Podcast: The State of Latin Music, Fede Alvarez on Horror Movies, Jim Shearer on the MTV VMA’s

I’m 3 weeks into doing the Highly Relevant podcast and it’s been a wondrous experience. I LOVE pop culture, but I detest the idea of having it be limited by a single language or culture. I want to talk about both sides of who I am – American and Latino. By tapping both sides, I get to discuss subjects that only enrich the conversations I’m having. There’s a global, international vibe to the dialogues I conduct and this third episode is a nice example of it.

I’m not a fan of reggaeton, it’s urban pop now and the excess of it has wilted its appeal for me. I’m yearning for the days of a happy pop sound, as well as the new and exciting Latin pop music being created in Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and Argentina. Their mosaic mixes of champeta, EDM, folk, and synth, extract Latin music out of its confined urban box and redefine the category altogether. Angie Romero, the Senior Editor of US Latin Content Programming at Spotify joined me on the show to discuss why US Spanish-language radio isn’t playing these highly creative pop musicians and how streaming services are the new radio for today’s millennials. She also shared what her favorite artists and songs are via this magnificent Latin playlist. And I had to talk about the biggest pop hitmaker of them all, Luis Miguel. My disappointment in him is vast, but Angie makes some good points I had to agree on.

We also spoke to Fede Alvarez. He’s an Uruguayan director discovered on YouTube by Sam Raimi, who went on to remake the EVIL DEAD and now has a suspense film called – Don’t Breathe – that is absolutely terrifying and obtaining remarkable reviews. I spoke to him on creative freedom, the difficulty in developing original horror films and his favorite scary movie of the 80’s. You won’t believe what it is!

Finally, I speak to Jim Shearer on MTV’s VMAs happening this Sunday. Why is it still on? Hope you have fun with the podcast where we bring to life the American and Latino pop culture experience one podcast episode at a time.