James Cruz is a Grammy Award winning audio mastering engineer and owner of Zeitgeist Sound Studios in Long Island City, New York.
James Cruz started his career in 2002, at The Hit Factory during its "golden age" under the tutelage of Tom Coyne, Chris Gehringer and Herb Powers Jr. During his time there, he mastered records for artists such as Lil' Kim, Toni Braxton, Mary Mary, Maxwell and Outkast.
After The Hit Factory, James moved to Sony Studios as a senior mastering engineer. There he worked on artists such as Natasha Bedingfield, Calle 13 and Lil Wayne. He also gained an international following with clients from Serbia, England, Australia and Japan.
In 2008, James opened Zeitgeist Sound Studios in Long Island City, New York. It's here that he won his first Latin Grammy for mastering "Los De Atras Vienen Conmigo" by Calle 13.
In 2011, The album "Entren Los Que Quieran" by Calle 13 was mastered by James Cruz and won a record setting 9 Latin Grammys including Album of the year.
Latin Grammy: Calle 13- Album Of The Year "Entren Los Que Quieran" 2011
Grammy: Calle 13- Best Latin Rock/Alt/Urban Album "Los De Atras Vienen Conmigo" 2009
Grammy: Mary Mary- Best Gospel Song "God In Me" 2009
Latin Grammy: Calle 13- Album Of The Year 2009 "Los De Atras Vienen Conmigo"
Grammy: Mary Mary- Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album "Thankful" 2000
Latin Grammy: Calle 13- Best Urban Music Album "Residente O Visitante" 2007
1. http://mixonline.com/recording/mastering/mastering-another-gray-area-1209/index.html
2. http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_hidden_sony_masters/index.html
3. http://www.prosoundnews.com/article/26688
4. http://www.zeitgeistsound.com
5. https://www.allmusic.com/artist/p321268
6. Recording Magazine, April, 2010
Calle 13 is a Puerto Rican alternative hip-hop band formed by stepbrothers Residente and Visitante, along with their half-sister iLe, also known as PG-13.
The Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year is an honor presented annually at the Latin Grammy Awards, a ceremony that recognizes excellence and creates a wider awareness of cultural diversity and contributions of Latin recording artists in the United States and internationally.The award is given to the performers, producers, audio engineers and mastering engineers for vocal or instrumental albums with 51 percent of new recorded songs. Albums of previously released recordings, such as reissues, compilations of old recordings and greatest hits albums packages are not eligible.Due to the increasing musical changes in the industry, from 2012 the category includes 10 nominees, according to a restructuration made by the academy for the four general categories: Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best New Artist and Album of the Year.Beginning in 2018, songwriters are eligible for the accolade if 33% of the playing time are composed by them.
White Lion Records is a reggaeton, Latin Music, Latín reggae and urbano record label established by Elías de León with the release of the album No Mercy by Daddy Yankee in 1995. The label would temporarily change its name to 'Boricua Guerrero' from 1996-2001 until reestablishing as White Lion Records with the releases of Maicol y Manuel's "Como En Los Tiempos De Antes" and the compilation "Planet Reggae" in 2002. As an independent label in 2003, it was selling over 100,000 copies of Tego Calderon's most recent album at the time; it soon after signed a distribution deal with Sony BMG.
The Latin Grammy Award for Best Urban Music Album is an honor presented annually at the Latin Grammy Awards, a ceremony that recognizes excellence and promotes a wider awareness of cultural diversity and contributions of Latin recording artists in the United States and internationally. According to the category description guide for the 13th Latin Grammy Awards, the award is for vocal or instrumental merengue house, R&B, reggaeton and rap music albums containing at least 51 percent playing time of newly recorded material. The award was first presented as the Best Rap/Hip-Hop Album until it received its current name, Best Urban Music Album, at the 5th Latin Grammy Awards ceremony in 2004.
Los de atrás vienen conmigo is the third studio album by Puerto Rican alternative hip hop band Calle 13 and was released on October 21, 2008 by Sony Music Latin. This album is a bit more colorful than the previous, although dark humor continues to be the tone. The album has a fusion of rhythms the band discovered during their visits to several countries. They fuse rhythms of 'cumbia villera' native to Argentina, and rhythms of Balkan music. The album features collaborations with Rubén Blades, Café Tacuba, and Afrobeta. It won Best Latin Rock, Alternative or Urban Album at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards and five Latin Grammys inclunding Album of the Year at the 10th Annual Latin Grammy Awards.
"Electro Movimiento" is the second single by Puerto Rican hip hop band Calle 13 from their third studio album Los de Atrás Vienen Conmigo and was released on September 23, 2008 by Sony BMG.
"No Hay Nadie Como Tú" is the first single by alternative-rap band Calle 13 taken from their third studio album Los de Atrás Vienen Conmigo, released on October 7, 2008 by Sony BMG. It features Mexican alternative rock group Café Tacuba. The single, a list song, is known for its mixture of different musical styles, typical of Calle 13's music. It's a blend of latin pop with rock and dance music. The song won the 2009 Latin Grammys for Record of the Year & Best Alternative Song.
"La Perla" is the third single by alternative rap band Calle 13 taken from their third studio album Los de Atrás Vienen Conmigo, released on April 9, 2009 by Sony BMG. The song is about the historical shanty town of the same name, located astride the northern historic city wall of the Old San Juan and features Panamanian salsa singer Rubén Blades and samba group La Chilinga. A music video was made and released for this song. Calle 13 and Ruben Blades performed the song at the Latin Grammy Awards for 2009.
René Pérez Joglar, known professionally as Residente, is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer, songwriter and filmmaker. He is best known as one of the founders of the alternative rap band Calle 13. Residente released five albums with Calle 13 before announcing his solo career in 2015. Residente released his debut solo album in 2017. He has won four Grammy Awards and 27 Latin Grammy Awards—more than any other Latin artist. Residente has also delved into producing documentaries including Sin Mapa (2009) and Residente (2017) and has directed some of his own music videos.
Eduardo José Cabra Martínez, better known by his stage name "Visitante Calle 13", "Visitante", or more recently, "Cabra" is a Puerto Rican producer, musician, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. He rose to fame due to the Puerto Rican band Calle 13, which he co-founded with his step brother René Pérez Joglar ("Residente").
Throughout the thirteen-year history of the Latin Grammy Awards, multiple records have been set. This page includes competitive awards only and does not include special awards such as Lifetime Achievement awards or any other non-competitive awards presented by the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences.
The 12th Annual Latin Grammy Awards was held on Thursday, November 10, 2011, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and was hosted by Lucero and Cristián de la Fuente. The eligibility period for recordings to be nominated is July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011. The show will be aired on Univision.
Entren Los Que Quieran is the fourth studio album by Puerto Rican hip hop band Calle 13, released on November 22, 2010. Recorded in the wake of controversial events surrounding the group, the album contains more political lyrical themes not discussed on previous Calle 13 releases. It also expands upon the musical experimentation demonstrated in the group's albums Residente o Visitante (2007) and Los de Atrás Vienen Conmigo (2008). The record's compositions feature various musical styles, including rock, ska, merengue, reggaeton, and Bollywood music.
The Latin Grammy Award for Best Folk Album is an honor presented annually at the Latin Grammy Awards, a ceremony that recognizes excellence and creates a wider awareness of cultural diversity and contributions of Latin recording artists in the United States and internationally. The award goes to solo artists, duos, or groups for releasing vocal or instrumental albums containing at least 51% of new recordings.
"Latinoamérica" is a song by Puerto Rican alternative hip hop band Calle 13. It was released on September 27, 2011 as the fifth single from their fourth studio album, Entren Los Que Quieran (2010). It was written and produced by Rafael Arcaute and Calle 13, and features additional vocals from other Latinoamerican recording artists. These artists include Peruvian Susana Baca, Colombian Totó la Momposina and Brazilian Maria Rita. The song won Record of the Year and Song of the Year in the Latin Grammy Awards of 2011. The song is important in that it touches on many underlying historical, social, and political themes present throughout Latin America.
Alejandro Santiago Ciena was a Latin Grammy Award-winner music video director. He was the director of the production company Crema Batida Films, and also has credits as a second unit director for the Puerto-Rican film Manuela y Manuel (2007). Santiago Ciena was best known for his work directing music videos for the Puerto-Rican band Calle 13; Santiago Ciena was the cousin of René Pérez (Residente), the band's lead singer. The first video he directed for the band was "Calma Pueblo", the lead single of Entren Los Que Quieran in 2010. The video presented Calle 13 as terrorists dressed as nuns and was deemed as "violent" by Judy Cantor-Navas of Billboard magazine. Santiago Ciena, commented about the concept of the video, which uses nudity as a representation of freedom: "We wanted the lyrics and the visuals to be strong... we wanted it to be real, but still have a positive message to the show the union of people who fight to produce art." The video was recorded in Milla de Oro, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and was intended as a tribute to the work of American photographer Spencer Tunick. Calle 13 and Santiago received the Latin Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video for "Calma Pueblo".
Multi_Viral is the fifth and final studio album from Puerto Rican band Calle 13, released on March 1, 2014. It marks the band's debut release via their new independent label, El Abismo, since they parted ways with Sony Music Latin. The album won Best Urban Music Album at the 15th Annual Latin Grammy Awards and Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album at 57th Annual Grammy Awards.
Rafael “Rafa” Arcaute, is an Argentine songwriter, record producer and recording engineer. He has worked with several Latin American artists including Luis Alberto Spinetta, Shakira, C Tangana, Nathy Peluso, Illya Kuryaki & The Valderramas, Calle 13, Christina Aguilera, Babasónicos and Andrés Calamaro. He has received eighteen Latin Grammy Awards, including two wins for Producer of the Year, and he has also won two American Grammys.
Edgardo Matta, professionally known as Mattatracks, is a two-time GRAMMY and a six-time Latin GRAMMY award-winning record producer, composer, and songwriter.