Coconut Grove Arts Festival: Saturday Band Locos por Juana Has a New Video With Talib Kweli

For Locos por Juana's lead singer, Itawe Correa, collaboration with legendary rapper Talib Kweli on the song "For the Ladies" was a blast from the past. "I grew up listening to him in the hip-hop era," Correa tells New Times. "Talib's work with Mos Def in Blackstar changed my life."

Correa was uncertain of the result when he submitted the song to Kweli (who will perform in Broward this week.). Would he be into the Latin-fusion sound? "We sent him the song, and there were no compromises," Correa says. "He liked the message about how beautiful women can be in any size, any shape, any color."

Locos por Juana didn't get to work with Kweli in the same room on the track. The band recorded its parts in Miami, and Kweli did his lines in New York City. But they got to meet and work together in the flesh on a video for the song, which is scheduled to drop at the end of February. "It's cool. We filmed it in Miami and Vermont," he says. That video will feature an interracial amalgam of beauty embodied by Mother Earth. While you wait to see what that video might look like, there's already an upbeat, animated lyric video that will get you in the mood to appreciate femininity.
Locos por Juana will play "For the Ladies" and other songs off its new album Saturday afternoon at the Coconut Grove Arts Festival. "We always look forward to this. It's the third time we have played it, and it's amazing to be around people showcasing their art. We always put our energy out there. Whether there are 20 or 200 people, we'll get them to dance and enjoy the daytime, healthy family fun."

New Times' Music Showcase lineup at the Coconut Grove Arts Festival is as follows:

Saturday, February 18
Noon, Oigo - Miami-based multi-instrumentalist Adrian Gonzalez turns cover songs on their head
1 p.m., Palo! - Latin Grammy-nominated Afro-Cuban funk
2:15, Suenalo - nine-piece Latin funk band
3:30, Arthur Hanlon - instrumentalist in the Latin music realm
4:45, Locos por Juana - Miami's Grammy-nominated bilingual Latin band

Sunday, February 19
Noon, Jorge Luis Chacin - Miami-based Venezuelan singer-songwriter
1 p.m., Bobby Lee Rodgers - South Florida blues guitarist
2:15 p.m., Patrick & the Swayzees - Key West band mixing high-energy rockabilly and surf
3:15 p.m., Roosevelt Collier's All Star Jam - local master of the pedal steel guitar
5 p.m. Greyhounds - Austin-based blues-rock duo

Monday, February 20
12:30 p.m., the Eric Vick Band - mix of funk, rock, and R&B
1:45 p.m., the GoodNites - Miami rock quartet
2:45 p.m., Sunghosts - Miami's version of the Strokes
4 p.m., Electric Kif - instrumental fusion

Coconut Grove Arts Festival 2017
Saturday, February, 18 through Monday, February 20, at Peacock Park, 2820 McFarlane Rd., Coconut Grove; cgaf.com. Tickets cost $15 for adults via completeticketsoultions.com.