With a heavy frame and an ever-present wide-eyed expression, international salsa/ Latin pop star La India is not likely to be mistaken for a princess based on looks alone. Yet the Puerto Rico-born, Bronx-raised singer has had little trouble living up to “The Princess of Salsa” tag. As if possessing…

)??e on the other end of the phone sounds like that of Alejandro Fernandez — the enfant terrible of Mexican pop — but something seems off. For one, the man comes across as impossibly cheerful, almost content. There are no hints of the short-tempered, egomaniacal star who partied into the…

Go ahead and choose a subject. It could be as simple as a glass of water or as delicate as a soured relationship. Whatever it might be, chances are Puerto Rican master storyteller Victor Manuelle could take the topic and instantly spin a breathless yarn that would leave you transfixed…

From a distance Delia Diaz de Villegas moves with the self-confidence and flair of a Hollywood starlet. Strikingly attractive with expressive green eyes, cherry lips, pale skin, and long red hair, she barely shows any emotion while approaching a visitor amid the rumblings of Little Havana. Her music conveys that…

There were no diamonds sparkling from his ears. Save for a relatively thin and long silver chain, his neck didn’t exhibit anything flashy or of significant proportions. The black leather watch strapped around his left wrist was reminiscent of an old-school Mickey Mouse or Timex watch instead of a Rolex…

The presence of several hundred musicians, composers, record executives, publishing company figureheads, members of the media, and surgically enhanced groupies in Miami for the 2005 Billboard Latin Music Conference & Awards wasn’t needed to prove that the popularity gap between Daddy Yankee and Akwid is enormous, that teenagers who illegally…

It should be clear to anybody who has spent time around her, even for a short amount of time, that Aymee Nuviola doesn’t have any problems attracting the masses wherever she goes. Whether she’s lingering backstage at a jazz festival in Coral Gables, where she went to check out childhood…

It’s a breezy Friday night on Lincoln Road as two girls in miniskirts are sitting at a dinner table outside Tropical Cigars. There’s the short, twentysomething Cuban lady chasing down a dollar bill after it slips off the table, while the middle-age Colombian hard body can’t stop complaining about the…

Even after all these years, Puerto Rican salsero/crooner Gilberto Santa Rosa still finds himself fighting off a bevy of critics. Okay, so those extra pounds around Santa Rosa’s midsection may not be ideal for the always popular magazine photo shoots or steamy CD covers. That weight hasn’t proven to be…