Los Angeles is renowned as the entertainment capital of the world, and for its long love affair with the automobile. L.A. is also world-famous for its rich Latino culture: besides the fact the actual name of the city is in Spanish, the city was once part of Mexico, and Latinos make up about 48% of the city’s population, according to the latest census. With such a strong presence, Latinos have influenced everything from the city’s arts to architecture, food and especially its ever-bustling music scene.
Everyone knows Los Angeles Latino music classics like Ritchie Valens, Los Lobos and Ozomatli.
To celebrate Latino Heritage Month, here is our list of the top ten L.A.-based, Latino-centric music groups. From synthesized cumbia sonidero to soul-ska rocksteady and raw punk rock, these guys and girls are standing out from the bunch and representing the City of Angels with their bold musical styles.
The Bloodhounds are a product of the thriving East Los Angeles and Boyle Heights backyard music scene.
Rather than the more prevalent punk rock, these guys chose a bluesy, classic rock and roll R&B path - imagine if Bob Dylan was born and raised in East L.A. and you have the sound of The Bloodhounds. The band is musically ambidextrous, with a foundation in the traditional guitar-drum-bass setup, but they are equally skilled in old jug band style, complete with DIY washtub bass, washboard with percussive cans and thimbles, and of course, a banjo. They are the youngest group on this list and you’ve probably never heard of them, but that will likely change soon: they were recently signed by a local record label and are about to release their debut album, Let Loose.
Chicano Batman have generated a cult following in the last couple of years for their organ-guided bilingual beats. Their instrumental-intensive songs are inspired by the 70s golden era of Los Bukis (Mexican-style romantic music, a genre in its own) and good ol’ late 60s psychedelia with a little early Brazilian samba thrown in for kicks. Add these guys to your soon-to-be-classics category, in the same realm as other great American Latin alternative groups like Los Lobos and Richie Valens. In other words, legendary stuff that will probably be played really loud out of low-rider cars in a decade or so.
Hispanic or Latino Americans are Americans with origins in the countries of Latin America and Spain and in general all persons in the United States who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino. Reflecting especially the Latin American population, which has origins in all...
Latin American culture is the formal or informal expression of the peoples of Latin America, and includes both high culture (literature, high art) and popular culture (music, folk art and dance) as well as religion and other customary practices.
D. E. Sanchez
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