The 2021 Latin Academy Person of the Year talks about salsa dancing, performing and creating music that will stand the test of time.

To be honest, Ruben Blades has never sought his idol status. However, now he is 73 years old and has won the Latin Academy's Person of the Year Award-designed for superstars-and he has always been fashionable, so much so that Rosalía thinks that he was inspired by her recent Weeknd collaboration "La fama" The impact, and he was just his subject. He posted a week-long social media back and forth between J Balvin and Residente, which received millions of views.

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"I have been writing what I have written, documenting reality, and this is my desirability," said the Panamanian salsa star-he has served in the second, third and fourth acts, and has served as a tourist Minister, presidential candidate and film and television producer/actor (he currently plays the indomitable Daniel Salazar in the upcoming season eight of "Fear the Walking Dead".

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Tonight, Blades will be welcomed by the likes of Farruko and Residente. Tomorrow, he will compete for the Latin Grammy Awards in the category of Best Album of the Year and Salsa Album of the Year with his superb dancing skills! And salsa plus! They are bilingual albums recorded by Roberto Delgado & Orchestra of Panama, where he went from salsa to swing dance, from English to Spanish. On Saturday, he will start his Sals dance! Take a full 20-piece band touring in Auckland. In 2022, he has a complete agenda, including the 8th season of "Fear the Walking Dead", more tours and a series of new albums released by his own brand Ruben Blades Productions.

This sounds tiring, but today, wearing slim-fitting gray sweatpants, sweatshirts, and beanies, with a long beard that accentuates gray eyes, Blades looks taller and more toned than a man his age. young. More importantly, Blades still sounds charming, both in music and in what he says. This is an excerpt from his recent conversation with Billboard.

In Fear the Walking Dead, Daniel Salazar is a force of nature. I must say that you look great and are nowhere near your age...

Age is a victory for me. I never thought it was a problem, even when I was young. Every year you live is a victory over death, which gives you more opportunities to do more things and make others happy. When people say: "Hey, you are old!" I always think it's ridiculous! What are the options, baby? Go to hell! Will that make me or you happy? It is not age that destroys humanity; it is indifference.

You do so many things. Do you still like to sing on stage?

You know, after not singing for two years, my biggest fear is losing my voice. When I was working in the Panamanian government, I had not sang for five years. All I did was record "La Perla" with René (Residente). I did not miss singing because of the stage; the public service stage. I can classify them into different categories.

Do you like the fear of the walking dead?

Very. First of all, because the show does not depend on me. This is an ensemble, I learn from this kind of collaboration, and I get nourished from the work of other people. I am translating for others. When I sing with a band, I usually explain myself. Secondly, to analyze this point coldly, "Fear the Walking Dead" involves 132 countries/regions.

Also, working in TV and movies is so different, this is what you have done for years...

TV is much harder. Especially because Daniel is an intelligence officer and he is very active. He is always fighting and getting into trouble...He is a survivor. Salazar is the kind of person who walks into a place, and the first thing he does is find an exit. Therefore, he is a very reactive person, which is priceless. I hope I have his skills. I was hit in the face, I was hit by lightning. Being killed is too extreme. Obviously I can't control it, because the idea of ​​the series determines this. But my personality is very interesting on a global scale. How many Latins are in prime time? rare. How many Latins over the age of 70 work in prime time? not any.

Have you ever thought, "Wow, I opened this door?"

Do not. What other people’s problems make one person reflect on. I never think about what I have done or accomplished. What you have done is done. In fact, I am very grateful for the honor given to me by the college-but it would be difficult to sit there and listen to people talking about me.

But I am very grateful to the college. For example, they allowed us to perform on TV broadcast [2017], when we won the annual album [Salsa Big Band with Robert Delgado and Orquestra]. Salsa bands rarely perform on TV nowadays. There are amazing people like Gilberto Santa Rosa, Oscar D'León or El Gran Combo. I hope they can perform on TV soon. In fact, this year’s album of the year, the best salsa album, I voted for Rafael Ithier and El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico. I think my album is a great album, but I cannot vote against Rafael Ithier.

Speaking of your Latin Grammy nomination, I was surprised to hear you sing in English. You have two nominated albums, in fact...

Yes-because the band is to create a way. For example, we are competing for the best jazz arrangement for Grammys. We don't want to be just a pony that can play tricks. I really like breaking stereotypes. In this case, the stereotype of Salsa. And, to be clear, I don't mind being called a salsa...but it's a music band. I am a big fan of swing, rock and Indian music.

In fact, many of the swing covers you played on these albums were original arrangements, right?

In addition to the adaptation of "Ya No Me Duele", which is Tom Kubis's adaptation of a song by Jeremy Bosch, I added new lyrics. There is also the arrangement of "Penny in Heaven", which is also a new arrangement by Tom Coopers, and our adaptation of "Like Tonight". We added some bars and variations at the end. The best respect for Sinatra is to use his songs to do things that surprise him. Bennet is the same. My purpose is not to copy, but to take a standard and look at it from different angles.

I have worked with Winton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, which is the best jazz group in the world. Therefore, jazz musicians are not surprised by my abilities. The surprise is those who see me only in one-dimensional space. My band is a band from Panama. Usually, when we talk about [Latin] bands, we talk about bands from Puerto Rico, Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia, but rarely Panama. Now they have to talk about Panama, and the boys in the band have realized everything they can do. They are not limited to [one type].

Now, the label is your label, do you fund everything?

Yes. The only thing I don't fund is payola.

You are writing memoirs, short stories, poems, articles. Will you return to politics or will you no longer want to be involved?

No no no. I never said that. What I didn't say is that I won't do it. I hope to contribute in the future and continue to contribute, absolutely, especially now that there is so much chaos. I only do politics in Panama. We have very serious corruption problems in the legislative and judicial fields... and I am not talking about st. I ran for president, and I created a political party. In my opinion, this gives me more credibility than those who complain and do nothing.

And you are very outspoken in your blog.

The problem is still extreme. You have the rightmost and the leftmost, they are exactly the same. The two examiners didn't want to oppose, they both attacked you. Extreme fascism and extreme communism are the same thing. The problem with the Internet today is that there are platforms that allow people to vent their madness. So now, we have to discuss whether the world is round, or whether the vaccine has a chip that can connect you to Bill Gates. There have been facts. Now, all of us who have opinions must provide an explanation. I even have to explain how to pronounce my name: Blades [English] or Blades [Spanish]. This becomes a problem. My current position is: if there is any question, no matter how stupid, I will reply one by one on my blog.

You are a versatile person. But do you see yourself as a salsa musician in the first place?

I am a musician dedicated to African-Cuban music. I do this. This is what I am doing now. I want to be defined as a "musician". But if I look at my recorded works, they are all in Afro-Cuban format. I am not ashamed of this, nor do I feel less. What bothered me was that I was only assigned to that place. It's like saying, "That's your seat, you can't move." That's not right. I choose to be there. But I can move around and do whatever I want. This is another problem. I don't think the artist owes his audience. An artist owes himself. When I perform, I don’t simply play what people want. I will provide and share with them all these songs that we have created.

But don't you always play classic works like "Pedro Navaja"?

always! Absolutely. Not only that: I use the exact same pregones [improvisations] because people sing them with me. There are some songs you cannot change. But, on the other hand, I won't write something because fans will love it.

You, and your music, have stood the test of time so loudly. Where are you going from here?

I continue to write what I write and record reality, which is my merit. Can you imagine if I sang "Desnúdate otra vez" when I was 73 years old? Or do reggaetón videos and twerking? I think you always need to at least consider what you are doing will be relevant in a few years. I'm still singing "Pedro Navaja", which was released in 1978.

But you wrote that song because it is a fascinating story, right?

When I wrote this song, I assumed that the song was about things that people would be interested in. I grew up listening to stories. We have a very strong oral tradition in Latin America. When I was born [No TV in Panama]. People gather together to tell stories. I always focus on telling stories, which is why these songs have no deadlines and do not follow business rules. After I wrote "Pedro Navaja", I did not write "Son of Pedro Navaja". After I wrote "Plástico", I didn't write "Cellophane". Gabriel García Márquez [he is a good friend of Blades] always tells me: you are a storyteller. You are a writer who can sing.

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