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A Genre Approach to Celebrity PoliticsThe Harvard Lawyer vs the Bad Boy from the Bronx: Explaining the Political Performance Gaps between Rubén Blades and Willie Colón

A Genre Approach to Celebrity Politics: The Harvard Lawyer vs the Bad Boy from the Bronx:... [Rubén Blades and Willie Colón are commonly regarded as the two undisputed salsa music giants. Their joint album Siembra from 1978 is considered a masterpiece of the genre, highly praised by critics for its hard-hitting lyrics and sophisticated musical arrangements. Siembra was also a best-selling album for a salsa record, with 3 million copies sold around the world and several hits, such as ‘Pedro Navaja’, ‘Plastico’, and ‘Buscando Guayaba’, which became true salsa classics.1 Once their successful artistic partnership ended, the musical career of these two great musicians took a very dissimilar path. Rubén Blades became a major international pop icon, famous for his performances as a Hollywood actor as well, whereas Willie Colón remained a relatively obscure figure within the American musical scene, confined mainly to salsa music and Hispanic listeners. In addition to their artistic activities, both Blades and Colón had dabbled in professional politics, again with very disparate results. Rubén Blades became a major political figure in Panama, his native country, first as a presidential candidate and later as Minister of Tourism; Willie Colón failed in his endeavour to become a candidate for the US Congress, and his political activity was restricted to serving as advisor to New York City’s mayor Michael Bloomberg, representing the local Puerto Rican community.] http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

A Genre Approach to Celebrity PoliticsThe Harvard Lawyer vs the Bad Boy from the Bronx: Explaining the Political Performance Gaps between Rubén Blades and Willie Colón

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References (13)

Publisher
Palgrave Macmillan UK
Copyright
© Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited 2015
ISBN
978-1-349-48865-0
Pages
75 –96
DOI
10.1057/9781137409393_5
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

[Rubén Blades and Willie Colón are commonly regarded as the two undisputed salsa music giants. Their joint album Siembra from 1978 is considered a masterpiece of the genre, highly praised by critics for its hard-hitting lyrics and sophisticated musical arrangements. Siembra was also a best-selling album for a salsa record, with 3 million copies sold around the world and several hits, such as ‘Pedro Navaja’, ‘Plastico’, and ‘Buscando Guayaba’, which became true salsa classics.1 Once their successful artistic partnership ended, the musical career of these two great musicians took a very dissimilar path. Rubén Blades became a major international pop icon, famous for his performances as a Hollywood actor as well, whereas Willie Colón remained a relatively obscure figure within the American musical scene, confined mainly to salsa music and Hispanic listeners. In addition to their artistic activities, both Blades and Colón had dabbled in professional politics, again with very disparate results. Rubén Blades became a major political figure in Panama, his native country, first as a presidential candidate and later as Minister of Tourism; Willie Colón failed in his endeavour to become a candidate for the US Congress, and his political activity was restricted to serving as advisor to New York City’s mayor Michael Bloomberg, representing the local Puerto Rican community.]

Published: Nov 10, 2015

Keywords: Latin American Country; Presidential Candidate; Music Industry; Political Performance; Artistic Career

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