Young Gifted & Brown: How Joe Bataan the King of Latin Soul Made Hip Hop History

Joe BataanOLM News It was an absolute honor and pleasure to sit down with the legendary Joe Bataan a fellow Bronx native who has been dubbed the King of Latin Soul.

In our conversation we not only talked about his New York upbringing, but also about his African-American & Filipino heritage and how he parlayed that into becoming ta Salsa Music icon.. Joe details his journey within the oftentimes treacherous  music industry and how he cemented his niche.

We also talked about Joe’s place in Hip Hop History as he was one of the first to drop a rap record called Rap-O-Clap-O which was virtually unheard of here in the US but a big hit overseas in 1979 -1980.  Joe  gives the story behind how he wound up making a rap record. Believe it or not it was the result of someone not showing up to a studio and Joe not wanting to see his money go to waste, doing the song himself.

The other interesting aspect of this was that Joe was also one of the first to do a rap video.. He details the story behind giving visuals to the Rap-O Clap O song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5ZS1Pw5y6I

Joe also talks to us about the emerging club and disco scene and how he was able to take his band and flip the script vs being replaced by deejays who were becoming popular mainstays. He noted that the disco scene allowed him to travel all over and increase the number of shows he did, because instead of using a full band he could perform to backing tracks.

http://vimeo.com/74971700

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