local talent.
"Now, it is a really crowded market, but I am excited to see how my new team will help reconnect me with the fans," he says of the rollout for his new album Lagrimas y Lambos, which he released back in December on Joy Ride Latino.
Using Canadian travel grants to expand his team in Latin America and developing a new touring circuit for Latinx artists across Canada are two of the strategies Cruzito is exploring to "make the most out of both worlds." He even flew out his longtime collaborator, Puerto Rican singer Ken-Y, to shoot the lavish music video for their Lagrimas y Lambos collab, "Como Ayer." Says Cruzito, "We flew him over to film here in Quebec, and even though he has been on sets with huge stars for big songs, he was very impressed with the facilities."
His next objective is to film a video with Toronto's Fito Blanko, another unsung hero of the Canadian Latin music scene. He also has his eyes set on appealing to the US market.
"Imagine connecting to Texas's Latinx community, but through the Canadian showcase at SXSW — now that's an innovative approach," he suggests with a laugh. For Cruzito and many others, Canada is the next frontier for reggaetón success.
Alexander "A.C" Castillo Vasquez is a Montreal producer whose success has taken him to some of the world's biggest stages. He has made countless hits with the biggest Latin stars and produced Shakira's 2020 Super Bowl performance, and recently decamped to Barcelona to work on the star's new album. On this latest trip to the singer's home studio in Barcelona, he brought Quebec producer Ruffsound with him. It's his way of giving back.
"Working in-person is the key," he tells Exclaim! "Shakira and I have developed our own work relationship, because I traveled to be there. However, it is always important to have a second perspective, and bringing an accomplished collaborator like Ruffsound is a no-brainer."
Vasquez has won the SOCAN International Award for his worldwide success, and although he gained a lot by travelling to California and the Dominican Republic on his own, he feels he has always played a role in linking Canada with the global Latin scene through his efforts in the studio. When asked what has changed in the Canadian landscape, he points to increased collaborations between Canadian and Latinx pop stars, as well as a shift in the sound of reggaetón production: "I used to choose to not include some of my harder reggaetón beats in packs I sent to artists. Now, they are the ones asking for them to have that authentic feel."
Vasquez feels he has been rewarded for betting on Latin music, as the sound has now expanded "beyond the género." Having launched his own Renaissance imprint, and looking to promote his new project KAARIBE with his sister Vanesa, A.C is now turning his attention to government funding. "The global impact of Latin music has reverberated in Canada," he says. "We have their attention — now, let's see if the funds will follow."
Vasquez's ambassadorial efforts have benefitted a new wave of Latin artists in Canada — like Montreal's RealMind, who collaborated with A.C on hits for artists like Becky G. Much like Vasquez, RealMind's strategy is to travel for in-person collaborations, like his latest outing to work on sessions with Puerto Rican singer Farruko.
"A.C invited me and it was incredible," RealMind tells Exclaim! "You can focus on the music and you get all the benefits of being in the field without the headaches of a permanent move there."
While his international sessions do not always lead to placements, he thinks it's key to keep his name out there and build connections. "Because of my time down there, I am now in talks with the legendary Ivy Queen and Jason Derulo," he reveals. "Even if the Farru sessions don't pan out, I'll have already gained something."
To keep expanding his reach, RealMind is open to collaborations outside of his immediate genre. "One of the artists I am most excited to work with is Camila Fernandez from Mexico," he says. "Her dad and grandfather are legends in traditional Mexican styles, and she connected with me to update her sound." He points out that renting out the SOCAN House in Los Angeles gives Canadians an opportunity to connect with artists of all stripes. "You are right in the middle of everything but without the outrageous living expenses, and they have a great studio," he points out. "Canada supporting artists on the outside is the way to go."
At home in Quebec, RealMind is known for bringing a Latin touch to his production on radio hits for artists like Loud, and he can always be found in writing camps, like a recent SOCAN one where he connected with Quebec pop singer Eli Rose. They created her 2017 single "Soleil" together, but had a hard time getting it to radio despite Rose's prior success. "Radio in Quebec is still reluctant to play Latin music, and this affects what artists look for in production," he says. RealMind laments the trends he has observed, as he says radio charts do not respond well to Latin-influenced songs from local Francophone artists, discouraging artists from exploring that sound further. "You have J Balvin and Luis Fonsi playing, but no local Latin songs in rotation."
Quebecers love their salsa lessons, Latin food and one-hit wonders like Qbanito, but, according to RealMind, are a long way from a self-sustaining Latin music movement. He asserts, "I always remember this quote from Daddy Yankee, 'No es un género es un movimiento' ['It's not a genre, it's a movement']. Let's just say things are not the same in Canada."
With the Canadian music industry slow to embrace homegrown Latin music, artists are faced with a dilemma: is it better to leave for Miami or Puerto Rico and come back a star, or should they look to conquer their own market before exporting their product? The answer varies when you look at different Latin musical styles. Salsa, the mother of all rhythms, has maintained a steady level of influence but has not broken through globally like reggaetón recently has. According to Giany Huyghues-Despointes, bandleader and trombonist of the Montreal salsa orchestra Lengaïa Salsa Brava, "Even huge artists like Marc Anthony sell out shows but could not do arenas like the current crop of artists."
While preparing a second album for Lengaïa Salsa Brava, Huyghues-Despointes found no local label would offer him the deal he needed, so he decided to go look in other provinces for support. Nominations at the Juno Awards and Canada Latin Awards, as well as touring in Colombia, had given his salsa band the notoriety to record with world-renowned artists, but he still found no interest in Quebec.
"Even world music TV shows and festivals were not getting back to us for appearances," he says. "I think it was our style of music, not necessarily the fact that we are Latin. We were getting more recognition in Colombia and Spain than in our hometown." Huyghues-Despointes identifies a dissonance between receiving national and provincial funding while feeling left out of local cultural and booking dynamics. "I thought I had to leave the province to find a home for our project," he laments.
He eventually connected with Toronto's Lulaworld Records, which helped the band release and promote their latest project, 2020's The Gold Diggers, which led to a trio of shows in Ontario this past November. November, Huyghues-Despointes says that salsa struggles to find widespread recognition. "Everyone loves to dance to it, but even in the US, the market for performances of large orchestras is not as impressive as the one for reggaetón," he observes.
Although he wishes for more crossover appeal, Huyghues-Despointes is very satisfied with leading one of the rare complete salsa orchestras in the world. "I can count on one hand the number of orchestras still active today that do original compositions," he says. "It's good to be among the worldwide elite in that sense."
From the world-conquering success of A.C to niche specialists like Huyghues-Despointes, Canada's Latin music scene is multifaceted and ever-evolving. "I don't really like the fact there is only one category for so-called 'world music,'" offers Colombian-born, Montreal-based rockero MATEO, who takes the ups and downs of being a Canadian-Latinx artist in stride.
MATEO takes little actions to introduce his music and culture to Canadian fans in an accessible manner. "When I am in a cafe, I ask if I can change the playlist to Latin hits and people react well," he says. "I decided a while back to ditch traditional hats and clothes and go for a more accessible look on social media." He also collaborated with local artists like Choses Sauvages and Ariane Moffatt, allowing him to connect with their fan bases.
This attitude is also reflected in his music, which is sung in Spanish but integrates rock and funk influences. "It's feeding our culture to Canadians in a way that they can easily embrace it and get to know us for who we are, not where we are from," he says.
"I don't do Latin music — we have grown beyond that. This music is global."
"In the early 2000s, I felt I had to be over there to have any chance of making it," he says, referring to Latin America. "[But] today, the landscape is completely different."
Cruzito is one of Canada's most notable reggaetón exports. As a teenager in the early 2000s, he realized that if he wanted to find success in the music industry, he had to move back to Latin America, settling down in Puerto Rico. He signed to the prestigious Pina Records when he was 17, and these days he's working as the artistic director of Joy Ride Latino, a new offshoot of Montreal's Joy Ride Records. With a career that stretches back more than two decades, he is one of the only Canadians to have made reggaetón in the genre's two defining eras.
He credits his Canadian roots and R&B sensibilities with allowing him to stand out initially. "I was bringing a refreshing romantic aspect to the reggaetón scene back then," he remembers.
Cruzito lived in Puerto Rico at the height of reggaetón's early popularity but moved back to Canada to be closer to his family. This latest phase of his career has coincided with an explosion in reggaetón's global audience: Bad Bunny was recently named Spotify's most-streamed artist for a second year in a row, and Canadian superstars like Drake and the Weeknd have tapped into the Latin market by singing in Spanish on recent singles.
Cruzito has continued to grow alongside his genre, making moves to maximize his reach both in Latin America (by touring in Chile, Peru and Colombia) and Canada (by releasing an album in French, 2018's Dédicace). When the opportunity to help lead the development of Joy Ride Latino presented itself, Cruzito knew he wanted to use his experience to help develop local talent.
"Now, it is a really crowded market, but I am excited to see how my new team will help reconnect me with the fans," he says of the rollout for his new album Lagrimas y Lambos, which he released back in December on Joy Ride Latino.
Using Canadian travel grants to expand his team in Latin America and developing a new touring circuit for Latinx artists across Canada are two of the strategies Cruzito is exploring to "make the most out of both worlds." He even flew out his longtime collaborator, Puerto Rican singer Ken-Y, to shoot the lavish music video for their Lagrimas y Lambos collab, "Como Ayer." Says Cruzito, "We flew him over to film here in Quebec, and even though he has been on sets with huge stars for big songs, he was very impressed with the facilities."
His next objective is to film a video with Toronto's Fito Blanko, another unsung hero of the Canadian Latin music scene. He also has his eyes set on appealing to the US market.
"Imagine connecting to Texas's Latinx community, but through the Canadian showcase at SXSW — now that's an innovative approach," he suggests with a laugh. For Cruzito and many others, Canada is the next frontier for reggaetón success.
Alexander "A.C" Castillo Vasquez is a Montreal producer whose success has taken him to some of the world's biggest stages. He has made countless hits with the biggest Latin stars and produced Shakira's 2020 Super Bowl performance, and recently decamped to Barcelona to work on the star's new album. On this latest trip to the singer's home studio in Barcelona, he brought Quebec producer Ruffsound with him. It's his way of giving back.
"Working in-person is the key," he tells Exclaim! "Shakira and I have developed our own work relationship, because I traveled to be there. However, it is always important to have a second perspective, and bringing an accomplished collaborator like Ruffsound is a no-brainer."
Vasquez has won the SOCAN International Award for his worldwide success, and although he gained a lot by travelling to California and the Dominican Republic on his own, he feels he has always played a role in linking Canada with the global Latin scene through his efforts in the studio. When asked what has changed in the Canadian landscape, he points to increased collaborations between Canadian and Latinx pop stars, as well as a shift in the sound of reggaetón production: "I used to choose to not include some of my harder reggaetón beats in packs I sent to artists. Now, they are the ones asking for them to have that authentic feel."
Vasquez feels he has been rewarded for betting on Latin music, as the sound has now expanded "beyond the género." Having launched his own Renaissance imprint, and looking to promote his new project KAARIBE with his sister Vanesa, A.C is now turning his attention to government funding. "The global impact of Latin music has reverberated in Canada," he says. "We have their attention — now, let's see if the funds will follow."
Vasquez's ambassadorial efforts have benefitted a new wave of Latin artists in Canada — like Montreal's RealMind, who collaborated with A.C on hits for artists like Becky G. Much like Vasquez, RealMind's strategy is to travel for in-person collaborations, like his latest outing to work on sessions with Puerto Rican singer Farruko.
"A.C invited me and it was incredible," RealMind tells Exclaim! "You can focus on the music and you get all the benefits of being in the field without the headaches of a permanent move there."
While his international sessions do not always lead to placements, he thinks it's key to keep his name out there and build connections. "Because of my time down there, I am now in talks with the legendary Ivy Queen and Jason Derulo," he reveals. "Even if the Farru sessions don't pan out, I'll have already gained something."
To keep expanding his reach, RealMind is open to collaborations outside of his immediate genre. "One of the artists I am most excited to work with is Camila Fernandez from Mexico," he says. "Her dad and grandfather are legends in traditional Mexican styles, and she connected with me to update her sound." He points out that renting out the SOCAN House in Los Angeles gives Canadians an opportunity to connect with artists of all stripes. "You are right in the middle of everything but without the outrageous living expenses, and they have a great studio," he points out. "Canada supporting artists on the outside is the way to go."
At home in Quebec, RealMind is known for bringing a Latin touch to his production on radio hits for artists like Loud, and he can always be found in writing camps, like a recent SOCAN one where he connected with Quebec pop singer Eli Rose. They created her 2017 single "Soleil" together, but had a hard time getting it to radio despite Rose's prior success. "Radio in Quebec is still reluctant to play Latin music, and this affects what artists look for in production," he says. RealMind laments the trends he has observed, as he says radio charts do not respond well to Latin-influenced songs from local Francophone artists, discouraging artists from exploring that sound further. "You have J Balvin and Luis Fonsi playing, but no local Latin songs in rotation."
Quebecers love their salsa lessons, Latin food and one-hit wonders like Qbanito, but, according to RealMind, are a long way from a self-sustaining Latin music movement. He asserts, "I always remember this quote from Daddy Yankee, 'No es un género es un movimiento' ['It's not a genre, it's a movement']. Let's just say things are not the same in Canada."
With the Canadian music industry slow to embrace homegrown Latin music, artists are faced with a dilemma: is it better to leave for Miami or Puerto Rico and come back a star, or should they look to conquer their own market before exporting their product? The answer varies when you look at different Latin musical styles. Salsa, the mother of all rhythms, has maintained a steady level of influence but has not broken through globally like reggaetón recently has. According to Giany Huyghues-Despointes, bandleader and trombonist of the Montreal salsa orchestra Lengaïa Salsa Brava, "Even huge artists like Marc Anthony sell out shows but could not do arenas like the current crop of artists."
While preparing a second album for Lengaïa Salsa Brava, Huyghues-Despointes found no local label would offer him the deal he needed, so he decided to go look in other provinces for support. Nominations at the Juno Awards and Canada Latin Awards, as well as touring in Colombia, had given his salsa band the notoriety to record with world-renowned artists, but he still found no interest in Quebec.
"Even world music TV shows and festivals were not getting back to us for appearances," he says. "I think it was our style of music, not necessarily the fact that we are Latin. We were getting more recognition in Colombia and Spain than in our hometown." Huyghues-Despointes identifies a dissonance between receiving national and provincial funding while feeling left out of local cultural and booking dynamics. "I thought I had to leave the province to find a home for our project," he laments.
He eventually connected with Toronto's Lulaworld Records, which helped the band release and promote their latest project, 2020's The Gold Diggers, which led to a trio of shows in Ontario this past November. November, Huyghues-Despointes says that salsa struggles to find widespread recognition. "Everyone loves to dance to it, but even in the US, the market for performances of large orchestras is not as impressive as the one for reggaetón," he observes.
Although he wishes for more crossover appeal, Huyghues-Despointes is very satisfied with leading one of the rare complete salsa orchestras in the world. "I can count on one hand the number of orchestras still active today that do original compositions," he says. "It's good to be among the worldwide elite in that sense."
From the world-conquering success of A.C to niche specialists like Huyghues-Despointes, Canada's Latin music scene is multifaceted and ever-evolving. "I don't really like the fact there is only one category for so-called 'world music,'" offers Colombian-born, Montreal-based rockero MATEO, who takes the ups and downs of being a Canadian-Latinx artist in stride.
MATEO takes little actions to introduce his music and culture to Canadian fans in an accessible manner. "When I am in a cafe, I ask if I can change the playlist to Latin hits and people react well," he says. "I decided a while back to ditch traditional hats and clothes and go for a more accessible look on social media." He also collaborated with local artists like Choses Sauvages and Ariane Moffatt, allowing him to connect with their fan bases.
This attitude is also reflected in his music, which is sung in Spanish but integrates rock and funk influences. "It's feeding our culture to Canadians in a way that they can easily embrace it and get to know us for who we are, not where we are from," he says.
"I don't do Latin music — we have grown beyond that. This music is global."