Yotuel Romero

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Yotuel Romero
Actor Yotuel Romero.jpg
Background information
Birth nameYotuel Omar Romero Manzanares
Born (1976-10-06) October 6, 1976 (age 47)
Origin Havana, Cuba
Genres Latin rap
Occupation(s)Singer, actor, model
Years active1996–present
Labels Sony Music

Yotuel Omar Romero Manzanares (born October 6, 1976), mononymously known as Yotuel, is a Cuban singer, actor, and current lead singer and co-writer of the 2003 Latin Grammy Award-winning Platinum album-selling rap group Orishas. Among other recordings, Emigrante won the 2003 Latin Grammy Award for Best Rap/Hip-Hop Album. This same album was also nominated for the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album.

Contents

Romero in Warszawa in September 2009 YotuelRomero20090915.jpg
Romero in Warszawa in September 2009

Life

Yotuel was born in Havana into an Afro-Cuban family. His name is a combination of three Spanish pronouns yo, tú and él (I, you, and he). His parents could not agree on a name so they decided to combine all 3 pronouns. He has developed a performing arts career and is a Cuban expatriate.

Career

Yotuel began performing rap music early in life. When he was 18 years old he got together with his friend Hiram Riveri (aka Ruzzo) and Joel Pando and all three started a rap group called Amenaza (Menace). Having any success as a rap artist in Cuba proved difficult so he also started acting in theatre and television and doing some modelling work. During the year 1996 Liván Nuñez, a Cuban singer who lived in France, visited Cuba and told the struggling Amenaza group about his interest in recording some songs with them. In 1997 they won the first prize in the 3rd edition of the underground Cuban Rap Music Awards, later on that year they would record a demo produced by X Alfonso. This first group had a very good acceptance and a lot of radio play in Cuba and some national television appearances in Cuba. From all this found fame they meet Petra Morales a representative of a French non-profit organization called ADHESIF, she liked their work so she arranged for them to travel to France from Cuba to do a cultural exchange program and to promote them outside Cuba.

While in France very few things were being done regarding the group, they had very few events and shows planned and it seemed that they did not agree with the same special requirements they had for them, one thing led to another and the band ended up homeless in the streets of Paris for about a month, they would eat at friends homes and back to sleeping in the Paris Métro.

There was already a strong rap music scene in Paris and they took advantage of this, they got together with Livan and the producer Niko Noki introduced them to another singer named Roldan at a club called Cupol and from that moment the group Orishas was born. Right away they started writing lyrics and musical themes for the demo that would later become their first album titled A Lo Cubano .

Since then Yotuel has not stopped working. He has worked on three television series La Casa de los Lios and Cuando Yo Sea Grande (Peruvian TV) and in Spain Un Paso Adelante. Movies include the features Color Habana and Perfecto Amor Equivocado and Chico Nuevo en la Ciudad . He has also starred in ad campaigns for Ducados and Havana Club. His work with Orishas went on with Emigrante (2002), El Kilo (2005), Antidiótico (2007), Cosita Buena (2008) and again with Gourmet (2018).

Besides being a singer, actor and a fashion model, Yotuel has also done work as a composer and record producer. He has worked as a record producer on two songs El rey de la pachanga and Distinto from the recordings Emigrante and El Kilo respectively. On 2019, Yotuel released the song "Insomnio" [1] after receiving images of the struggles that Cubans in the island were going through. [2] "Tell me if sleeping is easy for you, tell me if waking up is not the way out," sings the Cuban group Orishas in "Insomnia," a song composed by Yotuel.

In February 2021 the song "Patria y Vida" was released by Yotuel, Descemer Bueno, Gente de Zona, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Maykel Osorbo and DJ El Funky. It was composed by all of them and Beatriz Luengo. [3] The song became a hit and the slogan "Patria y Vida" ("Homeland and Life") was associated with the July 2021 Cuban protests. It is an inversion of the Cuban Revolution motto Patria o Muerte ("Homeland or Death"). [4] [5] [6] [7] The song and the artists, including Yotuel, were criticized in the Cuban mass media. [8] [9] It won the Latin Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Best Urban Song. [10]

In June 2021 the song "Juntos somos más" by Yotuel, Lara Álvarez and Beatriz Luengo was released as the anthem for the Spanish football team during 2020 UEFA European Football Championship that was postponed to summer 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. [11]

In September 2022, Yotuel teamed up with the department store Macy's to release a limited-edition capsule celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. [12]

Personal life

Yotuel Romero has a son, named Yotuelito (born in June 2000), from a previous relationship.

In September 2003, he started dating fellow Spanish actress and singer Beatriz Luengo. They both first met on the set of Un Paso Adelante earlier that same year. They secretly got married on 16 November 2008. Luengo gave birth to their son, named Angelo, on 20 August 2015. In December 2020, the couple announced that Luengo is five months pregnant with their second child together, a baby girl. Luengo gave to their girl, named Zoë, on 11 April 2021.

Filmography

Perfecto Amor Equivocado (2004) aka Love by Mistake (USA) as Leoncio

Television

Un Paso Adelante (2002–2005) TV Series (2003–2004) as Pavel

Discography

Singles

Related Research Articles

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Orishas are a Cuban hip hop group from Havana, Cuba, founded in 1999. The group was first called "Amenaza", "threat" or "menace" in Spanish, and appealed to the Cuban youth. The choice of this name for the hip hop group is a way of creating a direct link between this band and the African diaspora. The group is based in France where they made a deal with a record company, although they visit Cuba frequently. In 1999 Fidel Castro threw a party for them and had a meeting with all the musicians. It was the first time the Cuban government showed support for hip hop music. The group was and still is popular in Europe and Latin America. Yotuel Romero and Ruzzo Medina, who moved from Havana to Paris as part of an international studies program, joined Roldán González and Flaco-Pro to form the band in 1999. Their work is influenced by the hip hop movement as well as Cuban and other Latin rhythms. As of October 2009, they had produced a total of five studio albums and a greatest hits album; their latest album is Gourmet. In 2009 they participated in the concert Paz Sin Fronteras II in Plaza de la Revolución, Havana, Cuba. Orishas reunited to record new material in 2016.

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References

  1. ↑ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine : "Orishas - Insomnio (Video Oficial)". YouTube .
  2. ↑ ""Me quitan el sueño" la escasez y la pobreza de Cuba, dice Yotuel de Orishas".
  3. ↑ "Descemer Bueno crea discordia al publicar la división de regalías de "Patria y Vida"". May 5, 2021.
  4. ↑ Chappell, Bill (July 13, 2021). "The Hip-Hop Song That's Driving Cuba's Unprecedented Protests". NPR.org . Retrieved July 13, 2021.
  5. ↑ Cassady, Daniel (July 12, 2021). "'Patria y Vida': anti-government protests sweep Cuba, as artist-led movement gains ground". The Art Newspaper . Retrieved July 13, 2021.
  6. ↑ San Martín, Nancy; Whitefield, Mimi (July 13, 2021). "'Your evil revolution': How a reggaeton anthem inspired Cuba protests". National Geographic . Retrieved July 13, 2021.
  7. ↑ "'Patria y Vida': la canción que enfurece y hace temblar a la dictadura de Cuba". Infobae (in Spanish). February 18, 2021. Retrieved July 13, 2021.Janetsky, Megan (July 13, 2021). "'Patria y Vida' — Homeland and Life — Watchwords in Cuba's Protests". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved July 18, 2021.
  8. ↑ "Fidel: ¡Vida para ustedes es la que queremos! (+Video)". February 20, 2021.
  9. ↑ "Los insultos que han recibido Yotuel Romero, Gente de Zona y Descemer Bueno por 'Patria y vida', la canción que ha irritado al Gobierno cubano". February 23, 2021.
  10. ↑ Flores, Griselda; Cobo, Leila (November 19, 2021). "Camilo Is Top Winner, Cuban Anthem 'Patria y Vida' Wins Song of the Year at 2021 Latin Grammys: Winners List". Billboard. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  11. ↑ "UEFA postpones Euro 2020 by 12 months". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. March 17, 2020. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  12. ↑ Roiz, Jessica (September 15, 2022). "Yotuel Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month With Limited-Edition Capsule at Macy's". Billboard. Retrieved September 15, 2022.

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