Miami, FL – Soulfrito The Urban Latin Music Festival, the first festival of its kind in the U.S to celebrate Urban Latin music, culture and the arts, has announced its breathtaking line-up for the fourth annual event taking place on Sunday October 30th at Bayfront Park in Miami.
Soulfrito has just announced confirmation for its booking of the widely anticipated and much talked about Cuban hip hop group out of Spain – ORISHAS. As part of their nationwide U.S tour, Orishas will be taking to the stage at Soulfrito for their first ever performance in Miami.
With rare performances alongside the likes of Cypress Hill and Wyclef Jean, together with a debut album that became the first Latin hip hop album to go gold, they continue to support their third album El Kilo, produced by Grammy nominee Andres Levin (Caetano Veloso, David Byrne, Tina Turner, Yerba Buena). Having played more than 300 concerts throughout Europe and Latin America, while garnering unanimous rave reviews from Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, Vibe, The Source, and the Los Angeles Times to name a few, Orishas are expected to attract a sell-out crowd for their first performance in South Florida.
This is just a taste of this year’s fusion of Soulfrito sound from the array of different genres of Urban Latin music. Orishas will add to the kaleidoscope of headline performances that will also include Salsa princess La India, and Miami’s own hip hop pioneer Pitbull. Tony Touch and Zion & Lennox, one of the leading Reggeaton acts in the U.S today, will also be contributing to the stellar line-up along with Notch and Platano among others. To commemorate the cultural heritage of the festival, a live art tribute will be made by the infamous Kike Valdez to musical legends Celia, Big Pun and Tito Puente.
This year’s festival will prove to be the most monumental, with New York broadcaster and Urban Latin icon Angie Martinez hosting the event for a second year alongside celebrity co-host Fatman Scoop, who will both be welcoming over 10,000 ‘Urban Latinos’ at Bayfront Park Amphitheater in October. For the first time, Clearchannel’s Mega 94.9 FM has teamed up with Soulfrito as the official radio partner to promote the station’s first festival association since its launch in Miami.
“Soulfrito caters to the culture & lifestyle of young and adult Hispanics alike, not just a genre of music,” says 22 year-old Soulfrito founder Melissa Giles. “With nearly 70 per cent of the U.S. Hispanic market under 30, and 65 per cent of its population growth driven by bicultural, U.S. born citizens, Soulfrito attracts a unique demographic from the young trend-setter to the older, more refined music enthusiast. We have tailored this year’s bill of performances so the event remains appealing for the more mature audiences. We feel this year’s event will be the biggest in our history.”
The festival is being supported with the launch of the Soulfrito Arts Foundation, a non profit charitable arm to the Soulfrito brand, that will provide funds to help develop emerging Latino talent in the fields of music, art, film, fashion, design and sport.
Soulfrito will be rolling-out nationwide in Spring of 2006 with its “Unplugged” nationwide club tour in key Latin markets, showcasing a variety of popular acts, new musicians and performers.
The Fourth Annual Urban Latin Music Festival will be welcoming Heineken as the official beer for the festival and its series of events, as well as General Motors’ market leader and best selling auto brand, Chevrolet, as the official auto manufacturer. Chevrolet’s involvement with the nation’s first Urban Latin Music Festival pays homage to Soulfrito’s continued relationship with General Motors that put forward Pontiac as the festival’s Title Sponsor in 2003.
Soulfrito, and its associated properties, provide effective promotional vehicles for brands that wish to tap into this niche audience. Corporations such as Coke, GMAC and Jack Daniels have also successfully benefited through customized Soulfrito programs.
