His vocal power became one of the defining characteristics of the artist Huey Dunbar when his name began to sound as one of the favorites in music in the 1990s. First as part of the group DLG (Dark Latin Groove) and then in his solo career.
Almost three decades after those beginnings, hits like “Yo si me enamoré,” “Volveré,” “No will die” and “I want to die” are just a few that audiences remember with nostalgia and still love is his favorite.
When talking to the singer, memories inevitably come up. Also share your musical plans and your gratitude for the affection that you still enjoy and that you receive at your musical performances, on the street and through social networks.
“I’m so happy that I don’t have a new song on the radio right now, but I can travel because I’ve traveled this month and other months too, and they remember me,” he said in a telephone interview from Miami, Florida, where he has lived for two years. years with his wife, the Paraguayan artist Noemí Amarilla, whom he married in 2009, and with his four-year-old twins (a girl and a boy).
“I’m blessed to have people’s acceptance given the few albums available on the market,” added the singer, who has a Jamaican father and a Puerto Rican mother, who worked on the release of the 1980s classic “De mi enamorate.” is working.
During the conversation, pride in his Puerto Rican heritage comes to the fore.
“There are memories I have from Puerto Rico that are professional in nature, but also others that are more family-related. My grandparents who lived up there in Lares, in Mijan,” he recalled, confessing that he had not visited the island for more than a decade.
His calendar includes presentations in Latin America and the United States, where he has lived his entire life. Days are also scheduled to work in the studio on new songs for the release of an upcoming album.
“The new album that is coming will be my seventh,” said the composer, also referring to the three that were released in his time on the DLG and the three as a soloist. Although he makes it clear that he is still considering a release date, he announced that it will feature fusions of salsa and urban electronic rhythms, as well as lyrics that subtly capture the experience of romance.
“There is a way of talking about sex and everything that can be direct,” he observed, referring to the trend of recent years, especially in the urban genre. “But for me, the music I listened to growing up had a way of speaking, not necessarily with elegance, but a way of speaking with poetry, of ‘I want to be with you,’ and in English. When I got into the Latin market, I was still learning that, the way and the depth with which you can paint sentences in Spanish. I saw it was a different level.”
Eustace Abu Sad Dunbar Rodríguez’s love of music manifested itself in his childhood when he grew up in New York.
“I never took music lessons. The closest I got to music class was when I was in public school because I sang a lot and the teacher said, “You have to go to choir,” and they put me in choir class. “I tried to go to the High School of Performing Arts and stuff like that, but my problem is that I have ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and I have a problem learning things,” he confessed, which posed a challenge their schoolwork. “I was born on May 15, 1974 and at that time there weren’t many programs in New York to help children in this way. Sometimes I didn’t study for some exams and passed them, but I did poorly in other subjects, but music was always number one for me.”
Opportunities presented themselves that led him to work with award-winning record producer Sergio George. A cultural identity helped him embrace his Caribbean roots.
“My experience was so different: as a Puerto Rican because I don’t speak much Spanish, because I didn’t listen to much salsa, as a Jamaican because I lived in Harlem. I grew up thinking that I was half black, you know? In my head I was thinking more about blacks than Latinos. It’s different at the moment. “I understand that I am Afro-Latino,” said the person, who learned Spanish as an adult. “But before I met Sergio George, who started recording New York-style salsa music, black, Puerto Rican, that helped me evolve, feel more complete as an artist and also be more connected to my culture on both sides . “I think it is important to understand who you are to offer a product and that has given me the confidence to do everything I do,” the interpreter added.
Under the guidance of Sergio George, he worked in choirs for various projects including Songs for India. “Sergio was my mentor for what I do.”
The opportunity to be part of the DLG group together with James “Da’ Barba” de Jesús and Wilfredo Crispín arose in the mid-1990s. The band was known for their fusion of salsa, hip hop, reggae and R&B. The first record production of the same name won a Billboard International Latin Music Award for Tropical Salsa Album of the Year. Huey Dunbar began to leave his mark with his interpretative strengths, which he expressed in hits such as “No will die” and “Todo mi corazón”, among others. His work was highlighted with the record productions Swing On (1997) and Gotcha! continued. (1999).
“There were three albums with the group. It was supposed to be the only album with DLG and the second album for Huey was supposed to be the solo album. But no one wanted me to leave the group. But the group was founded so that I could be a soloist. It was a problem and a blessing because it was my university,” he reflected.
Yo si me enamoré is the title of the album with which he began his solo musical career in 2002. At this time he was exploring genres such as Latin pop, bolero and ballads. The production was followed by Music for my Peoples (2003) and Huey Dunbar IV (2010).
Although he hasn’t released an album in more than a decade, his connection to music has remained latent. “I write a lot of music, I compose, I do a lot of collaborations, but I was looking for my own way to establish myself. “I just started my own record label,” he said excitedly, sharing details about his next album, which he has been working on for years.
“I made the first single produced by me, my sauce, my style, 100% produced by Huey Dunbar. I recorded all the musicians and everything in California in a studio I had in one room. “I am very happy,” he said with great enthusiasm. “I am responsible for everything,” he repeated proudly.
On a personal level, he admitted that he fully enjoyed raising his twins, a dynamic different from when he became a father in the 1990s to Justin and Jered, the product of a previous relationship.
“I was traveling with my first two children and I was also in the process of breaking away from the relationship. They grew up without their father. That was something that always touched me. I had so much success, so much traveling, so many presentations and so on, and I wasn’t feeling well. “That was a great pain for me,” he complained, emphasizing that he currently maintains a very good relationship with both of them.
“I didn’t live with their mother (the two eldest). For example, now that I’m with the kids every day, I understand when my two kids want me to come (into the room) to say “Goodnight, Dad.” Now to feel this experience, to experience these emotions again, but in a double sense, is wonderful.”