"I grew up surrounded by all types of music...You have to remember, Panama is a port so I always had contact with all types of music—from the big bands of Count Basie to all the Cuban bands of people like Benny Moré."
Rubén Blades Bellido de Luna, known professionally as Rubén Blades, is a Panamanian musician, singer, composer, actor, activist, and politician, performing musically most often in the salsa, and Latin jazz genres. As a songwriter, Blades brought the lyrical sophistication of Central American nueva canción and Cuban nueva trova as well as experimental tempos and politically inspired Son Cubano sals
"I like to think of it as like watching The Godfather...You might have seen it 1,000 times, but when it comes on it makes you stop. Each time you see it, you find something different. That’s what I want people to get from my music."
"The bully got bullied...and that was happening in all levels of society: governments were treating people badly, authorities were not doing what they were supposed to do and people saw in that example, a way of getting even."
"Theres a moment in everybodys life...where you have more past than future, and then you better start organizing your time. So I thought maybe this is the time to do this. Im not keen on people following me and recording my life and asking personal questions and what-not, but I figured I had to do it."