When he was hit, he was Robi Rosa. He emerged as a new member of the group Menudo in 1984 and became a leading voice in the group’s transition to the Anglo-Saxon market. Because he was fluent in English due to his New York background, he contributed his voice to the songs “Hold Me” and “Like a Cannonball,” which were hits for the group in the United States.
Forty years later the time has come Draco Pink, but the mischievous smile that won him fans and, above all, his passion for music remains. The difference is that now it freely creates and consumes it, always trying to keep it growing.
“I will make music until my last breath, but I don’t know what will happen next.” said. And he doesn’t know it, because he likes the uncertainty, the possibility of creating something new, not the repetition, and that’s something he constantly struggles with in his roles as producer, composer and performer. “I always have been cross with repetition, because I have lived the life of a painter and although it is music, I have done it for myself and it is already done. The idea that I have to do a piece, the idea that I have to reach every country and repeat that piece he does not do it. I even had a time when I was depressed, so I do covers to stay emotionally healthy.”
I always had my reservations about the idea of business, pushing one thing aside, because I love doing new things and life is short and my mortality is always ahead of me. So when I make decisions, I make more adventurous decisions.”
-Draco Rosa, producer, composer and performer
Draco Rosa reflects on his relationship with music at a time when there is a lot going on around him. He spoke to this newspaper from an industrial room, D11 engine workswhere he combines several of his passions: motorcycles, old cars, tattoos, coffee and music.
“For some time now I have been meeting with several friends who specialize in certain areas and are fascinated by the subject of motorcycles, cars, tattoos, so you go here and there to visit a friend and as part of this inspiration and During these conversations we made the “decision to use this space to bring everything under one roof and, above all, to create a community,” he shared from a corner in the tattoo shop decorated with vintage elements.
This new workshop will also have a takeaway food area and a store, which is scheduled to be completed by 2024. “It’s nice, it’s a destination, we have another space that we can continue to create,” he said. “My dad typed, and I remember being in Ponce as a kid and being fascinated to see it.”
He expected it to include songs from the beginning of his musical career to the present. (Nahira Montcourt)In parallel with the development of this meeting point in the waterfront area of Kennedy Avenue in San Juan, Draco Rosa (54) is preparing to celebrate his four decades of musical career at the “Mysticus” concert this Saturday at the Coliseum of Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot. He expects it will include versions of songs he performed during his time with Menudo, songs he produced or composed for Ednita Nazario and Ricky Martin, as well as a wide selection of his hits, from Frío to the present with the vinyl album Life After Vida. which is released this week and whose content is mainly what happened live during the Vida concert (2013) in the same Colosseum.
“Yes, there are some moments in the show where I will perform a few Menudo pieces, and when I say Menudo, they are not the Menudo classics, but Robi Rosa within Menudo, that was a moment when “We went to the United States and a song like “Hold Me” was presented, a song like “(Like a) Cannonball,” he explained. “I’ve had to make some serious adjustments (laughs) but we’re going to have a good time. I’m having fun, it’s an interesting review and I thank the people close to me who said, ‘Look, it’s 40 years, why don’t you do this…’ and I said, ‘Let’s do it.'”
In the concert’s creative process, he returned to the origins of many of the songs he composed or produced. He said, for example, that he initially didn’t like the ballad Vuelve, but both he and former manager Ángelo Medina believed in the lyrics’ potential.
“Ángelo Medina and I thought: This song has something, it has something, it has something, and we got our hands on it and it was a super hit. So it’s celebrating the side of the coin that is coming up with great things like “You Know Well” and not being the author, but at the same time singing “Greater than Great,” which is my co-authorship. “It’s that kind of show,” he said. “There are many about Ricky and I don’t do all of them, I make a selection of the ones whose processes are also deep in my heart because it was a nice time.”
He warned that he would not be able to play the guitar this time. Although he is in good health, he indicated that he is “getting the problems under control,” specifically in his hands. “I don’t know if it’s dystonia in the hand muscles,” he commented, which has been treated with therapies in India and locally.
It’s been 40 years, I don’t look at it much because I feel like remembering means suffering. Living means being alive in the moment. There are many relatives who tell me: “To remember is to live”, and I tell them: “You are completely wrong”, because you will always say: “It used to be better”, and before, and before, and before us I don’t know how nice it is to say: “I’m alive today”
-Draco Rosa, artist
Music is his life. He remains present but is very versatile in what he listens to. The same is his image, sometimes rock and roll and sometimes more spiritual… or the combination.
“Music is still my everyday life, I always have some music with me. I often feel like a lot of people grab flags in music; I’m from that side like they’re a team, tribes, I don’t consume music like that. The music is impressive and I consume good music from Brazil, from Africa, wherever it comes from and I come from a time where there was wisdom in the songs. Growing up, I learned about great writers by listening to a song. Today that no longer exists.”he emphasized.
As part of the art world, Revel and Redamo Rosa’s father feels unable to criticize other artists’ work – for better or worse. Maybe I’ll do it when I’m 80 years old. However, he celebrates the achievements of his Puerto Rican colleagues without praising them, even when he really doesn’t like the work they do.
“All these (musical) hits, which in my opinion are not very good in content or are of very low quality, mediocre or even terribly terrible, are like a tribute to the Kardashians, who are a disaster for women.”“They represent the worst for women and on top of that the system celebrates what is the worst,” she said.
I know what a woman is, she is a big inspiration in my life. “I am a romantic man, I was married for many years, now divorced and I know what a woman is.”
-Draco Rosa, singer-songwriter and producer
After his health was compromised due to cancer (2011), everything in his life changed. “I am a different person”, he claimed. Because of this, he finds it difficult to keep up with the pace dictated by the music industry, as he has already passed the whirlwind (and demands) phase of success, and although he is willing to collaborate with other artists, he would do Do this as long as it doesn’t affect a project or just what makes you happy. This can be anything from sanding a table on his farm in Utuado to taking a motorboat ride with his father.
“There’s something about being tall, being pretty, being happy, that’s so personal and no one is going to define it for me.”said the musician, multiple Grammy and Latin Grammy award winner. “I want to grow with music. “Devoting time to music where I can’t develop myself, I’m sorry, I find it boring, stupid, the idiot’s way.”
The concert that he will present this Saturday is unique. That doesn’t preclude him modifying it to take it with him on a tour he was invited to next year. “I have the desire and rush to travel now that there are no rules (due to the pandemic).”
57 photos The Puerto Rican singer-songwriter is one of the most versatile and renowned musicians that Latin American music has produced.