On May 24th and 25th Montreal welcomed artists from all over Latin America – and all over Canada – for a weekend full of reggaeton.
Fuego-Fuego Festival, Montreal. (Maria Latorre Montenegro/The Sheridan Sun)
Fuego-Fuego is the biggest Latin music festival in Canada. This year was its 4th edition, and as usual, it brought a piece of the diverse and beautiful culture that is Latin America to this amazing country. For most people outside of this culture, this might be just another music event, but this represents so much more than that.
This kind of event helps to build and internationalize Latin music. In this festival, the pioneers of the most-listened Latin genre worldwide shared the stage with new artists who are the result of Canadian multiculturalism.
Some examples of this multiculturalism are Aiona Santana, Najove & Medylandia, and InBetwin. Artists from different parts of the world performed at Fuego-Fuego during the weekend.
Aiona Santana, Montreal. (Maria Latorre Montenegro/The Sheridan Sun)
Aiona Santana is a Venezuelan singer and songwriter based in Canada, who makes Latin rhythms in her own style. She is proud of showing the world the traditional sounds of her country mixed with the modern waves here in Canada
Najove & Medylandia, Montreal. (Maria Latorre Montenegro/The Sheridan Sun)
Najove & Medylandia, two musicians born in Canada who embrace the Latin heritage. Najove is a singer who was born in Montreal, with a Dominican and Chilean background. And Medylandia is a music producer, half Dominican, half Canadian. Together, they are a duo full of sazón, bateria y reggaeton.
InBetwin, Montreal. (Maria Latorre Montenegro/The Sheridan Sun)
And, last but certainly not least, InBetwin. Lucia and Ana are two Costa Rican sisters who mix reggaeton as their full-time job. It is not very common to see two women as reggaeton DJs. However, women are starting to rise in this male-dominated industry, and these sisters know how to show their talent and make it shine under all those cookie-cutter DJs by being the only performers in Fuego-Fuego to participate on both days.
The opening acts have fewer audience members than the headliners. And this time we could see that with the difference that the public was expecting most of the first performances. “They were dancing. They knew the lyrics to it. So cool to see people singing. I was like, Wow, we’re getting there,” said Aiona. Her performance was one of the most talked about during the festival, she combined traditional Venezuelan dances and sounds on stage, making all Latinos vibe while that yellow, blue and red flag with stars was up.
Fuego-Fuego Festival, Montreal. (Maria Latorre Montenegro/The Sheridan Sun)
That feeling of connecting with people from your same culture in a totally different context is the biggest emotion any person can have in events like this, “[Being at Fuego- Fuego] it’s insane! It is our first International Festival. I mean, we have already done many dates outside of Costa Rica, but we have never participated in a festival this big,” said Ana from InBetwin. New artists see this as their first milestone in their careers.
This festival is the result of their hard work and commitment, but each of them has a different experience at the moment they made it to the Olympic Park. “For me, it represents a lot because being from Montreal, you know, growing up here, I have all my people here, and being at the biggest Spanish show in all of Canada means a lot because it’s in my home,” said Najove. That achievement only comes after years of sacrifices and commitment. “Let’s say that change of saying okay, we are going to quit our jobs, and we are going to dedicate ourselves 100% to this. We don’t know if we are going to have a job next month, but we are going to try. It cost us a lot because maybe we are a bit insecure people, as it is obviously scary, but it is even more difficult to start, and more start making music, so I think that has been the most difficult thing. That process,” said Lucia from InBetwin. It’s that process and that effort that make these festivals incredible and a place where dreams come true.
It wasn’t just accomplishing the dream of getting into the lineup of a music festival, it also meant sharing spaces with all those artists that one day inspired all these new musicians to follow their dreams, “I look up to El Alfa a lot, because El Alfa is a guy who came from the hood, he came from nothing and created a whole movement only with his music,” said Medylandia. “That’s something I’m really proud of because we’re Dominicans, and we’re trying to export our music everywhere, right? So, him being the face of the dembow right now, I respect him a lot.”
Something InBetwin also use tracks from many of the artists that were present those days, and they got to be on and backstage with some of them, “Wow. It’s crazy. For me to share the stage with literally one of the pioneers of reggaeton, like Wisin. It blows my mind, I’m in shock. I’m still processing it. I’m probably going to cry if I see him.,” said Lucia.
All those big artists they look up to build a path for them, a trail they can follow. But these new artists face a bigger difficulty, making and promoting Latin music in a country outside of that culture. Canadian multiculturalism is a huge advantage for them, but it doesn’t mean it was easy. “[How the Latin music industry in Canada is] There’s a lot of talent and there are a lot of people who have been making good music, but it’s a little bit harder because it’s not the main language here, so it’s harder to export,” said Najove. “With social media, it doesn’t matter where you live. You can be living in Africa, but if you make good music, and you know how to export it to the country that you want, you’re gonna be fine.” Making use of those tools has made this movement grow. “I feel like we’ve really gotten to a point where Latin music in Canada is growing a lot, and it’s really massive now. And Fuego-Fuego is, I think, just a testament to that. It’s just proof of how much noise we’re making as Latinos,” said Aiona.
Fuego-Fuego Festival, Montreal. (Maria Latorre Montenegro/The Sheridan Sun)
All that noise that is being made shows how resilient and strong the Latin community is. This festival brought a piece from all those countries that many people left behind to accomplish their dreams here. It was a band-aid to their hearts, a song to their souls and a hug to their fears.
Thanks to all the artists that took the time to talk to me, Aiona Santana, Najove, Medylandia and InBetwin, Ana and Lucia.
Thanks to all the new talents that make this movement possible, Ramon Chicharron, MC Manny RD, Gretch’n and Drea Jimenez.
And to all the other participants at Fuego-Fuego, thank you for coming to Canada to fulfill dreams and bring joy to all those hearts in Montreal.
Did you feel the vibes from Fuego-Fuego? Keep the rhythm going with more shots below:
Fuego-Fuego Festival, Montreal. (Maria Latorre Montenegro/The Sheridan Sun)
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