Speaker 1: Dear Latino USA listener.
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Speaker 1: Let's go to the.
Speaker 2: Show, or Latino USA listener, I want to tell you
Speaker 2: about a new show from Futuro Studios that we just
Speaker 2: launched with iHeartRadio. It's called We Excited with Maria Garcia.
Speaker 2: It's a really fun video podcast where Maria dives into
Speaker 2: pop culture moments from the present in the past, and
Speaker 2: then she tells us what these moments reveal about ourselves.
Speaker 2: And you know, Maria loves pop culture. You probably remember
Speaker 2: her previous podcast series Anything for Selena about the Tejano
Speaker 2: singer Selena Kintanilla, and also the podcast My Devo about
Speaker 2: Mexican musical icon Juan Gavilla. Well, this time Maria Garcia
Speaker 2: is back to reflect on topics like why did the
Speaker 2: power couple of Mariah Carey and Lis Migul not work out?
Speaker 2: Or why do many people, especially Latinas yearn for Shakida's
Speaker 2: Black Hair to make a comeback. Well, today we want
Speaker 2: to share with you the very first episode of Muyi Excited.
Speaker 2: It's about the one and only Ricky Martin. Here's Maria
Speaker 2: with the first episode of Mui Excited, Enjoy.
Speaker 1: I want to tell you about a moment earlier this year.
Speaker 1: I was at my friend Ruby's house. We were gathered
Speaker 1: to watch the Benito Bowl. Apparently there's some sort of
Speaker 1: sporting event happening at the same time, but we were sat
Speaker 1: for Benito Antonio Martinez, oh Gassio. Okay, Well, we weren't
Speaker 1: exactly sad because all of us adults were standing in
Speaker 1: a semi circle, entranced by the magic of Bad Bunny's
Speaker 1: performance that starred in the sugarcane fields, all the Latino venders,
Speaker 1: the actual wedding. It was the joy, the nourishment we
Speaker 1: needed at the time. And then we see him dressed
Speaker 1: in all white, his voice firm and smooth. It is
Speaker 1: the one and only Ricky Martin singing arguably one of
Speaker 1: the most political anti colonial anthems of Bad Bunny's catalog,
Speaker 1: Loke Hawaii a quie against statehood for Puerto Rico and
Speaker 1: I am in awe of this moment. I know immediately
Speaker 1: the potency of the symbolism. Here, here is the artist
Speaker 1: who most represents what some people called the Latin boom
Speaker 1: in the late nineties, the moment in history when US
Speaker 1: audiences were suddenly like, oh gosh, darn, look at these
Speaker 1: fiery Latins. They exist. And now, about two and a
Speaker 1: half decades later, Ricky Martin stands before us, not performing
Speaker 1: in English to a white audience for recognition or acceptance. No,
Speaker 1: he stands before us, singing a song of resistance in Spanish.
Speaker 1: And I stand there acutely aware that I would remember
Speaker 1: this moment for decades to come, that this was a
Speaker 1: Touchstowe moment, not only for the long storied arc of
Speaker 1: Ricky's career, but for the complicated narrative of Latino belonging
Speaker 1: in the United States. And then my trance is interrupted
Speaker 1: by the choir of boys behind me. Who is that?
Speaker 1: Yells my eleven year old son and his two best friends,
Speaker 1: And then all three of us moms turn around and yell,
Speaker 1: what do you mean that's Ricky Martin? And the three
Speaker 1: preteens say, who's Ricky Martin? And then I realize I
Speaker 1: have failed my child. He has grown up knowing about
Speaker 1: Juangareel de Carleon, Selena, Prince, Kate Bush, and so many
Speaker 1: musical icons who paved away. But I have done him
Speaker 1: a disservice by not teaching him about the man who
Speaker 1: had to live a vida loca so bad Bunny could do.
Speaker 1: And I'm going to be honest, I feel that I
Speaker 1: have also failed myself because I've written a lot about
Speaker 1: the late nineties Latin boom, which that term is sillly,
Speaker 1: and we're going to talk about how even Ricky knew
Speaker 1: it was a weird concept way back when. But anyway,
Speaker 1: I have written a lot about this historic moment, but
Speaker 1: I have very on Brad centered the diva of the moment,
Speaker 1: jay Lo, Shaquidra, the og predecessor, Selina, and I have
Speaker 1: mentioned Ricky, but I have never gone deep on what
Speaker 1: he meant. Betro Yeah, no more. I'm gonna do right
Speaker 1: by my son, by all of y'all out there who
Speaker 1: may not know, or who may have forgotten, just how
Speaker 1: much this man did for the culture. Because let me
Speaker 1: tell you, whether you are Latino or queer, or just
Speaker 1: someone who is trying to live more authentically you have
Speaker 1: something to glean from Ricky Martin's life and legacy. This
Speaker 1: man was out here figuring things out on his own,
Speaker 1: surviving child's stardom.
Speaker 3: I want to talk to you because you are the
Speaker 3: cutest thing I have.
Speaker 1: Seen being fetishized by American media.
Speaker 4: You can call the Puerto Rican el and you.
Speaker 1: Can understand why scrutinize obsessively about his sexuality.
Speaker 5: And with you, there have been and the rumors that
Speaker 5: question I'll talk about your sexual orientation. You must be
Speaker 5: aware of Bason, of course.
Speaker 1: And ultimately he stayed true to himself, to his roots,
Speaker 1: to his integrity. So let's fucking go. This one's for
Speaker 1: Ricky Martin. This is morely Excited, the show where we
Speaker 1: explore cultural moments of the past and present today, the
Speaker 1: meaning of Ricky Martin's evolution.
Speaker 3: In the tradition of radio classics. Here in Tails of
Speaker 3: the Night are the stories, horrors, and legends that inhabit
Speaker 3: the streets of Mexico and liber America. The darkness of
Speaker 3: the most successful and acclaimed horror podcast across all categories
Speaker 3: in Latin America looms over you now. In English, Tales
Speaker 3: of the Night, You're in now, but be warned, because
Speaker 3: in the Silence of the Dog, you might just become
Speaker 3: the next protagonist of Tales of the Night. Listen to
Speaker 3: Tales of the Night wherever you get podcasts.
Speaker 1: Enrique Ricky Martin Morales was born on December twenty fourth,
Speaker 1: nineteen seventy one, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His mother
Speaker 1: was an accountant, his father a psychologist, and by the
Speaker 1: early eighties he stars in commercials for Orange Crush soda
Speaker 1: and for Burger King. I encourage you to watch this
Speaker 1: episode on YouTube so you can see how sweet he
Speaker 1: looks in nineteen eighty for when Ricky is twelve years
Speaker 1: old he joins boy band Menudo. He is teeny tiny
Speaker 1: when he joins the boy band, which is like a
Speaker 1: Latin American Jackson five. We cannot gloss over Menudo. They
Speaker 1: were huge. Their fandom was very Beatlemania esque, with mostly
Speaker 1: young girls screaming franetically anytime they were close to the
Speaker 1: boy band. Manuda was such a cultural phenomenon that the
Speaker 1: band is seared into people's most formative memories. Here's my
Speaker 1: friend and La Brega editor Lauda Bettis and Puerto Rico,
Speaker 1: who remembers when Ricky was introduced in the band.
Speaker 4: I was three years old, and I remember vividly not
Speaker 4: only watching him, but what I felt, how it felt,
Speaker 4: it was so exciting, and how I thought he was
Speaker 4: the most beautiful boy.
Speaker 1: You can see the frenzy when the band, including newly
Speaker 1: integrated Little Ricky, was a guest on one of Oprah's
Speaker 1: early TV shows. I want to talk to.
Speaker 3: You because you are the cutest thing I have sued.
Speaker 4: When you first knew that.
Speaker 1: You were going to be picked to be in this group,
Speaker 1: what did you do to go home and celebrate? Well,
Speaker 1: all my parents, two of my family.
Speaker 4: Yes, listen, don't purr back there. We gotta hear her,
Speaker 4: all your family.
Speaker 1: Ricky's hair is perfectly corved with layered strands raining his
Speaker 1: little face, and he looks dowie, earnest, maybe a little nervous.
Speaker 1: His English still a bit halting and disco fight.
Speaker 2: You went to a disco.
Speaker 5: Hardy after that?
Speaker 1: Oh, a disco party. Now, twelve year old Ricky doesn't
Speaker 1: just join a boy band when he joins Menudo, he
Speaker 1: joins a strict, very regimented machine with a strategy on youth.
Speaker 1: Every member of Menuda was cycled out once they were
Speaker 1: sixteen or seventeen, when their voice is changed or they
Speaker 1: got facial hair. Menudo was a chronic youth group, but
Speaker 1: with the responsibilities and pressures of adults. Many years after
Speaker 1: Ricky's tenure in Manudo, other band members will say the
Speaker 1: band was riddled with abuse and untenable pressure, but Ricky
Speaker 1: has never said anything negative about Manudo on record. In fact,
Speaker 1: in the late nineties, he tells Rosie O'Donnell Manudo provided
Speaker 1: him with preparation.
Speaker 3: Manuda was great.
Speaker 2: I mean five years of intense discipline of working a lot.
Speaker 2: You know, if I had to start all over again,
Speaker 2: I would do it because I guess I'm where I'm
Speaker 2: at today because of the discipline that I got being
Speaker 2: in a.
Speaker 4: Band like this.
Speaker 1: So this is his entire adolescence. He sings in Spanish
Speaker 1: and English and French and Portuguese. He turns on the
Speaker 1: charm and he is great at it. Other band members
Speaker 1: have said Ricky was like the golden boy of Menudo,
Speaker 1: and this is his life until seventeen years old, when
Speaker 1: he inevitably ages out of the boy band. A couple
Speaker 1: years later, he puts out his first solo record in Spanish,
Speaker 1: self titled Ricky Martin. We're gonna include this video in
Speaker 1: our show notes so you can take a look at
Speaker 1: Ricky with his perfectly wavy beach locks, with an Adonis fysique,
Speaker 1: shirtless with only a sleeveless open black vest hanging over
Speaker 1: his shoulders and a big silver Gothic cross on his
Speaker 1: glistening chest. He's wearing wide like black jeans with a
Speaker 1: big belt buckle, and he is swaying those hips smiling
Speaker 1: at the crowd. Honey, he is giving hot vampire muse Okay,
Speaker 1: like the vampire less Scott would want to spend eternity
Speaker 1: with this man. Look, there's a lot to say about
Speaker 1: Ricky Martin's character and his kind heart and his long career,
Speaker 1: and we're gonna get to all of that, but Babe,
Speaker 1: we gotta take a moment to just state the obvious.
Speaker 1: This man is absolutely gorgeous. Not to be weird. There
Speaker 1: are beautiful people out there, and then there are beautiful people,
Speaker 1: and he is beautiful in capital letters. Gon mucho respeto
Speaker 1: with love and admiration from my queer heart. You know,
Speaker 1: for me, Ricky was always in the background, and I
Speaker 1: grew up knowing he was massively successful and beautiful. But
Speaker 1: I feel like I took him for granted. You know,
Speaker 1: I was too obsessed with the divas, just you know,
Speaker 1: not realizing how gay I was. But when I spent
Speaker 1: hours going through archival videos of him for this episode,
Speaker 1: I was like, Oh, my goodness, this is a once
Speaker 1: in a generation of beauty. This is the kind of
Speaker 1: man who'd made to find bus and sculptures of had
Speaker 1: he lived in Grecian times. So I could not do
Speaker 1: one episode on Ricky Martin without a proper acknowledgment of
Speaker 1: his beauty. Anyway, Ricky's first album is a major success
Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety one. It's one of the highest debuts
Speaker 1: for a Latin artist under Sony, and at this point
Speaker 1: he's on a roll. His second album, Skyrock, is to
Speaker 1: the top of the Latin charts, and he soon named
Speaker 1: Top New Latin Artist at the nineteen ninety three Billboard
Speaker 1: Music Awards. He then ventures into acting, does a sitcom
Speaker 1: role in English here.
Speaker 3: Huh, I brought you this of You?
Speaker 1: And then no big deal. He lands a regular character
Speaker 1: on General Hospital, one of the biggest soaps in the
Speaker 1: United States. He plays a singer named Miel Morris.
Speaker 2: I just found out a friend of mine as ages
Speaker 2: and uses satiny deeply.
Speaker 1: By the way, Ricky Leader says he hated going to
Speaker 1: the general hospital set he doesn't feel comfortable. Remember this
Speaker 1: is nineteen ninety four nineteen ninety six. Our man is
Speaker 1: often the only Latino in the room. I imagine it slonely.
Speaker 1: So he returns to his love of music and he
Speaker 1: releases his third album with a chart topper Maria. For
Speaker 1: all of you young ones watching, who they think, Oh
Speaker 1: this is Senyora music, Babe, let me school you a little, okay.
Speaker 1: First of all, Senoras are cool, okay. Second, this song
Speaker 1: fuse together Flamenco, salsa, dance and Afro Caribbean rhythms. Was
Speaker 1: there at the time an industry push to use some
Speaker 1: of these sounds in Latin music. Yes, but I also
Speaker 1: think ar Brimo Ricky Martin was out here evolving the
Speaker 1: pop song formula. This song is everywhere, and I think
Speaker 1: seeing Ricky become an international hit while being so legible
Speaker 1: as a Latino meant a lot to people. Here's futuro
Speaker 1: producer and hardcore Ricky Martin fan Gini Montalvo, who was
Speaker 1: growing up in Georgia when this song came.
Speaker 3: Out Go Ahead. I just remember that song like blew
Speaker 3: my mind because I was discovering my Latinidad, also as
Speaker 3: a teenager having grow up in the most non Latino place.
Speaker 4: On the planet, and God, that song just meant everything
Speaker 4: to me.
Speaker 1: Maria also solidified Ricky Martin not just as a beloved
Speaker 1: Latin American star, but a global pop king in the making.
Speaker 1: And then, because he can and he's a man of
Speaker 1: many talents, he's like, Okay, I'm gonna try Broadway now,
Speaker 1: and he plays a lead role Marius Pontmerci in Le Miserrab.
Speaker 1: After Le miss Is when things get really cooking, Ricky
Speaker 1: returns to the studio for his fourth album, Vuelve, which
Speaker 1: lands him a Grammy nomination. And I'm not talking about
Speaker 1: a Latin Grammy. This was before the Latin Grammys ever existed.
Speaker 1: I'm talking mainstream English Grammys. Ricky Martin is set to
Speaker 1: perform at the award in nineteen ninety nine. Actually, he's
Speaker 1: going to sing the Cup of Life, his FIFA World
Speaker 1: Cup song, which by the way, has been hailed as
Speaker 1: the best World Cup anthem of all time, and he
Speaker 1: absolutely devours Oh I can't play the song here but
Speaker 1: I have a video about it on my Instagram. Maria
Speaker 1: is mo way excited with underscores between every word. This
Speaker 1: is a historic performance. The music industry, including the Grammys themselves,
Speaker 1: officially recognize this moment as the defining event that ushers
Speaker 1: in what people call the so called Latin Boom. I
Speaker 1: really can't overstate what a momentous performance this is. I
Speaker 1: ask Puturo Senior producer and Ricky Martin Loyo Fancini Montalvo
Speaker 1: again to describe what it was like watching this on TV.
Speaker 3: Like, I literally I remember standing in my living watching
Speaker 3: as these like it looked on Bonus like came down
Speaker 3: the aisles at the Gringo Grammys.
Speaker 2: This was before the Latin Grammys, the last year before
Speaker 2: the Latin Grammys were inaugurated, and like people were so excited.
Speaker 1: So naturally we get to the era of Ricky Martin.
Speaker 1: You probably remember when he was living La Vida Loca
Speaker 1: and becomes the first Latino to debut a song at
Speaker 1: number one on the US Billboard two hundred charts. He
Speaker 1: draws the largest crowd in the history of the Today Show.
Speaker 1: Up to that point, you've recalled the Puerto Rican Elvis
Speaker 1: and you can understand why he's proud. All graming is
Speaker 1: when the boat we gathered, when Elvis Presley would.
Speaker 5: Goada die on the green and probably with the Beatles.
Speaker 1: Ricky appears on the cover of Time Magazine and Rolling
Speaker 1: Stone and also New York Magazine, Interview Magazine, People, Team, People,
Speaker 1: and Entertainment Magazine and Ricky Mania is real. Here he
Speaker 1: is on the Rose O'Donnell show the day his English
Speaker 1: album releases.
Speaker 3: I've recorded in many languages, but come on English, it's
Speaker 3: so important. And then let me tell you something.
Speaker 4: America is in love.
Speaker 1: With you, right, that's important. I want you to remember
Speaker 1: that Ricky saying how essential it is to sing in English.
Speaker 1: But let's get something clear. Even at the height of
Speaker 1: English Ricky mania, he is adamant. He'll never abandon Spanish.
Speaker 1: Here's Ricky with Jay Leno.
Speaker 2: I will not stop singing in Spanish.
Speaker 1: Better now that he is considered a pop star in
Speaker 1: the United States. While American journalists start prying into some
Speaker 1: rumors about Ricky.
Speaker 5: You know you could stop. You could say, as many
Speaker 5: artists have, Yes, I am gay.
Speaker 1: We'll be right back with guess what another Quinn when
Speaker 1: she interview from the two thousands and also the not
Speaker 1: cringey way. Ricky Martin responds and rises, it is the
Speaker 1: year two thousand, a year we love on the show,
Speaker 1: and Ricky Martin releases his second English album, Sound Loaded,
Speaker 1: with a hit lead single, she Bangs. We need a
Speaker 1: moment to talk about this video. The premise is hot
Speaker 1: Horny Underwater Club, and it starts with some really fine
Speaker 1: octopus men, no, literally half naked men with cgi octopus tentacles.
Speaker 1: Most everyone in the video is half naked, actually kind
Speaker 1: of twerking. There's some girl on girl grinding. Almost everyone
Speaker 1: has a certain look on their face, lip half raised,
Speaker 1: looking a little feral. At one point point, Ricky is
Speaker 1: laying down with his shirt open, with various hands rubbing
Speaker 1: his body, his blue jeans unbuttoned, and he's making all
Speaker 1: kinds of faces. I can't play you the music in
Speaker 1: this episode because of copyright laws, but if you follow
Speaker 1: me on Instagram, I have a real showing you this
Speaker 1: risky video and explaining why I think it's the predecessor
Speaker 1: of a certain bad bunny song I met Maria is
Speaker 1: we excited on Instagram with underscores between each word. Anyway,
Speaker 1: the conventional thinking of this time is that artists have
Speaker 1: to cross over to the English market. No one in
Speaker 1: this era, or at least that I can remember, really
Speaker 1: challenge this notion in a big way. And you know,
Speaker 1: it's very clear that Ricky is treated by US media
Speaker 1: as a sort of hot Latin lover trope. But you know,
Speaker 1: when I see she bangs, I don't see a Latino
Speaker 1: artist necessarily pandering to a trope. I think that would
Speaker 1: be a lazy take. Is there maybe some artistic engineering
Speaker 1: around his image? Like does his team maybe play up
Speaker 1: his strengths, I e. He's beautiful and sexy and an
Speaker 1: amazing dancer and creating this really exciting fusion music. Yes,
Speaker 1: does US media then take all this and play into
Speaker 1: a trope? Also? Yes, Billboard magazine called him a hot Tamali,
Speaker 1: which Tamalis are Mexican and also the singular of tamales
Speaker 1: is tamal. A grammatical hill. I will die on a
Speaker 1: personal pet peeve of mine, But anyway, grammatically incorrect cliches aside,
Speaker 1: The coverage around Ricky feels charged at this time, in
Speaker 1: most notably a now infamous interview also from two thousand and.
Speaker 5: With you, there have been the rumors that question, I'll
Speaker 5: talk about your sexual orientation. You must be aware of biggers.
Speaker 1: M of course, when Barbara Walters tries to make him
Speaker 1: come out.
Speaker 5: You know you could stop. You could say, as many
Speaker 5: artists have, yes I am gay, or you could say no,
Speaker 5: I'm not, or you could leave it as you are ambiguous.
Speaker 5: I don't want to put you on the spot. It's
Speaker 5: in your power, and I'm bringing it up, Vicky, because
Speaker 5: you know you want to be named for giving me
Speaker 5: the opportunity to express.
Speaker 1: The rumors.
Speaker 2: Reever.
Speaker 1: For some reason, I just don't feel like it. I
Speaker 1: love that answer, I just don't feel like it. That
Speaker 1: should be enough, and it feels like it was an
Speaker 1: answer that was ahead of its time. Why would he
Speaker 1: come out on her terms in an ambush moment?
Speaker 4: And I love that.
Speaker 1: He centers his feelings. I don't feel like it new mantra, Babe.
Speaker 1: I don't feel like it period. You know now coming
Speaker 1: out is kind of antiquated in some circles, Thank goodness.
Speaker 1: A lot of queer people nowadays don't need to come
Speaker 1: out because well, they were never in, never living in
Speaker 1: a heteronormative straight reality. Pababe. In two thousand, the entire
Speaker 1: public world was a heteronormative, straight reality, and coming out
Speaker 1: was a big deal. It was risky and could hurt
Speaker 1: your livelihood, not to mention the emotional scarring of someone
Speaker 1: trying to force you on national television to come out.
Speaker 1: Ricky wrote this in his memoir quote, it was a
Speaker 1: topic I constantly struggled with, one that caused me a
Speaker 1: lot of pain and anxiety. And every time someone wrote
Speaker 1: in an article that I was a homosexual, or each
Speaker 1: time this was asked of me in an interview, and
Speaker 1: not very so, it pushed me further away from my truth.
Speaker 1: The rumors and questions only increased my insecurity and my
Speaker 1: self rejection. They reminded me of all the reasons why
Speaker 1: I was uncomfortable in my own skin. At times, I
Speaker 1: felt I hated myself because it was always presented under
Speaker 1: such a negative lens as something scandalous and bad. It
Speaker 1: reinforced my desire to deny. Oh, Ricky, we Love You.
Speaker 1: Coming off of Ricky Mania and his massive success in
Speaker 1: the US, Ricky releases a couple more albums, one in Spanish,
Speaker 1: another in English. In two thousand and eight, he becomes
Speaker 1: a dad, welcoming two baby boys, He talks about loving
Speaker 1: being a dad, and it really suits him because there's
Speaker 1: always been something really tender and caring about Ricky. We
Speaker 1: really see this. In twenty ten, inspired by his children
Speaker 1: and the legacy he wants to leave for them, he
Speaker 1: comes out through a statement on his website. It's a
Speaker 1: long statement, so I can't read it all, but I
Speaker 1: really encourage you to. It's quite touching and earnest. Let
Speaker 1: me read you some excerpts. Quote. To keep living as
Speaker 1: I did up until today would be to indirectly diminish
Speaker 1: the glow that my kids were born with. Enough is enough.
Speaker 1: This has to change. This was not supposed to happen
Speaker 1: five or ten years ago. It's supposed to happen now.
Speaker 1: I am proud to say that I am a fortunate
Speaker 1: homosexual man. I'm very blessed to be who I am.
Speaker 1: I am blessed to be who I am. Wow you are, Ricky,
Speaker 1: we all are. What a pioneer. The next year, in
Speaker 1: twenty eleven, Ricky releases Musika Alma Sexo, which is a
Speaker 1: critical hit. A few years later, he stars as a
Speaker 1: coach on the Voice Australia. He releases another album in
Speaker 1: twenty fifteen, which wins a Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album.
Speaker 1: He gets married, then divorce, does some acting, and in
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen, when Puerto Rico's governor was exposed for homophobic
Speaker 1: text messages, including about Ricky himself, Ricky Martin flew home
Speaker 1: and was one of a few cultural figures who joined
Speaker 1: hundreds of thousands of protesters forcing the governor to resign.
Speaker 1: Here he is protesting in a clip from Bloomberg News.
Speaker 1: I want to contrast this moment in twenty nineteen when
Speaker 1: he's protesting with a point he makes in his memoir.
Speaker 1: He writes, quote, I think that one of the reasons
Speaker 1: why I found it's so hard to accept myself was
Speaker 1: because in my profession, I have often been considered to
Speaker 1: be a Latin idol, a pop star, and for some
Speaker 1: a sex symbol. I don't know if it has to
Speaker 1: do with the fact that I'm Latin, or it has
Speaker 1: to do with the global image of the quote Latin lover.
Speaker 1: But I always had the feeling that certain things were
Speaker 1: expected of me, among which was the fact that I
Speaker 1: was supposed to seduce and allow myself to be seduced
Speaker 1: by women. Maybe if there had been another artist, another
Speaker 1: Latin idol who had come before me. I might have
Speaker 1: been less afraid, but the reality is that I didn't
Speaker 1: have a role model, and that, in my mind, helped
Speaker 1: make the whole thing entirely inconceivable. End quote. I bring
Speaker 1: up this quote because the so called Latin boom was
Speaker 1: both a touchstone for Latinos but also harmful. I believe
Speaker 1: that the way Ricky Martin was framed prevented him from
Speaker 1: being the full dimensional person he is, and he had
Speaker 1: to write the script on his own. How to come
Speaker 1: out and to come out with a message of self
Speaker 1: love and celebration. How to come back to singing in Spanish,
Speaker 1: to his original audience, to his artistic roots even after
Speaker 1: the crossover success. How to be very publicly Latino without
Speaker 1: pandering to the reductive notions of Latinidad of the time.
Speaker 1: And look did he always do perfect? No ask me
Speaker 1: how do I feel?
Speaker 3: As how do you feel?
Speaker 1: But I believe Ricky Martin's legacy changed the game. I'm
Speaker 1: not trying to be cute when I say bad Bunny
Speaker 1: is able to be as free, as unapologetic as he
Speaker 1: is because of the iterative and very real progress Ricky
Speaker 1: Martin made. Remember when Ricky Martin said.
Speaker 4: This, I've recorded in many of that, or just come on,
Speaker 4: English is so important.
Speaker 1: Isn't it kind of stunning that we went from that
Speaker 1: to Bad Bunny in just two plus decades saying this
Speaker 1: about singing in English.
Speaker 3: I don't care.
Speaker 1: That clip, by the way, is from an interview with
Speaker 1: The New York Times. This popcast, I don't think we
Speaker 1: could have gone straight to Bad Bunny's defiance. Ricky Martin
Speaker 1: had to set the stage, not just as an artist,
Speaker 1: but also as a queer person. I think of how
Speaker 1: Juan Gabriel couldn't really come out a generation before, and
Speaker 1: then Ricky Martin did, but with a lot of controversy
Speaker 1: leading up to it. And now artists like young Miko
Speaker 1: can be as queer as they want on stage. People
Speaker 1: don't necessarily have to come out all the time anymore
Speaker 1: because queer elders like Ricky once had the courage to
Speaker 1: do so, or so, for example, Jenna Ortega can be
Speaker 1: as goth and as eccentric as she wants. Latinos are
Speaker 1: less and less beholden to the fiery Mummy or hot
Speaker 1: Latin lover trope. I believe Ricky Martin played a key
Speaker 1: role in that cultural evolution. Art has lineage, queerness has lineage,
Speaker 1: and Ricky Martin, in my opinion, is an important elder
Speaker 1: in both of those lineages. Maybe a Zaddy elder, but
Speaker 1: really I think one hundred years from now, Latinos will
Speaker 1: use Ricky Martin's long career arc to understand belonging and
Speaker 1: history in this country. Or actually, I think we can
Speaker 1: take it beyond that. I think Ricky Martin's legacy, as
Speaker 1: our producer Britney Cronan pointed out to me, shows the
Speaker 1: evolution of Latinos and queer people beyond belonging in the US.
Speaker 1: The key to understanding this is in Ricky's performance of
Speaker 1: Lokelepas Hawaii at the Super Bowl. This is arguably the
Speaker 1: most high profile anti colonial anthem of our time. It's
Speaker 1: a cry against statehood. It's a rally for resistance, and
Speaker 1: I want to talk about the specific section. Ricky sings
Speaker 1: Noel lavandera nilviden Elelolai geno ko nio Lokele Hawaii. He sings.
Speaker 1: The Lelolai is a traditional vocal improvisation sung by Hivarros.
Speaker 1: The song is imploring Puerto Ricans to hold on to
Speaker 1: cultural specificity to collective memory, to identity as resistance and
Speaker 1: bad Bunny in the song is not asking to belong
Speaker 1: in or to the United States in any way. In fact,
Speaker 1: Lokelepas Hawaii is the opposite. It is saying we do
Speaker 1: not want to belong, We want to hold on to
Speaker 1: what is ours. And how powerful to have Ricky Martin
Speaker 1: seeing this verse the artists who the industry in a
Speaker 1: way forced to belong to the American mainstream, insisting on
Speaker 1: framing him within these tropes of latinidad hat straight Latin
Speaker 1: lover that flattened his dimensionality, but no more, what a
Speaker 1: joy it is to see him break free from those stereotypes.
Speaker 1: And because he has, he has given all of us,
Speaker 1: including my son, who will know who Ricky is, permission
Speaker 1: to do the same. And in this way we all,
Speaker 1: Oh Ricky Martin. We Excited. Is written by me Maria
Speaker 1: Garcia and it's produced by Futuro Studios in collaboration with
Speaker 1: Iheart's My Gultura podcast Network. Our senior producer is Marta Martinez.
Speaker 1: Our associate producer is Brittany Cronin, with support for this
Speaker 1: episode from Roxanna Aguirre. Our editor is Marlon Bishop. Our
Speaker 1: production manager is Victoria Estrada. Our graphic designer is Juan
Speaker 1: Carlos Belaes, Mixing by Brandon Grugel at Multitude and legal
Speaker 1: review by Jonathan Fisher. Our executive producers are Marlon Bishop
Speaker 1: and me at Futuro Studios and Futudo Media was founded
Speaker 1: by Maria Inojosa. Executive producers at iHeart are Leo Gomez
Speaker 1: and Arlene Santana. You can listen to more episodes on
Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast,
Speaker 1: and remember you can also watch us on YouTube. It's
Speaker 1: very fun there, and if you like our show, please
Speaker 1: don't forget to rate and review. It really helps us.
Speaker 1: I'm your host, Maria Garcia. Thanks for listening, See you
Speaker 1: next time. Latino USA is made possible in part by
Speaker 1: Latino Community Foundation, building a flourishing Latino Future, Skyline Foundation
Speaker 1: and the TAWL Foundation.