The sonics connoisseur opens up about his creative process, founding legacy, and highly anticipated solo debut, “If Not Now, Then When.”

Southern California native Joe Kay is a vibe curator. Unabashedly music-obsessed, throughout his early life, he would discover vintage sonics and songs as if they were high-end collectible sports cards. Sonics to Joe Kay are compelling sounds and produced beats that would stimulate his imagination to seek out more. The 35-year-old DJ and beatmaker founded the Soulection collective, a music discovery platform where DJs worldwide share their love for music, with Andre Power and Guillaume Bonte in 2011. “[In Soulection Radio] we say future beats, eclectic soul, and forgotten gems,” Joe Kay prefaces on our Zoom call. “A lot of that is really how the Soulection collective is coded, what we live by, it is the Soulection Bible.”

In 2008, broadcasting sounds in his Grandmother’s basement, Kay produced his own homegrown radio show on Podomatic called “Ill Vibes,” which would lay the foundation for Soulection Radio and his forthcoming sold-out Soulection spinning live events. The eclectic grooves that occupied the DJ’s mindspace sparked the idea of Soulection, which would go on to blossom into a global artistic and cultural movement.

 

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From February through March 2025, Soulection celebrated its 14-year anniversary in a big way, making tour stops in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, and Houston. An astounding lineup of DJs (including Kay himself) shared their synergistic adoration for sonics with a crowd of 5,000-plus attendees. Nowadays, the vibe facilitator is choosing to take his fluency in curating worldly sounds and packaging them into a musical body of work that captures his essence. If Not Now, Then When marks a major moment for Joe Kay, who has historically often been camouflaged behind a standing table of DJ turntables. Out April 4, 2025, the six-track EP was crafted in the executive producer’s Joshua Tree sanctuary, which inspired much of the sound design. Out in the desert terrain of Yucca Valley, Joe Kay made a call out to his friends: Karri, Cruza, Isaiah Falls, Arin Ray, Blackway, Amaria, Dylan Sinclair, Merges, Sinead Harnett, and D’Mile. There, “the skeleton of the musical foundation of If Not Now, Then When was laid down in about 7 to 10 days,” Joe Kay breaks down to me. 

Only someone like Joe Kay could send out a bat signal in the sky to get artists and producers who all live across the globe to come to a desolate, creative safe haven. Kay caught up with Latina ahead of his EP release to discuss his lifelong love for sound design, being inspired by the soul of California music, and his family household’s Hispanic-Caribbean heritage.

LATINA: Truly standing the test of time in contemporary music’s creator economy, how does it make you feel knowing you created the Soulection collective that has been around for this long?

JOE KAY: I’m forever grateful. I’ve said this to my friends recently, every year that we make it, every extra year added, it’s always a blessing. I just feel to be able to do what we’re doing this deep in and have a loyal following and community of people that come out to the shows. We don’t even announce the lineups or my name is not even on there, and it feels really, really good to be able to bring the amount of people that we’re doing. I think in New York, we did over 5000 tickets. We had to add bonus shows for the stops that we decided to do in the US. Somewhere between 10,000 to 12,000 people with a handful of shows that we did for this 14-year run. People are still listening to the radio show religiously and are dedicated to the sound of Soulection.

LATINA: What is at the core of Soulection’s creative beliefs?

JK: At the core, the message and ethos of what we do is always to be intentional. That is what people feel first [from] anything we post, anything we share, anything we release, everything from the communication, the language, the captions to the design, and the music. It’s a testament to the longevity of us still being here. It is not about trying to inspire people to get into music or to be an artist, DJ, or producer. It is about staying true to yourself. Do not dim your light, keep finding ways to push through with your vision no matter what [your doubts are], and stay selective.

LATINA: What led you to create the idea of Soulection?

JK: I’ve been doing this since 2007. [The intent was] always to create this concept of uniting other like-minded people. We created the early foundations of Soulection back in 2008, 2009, but it took a couple of years to [get going]. There have been so many artists, DJs, and people that I’ve brought in along the way during this journey to help push it to what it is. Much of it was created in my grandmother’s basement in the den when I was in college.

LATINA: Tying to your family’s background, what Latin music or artists impacted you when you were younger that nurtured this cultural idea of making music a movement?

JK: Music is my therapy. There was a lot of different music played around the house, a lot of soul music, a lot of R&B. There was such a world sound always brought into the house, whether it was house music or reggae. I’m half-Mexican, I have Puerto Rican heritage and Native heritage, too, so there were always different styles of music. There were always Latin sounds, like Puerto Rican music, getting into salsa via my grandma—who only spoke Spanish—and Dominican music. I’ve always resonated with Jamaican music, too. Dancehall, lovers rock, just the overall Jamaican sound. So a lot of what was inspired and created in Jamaica also influenced the Puerto Ricans and that is where reggaeton and all these different sounds came from that I love. 

“Music is my therapy.”

LATINA: How has Southern California shaped your taste in music?

JK: I feel the Cali sound, the West Coast sound, has influenced me immensely. Sometimes, if I’m playing that music across the world, people might not resonate with the West Coast sounds. The Chicano oldies culture is huge here, [so] I think that is a part of my heritage growing up in LA—the lowrider culture mixed with that classic 1970s soul music. It is a whole energy, from the way you dress to the way you look. South LA’s Battlecat had a certain bounce and soulfulness. Today, Kendrick has done so much for the culture, so that’ll always be a part of my DNA. Some sounds are still coming from the [highly influential musicians] of the Bay area.

LATINA: Referring to your first EP, If Not Now, Then When, the title is very telling. What about this body of work made it right for your solo debut?

JK: It’s six tracks and features nine artists who I believe in and love. The EP is a snapshot of what I already do on Soulection radio and what I do as a tastemaker. This time, it is me leaning in and owning that. There is R&B, soul, some Jamaican influence, and Afrobeats. Primarily all with singers and vocalists. We had great writers and a legendary producer, such as D’Mile. I leaned into the tastemaker and executive producer side. I’m not [doing production] on this project. I put these people in the right room. It was many of the artists’ first time meeting each other or even finding out about each other. So the entire EP felt like a true Soulection ethos of what I’m about: [introducing] people to new artists and new sounds.

LATINA: The whole idea of If Not Now, Then When—were you second-guessing this release at times? What was the timeline like for this project? 

JK: Original music is the only thing I’m missing in my portfolio and catalog. If Not Now, Then When was intentionally created at my home in Joshua Tree. The home where we created these sessions inspired the EP with the space’s interior design. The project was inspired by the desert, the energy and clarity out there, the quietness brought everyone together. In terms of, why aren’t you doing this much sooner? Or why haven’t you done this before? And to be honest, I do feel like it’s right on time even though I’m 14 years in with Soulection, I feel like I’m the most poised and established now. Before, I was constantly telling myself, I’m not ready or I need more time, I’m around people that create the best music.

LATINA: What creative decisions did you make sure to prioritize while creating this EP, or was it all spontaneously organic? 

JK: When we were in Joshua Tree, it was great to see how everyone was discovering each other for the first time in person, yet there was this synergy. It just felt like a jam session with like-minded individuals. The fact that people took the time to trek two to three hours out from Los Angeles, some people flew in, told me that people were serious about this and it was important to me to take charge. People immediately resonated with one another and had chemistry within the first two hours. A couple of the records, such as “Moonlight and “Slow It Down,” were created within the first 24 hours.

LATINA: How did you approach these artists in introducing their sounds together?

JK: There was a real spark and chemistry that came about from bringing these people together. It felt really good. I did come into it telling everybody: Be yourself, but also feel free to create and step out of your normal sound. Come out of your normal pockets of sounds that you’ve been producing or records that you’ve put out. Let’s make a moment to try something new. That is what Soulection is about. It is about taking risks. I started off the whole session by giving them that speech and that introduction allowed these artists to experiment and try something different.

LATINA: In the digital age, the music world is increasingly saturated with artists tapped into algorithms and social media. How do you stay inspired as an artist and keep things sounding natural?

JK: I stay inspired in different ways, not just through music. I have tapped more into interior design and spatial design, [like,] How do I want my place to feel and sound? That correlates to how I spend all of my days at a time in one place. I might as well invest in my space and make it feel the best possible—artwork up on the walls, furniture pieces, and chairs, lights, and aromas that inspire me to want to create. Even when I experience writer’s block, I might look at a poster or look at a magazine or a coffee book or something that I have on my table that was made in the ‘60s or ‘70s and think, Damn, this still feels timeless.

“That is what Soulection is about. It is about taking risks.”

LATINA: What about the state of contemporary music are you excited about? Any criticisms as a music lover and someone who loves art?

JK: Right now, there are more artists than ever. I was listening to the latest show that I did for Soulection Radio. I was listening back to it and I had played this artist Jayla Darden, and she has a similar tone and pitch to Brandy. She is kind of slept on—she needs to be bigger. We’re in a time when there is more music and more creatives, designers, DJs…just more everything than we’ve ever had. When we were younger, there wasn’t social media, [everything] wasn’t as accessible. [I think] it was much harder to become successful in the music space—to be known and seen. You had to create this unique body-of-work and really depend on your resources and go through the label system. I find out about new artists every day, every week, and there are so many more that are untapped. [But] we have to do a lot more nowadays. You have to be your own creative director, your own designer, and your own visionary.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Malik Peay is a features writer based in Los Angeles who focuses on culture, entertainment, and more. He loves the art of traveling and connecting with people through their taste in music. You can follow his work on Instagram.

27-year-old experimental alt-singer/songwriter Jean Dawson is the embodiment of a misfit in music. Dawson was raised in a blended household with Mexican and Black parents who treasured underground hip hop and rejected the way the world pummeled the dreams of those who look like Dawson. “My reality was really informed by the way the world seemed to perceive me, [and how it kept] me in this two-dimensional space,” Dawson recalls of his early adolescence.

To make it to class, he would cross the border of Tijuana into San Diego everyday. “I got to see extreme poverty on both sides of the border. I got to see affluence in America, and then understand the greed and socioeconomic disparities in Mexico compared to the U.S. I realized that [when I was] really young, and it made me really depressed. I was always overthinking everything,” the singer remembers solemnly. During his 5-hour treks he would flip through songs on his CD player. “The first CD my mom ever gave me was a Too $hort CD,” Dawson chuckles while telling me how his father used to be a local rapper. “I also listened to a lot of Nirvana because of my friends in school.”

Dawson is a polymath when it comes to alchemizing sonics into a sort of scrappy, genre-shattering sound. His music makes you feel like you can conquer the world, then afterwards crawl into a dark space to retreat from reality. His recent EPs XCAPE and Destruction For Dummies are part of a trilogy, with the final project yet to be named. “My whole life has been a border town,” Dawson tells me, explaining how music has always been his mechanism for escapism. “I spent most of the time traveling between Mexico and San Diego but music was a foundation, [it offered] stability. I spent so much time going between the borders and music was constant.”

The last year has been challenging for Dawson, but he’s presently overflowing with inspiration. While creating the trilogy of EPs, he went through a metamorphosis, and by the time he was ready to create the sequel to XCAPE, Destruction For Dummies arrived organically. The musician eventually emerged from his previous state of disarray. “It is not necessarily the song that changes the way I create art or the why. It’s the organics or the events that happen to you within your normal life outside of music.” In order for Dawson to create — he has to live and feel. 

“When I was making “Delusional World Champion” it was coming towards the tail end of a relationship that I had been in for a while. Then, when I got to Part 2, I was fully out of that relationship. So a lot of my intentionality with making those songs came from a place of needing to absolve myself of those feelings.”

Both 2023 EPs, XCAPE [PT. 1] and Destruction For Dummies [PT. 2] serve as guttural releases for Dawson. The first project includes hi-tempo tracks of teenage rock nostalgia, and the follow-up is full of melancholic, existential ballads. “I always say that I’m a three-headed monster. I have three minds – the middle one is the most stable, the right and left are anger and sadness. The middle [mind] is where all the base level emotions happen, where I think: ‘I am going to be fine.’”

Outside of the musical realm, Dawson was the recent face of Nike’s Air Max 2023 campaign. He was photographed stoically wearing black Nike garb and a pastel green beanie. His partnership with Nike is a rare occurrence because the shoe brand doesn’t often collaborate with new artists for their well-established catalog of sneakers. 

For his third project, Dawson hints that it is going to have more Spanish and more optimism; consider the dust that settles after a storm or the light glowing on the horizon. “It can have exciting moments, it can be sad, it’s all because the rain already fell,” he pauses. “So it’s kind of just me picking up the pieces, and looking at the ones that I want to amplify. [That’s] not to say that it’s perfectly nice outside, you still might get mud on your shoes, but the sun is up.”

Before the release of his third EP, Dawson has released a song with the R&B singer, SZA. “No SZNS” is Dawson’s response to the ephemeral nature of summer and joy. He sings in the chorus: “In the spring, you can’t hear a thing, nobody thinks in the summertime… in California, we ain’t go no seasons it is all the same to me.” Then, SZA enters with her raspy tone to sing about the anxieties of seasons changing and how this innate cycle leads to new beginnings even if you aren’t looking to start over. 

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“When SZA and I met in the studio, it felt kind of like talking to a mirror without taking out her own individuality. We really connected on a deeper level. So when we worked on the song, “No SZNs” felt like it had been made four years prior,” Dawson recalls. 

“When [you] listen to something [you] make, you realize you are just carrying the torch of whatever that emotion is and when you pass it off to the next kid or the next group of people that listen to that music, it’s much less about the entertainment,” Dawson comments about the intentionality behind his music. “It’s more so about the supplied information that you’re not alone in this and as an artist, there are so many ways we can tell people: ‘I felt that too.” Nearing the launch of a tour all his own, Jean Dawson is ready for visibility and to experience more life. 

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Malik Peay is a music, travel, film, and fashion journalist. @MalikPeay

For years following the series’ 2007 premiere, Nickelodeon’s coming-of-age sitcom iCarly reigned over family households. Today, the 2023 reboot of the viral webshow is heading towards its third season on Paramount+. With Miranda Cosgrove serving as an executive producer, longtime fans and original characters — such as her older brother Spencer — get to witness the brewing romance between Freddie and Carly and the jealousy that emerges along the way.

“The biggest reward is payoff for the audience with this new season,” Nathan Kress, who has played Freddie Benson for a total of nine seasons, told LATINA. “We’ve kept fans hanging for a really, really, really, really long time and it’s finally time to let them see what happens when Carly and Freddie are faced with the question, ‘Do they love each other or not?’ There is a lot of story to unpack there.”

Outside of Freddie and Carly’s slow and developing feelings being newly-addressed in season three, there are new faces in the reboot. Laci Mosley (Lopez v Lopez, A Black Lady Sketch Show) plays Harper, Carly’s candid bestie and Jaidyn Triplett (Family Reunion, Black-ish) fills the role of Millicent Mitchell, Freddie’s adopted step-daughter. Mitchell is the wise-cracking social media expert who has her finger on the pulse of everything Gen Z.

“I didn’t grow up watching iCarly, but I began watching it when they put it on Netflix after I got my audition,” Triplett tells LATINA. “I definitely think TikTok is like having your own webshow. It is a place to share your thoughts and ideas, as well as a creative space for many different minds.”

The 13-year-old actress, who first started acting when she was three, grew up with actor parents who helped her discover her interests for the performing arts. She came up in a culturally-blended upbringing — her mom is of Puerto Rican descent and her father is African American.

Jaidyn Triplett is no stranger to comedic acting and improv, as she’s previously appeared on Family Reunion and Black-ish, as well as on dramas including AppleTV+’s See, Station 19 and The Affair. “There is a lot of improv on the show, and I think that’s mainly the reason why our characters are who they are because we really get to put ourselves into our characters by adding a little line here or there, and then it gets written into the script,” Jaidyn says sitting next to the cast over Zoom.

In the series, Millicent develops a crush of her own on her classmate Derek. With each character’s toils with friendship and love, viewers get a chance to see various innocent stages of crushes transition into more serious emotional dynamics. Jaidyn as Millicent helps the iCarly gang understand the internet more fluently as the go-to person for whenever they need to get a new viral trend. “We just text Jaidyn,” Mosley who plays Harper quickly interjects when asked about how they stay in-the-know while playing characters who host their own webshow alongside Carly, famously played by Miranda Cosgrove. Jerry Trainor and Freddie Benson are heavy gif senders according to Jaidyn.

Jaidyn Triplett highlights how much the cast has bonded through making each other laugh and pulling pranks on set. The rookie actor is fully aware of the mark she is making by being on iCarly: “It is really important for me to embrace my Afro-Latina culture, especially in the entertainment industry, because I feel like we don’t get much recognition and I want to change that. The thing I love the most is that I get to represent the little girls that look like me.”

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Malik Peay is a music, travel, film, and fashion journalist

Every February since 1973, Brazil hosts several of the largest carnaval celebrations in the world. In Rio de Janeiro, the festival — which marks the date when Brazil became a Portuguese colony — has evolved into one of the most famous festivals in the world. Now signaling the beginning of Lent, Rio’s extravagant galas and famed celebratory parades have become synonymous with the city’s identity.

In 2023, over 45 million people descended on the streets of Brazil to experience carnaval, which had been cancelled due to Covid surges in 2021 and 2022. This year, eager to return to the festivities, over 5 million people traveled to Rio to admire the performances of local samba schools who participated in Brazil’s week-long series of parades. During this time, Rio’s urban jungle gets packed with roaring crowds, clouds of confetti, and dancers in show-stopping costumes.

LATINA traveled to Rio to document the world-renowned marathon of street parties and music performances during this year’s carnaval.

Shake Down the Sambadrome

Brazilian samba dancers endure rigorous training all year long to perform on the country’s biggest stage of the year. Each carnaval parade selects 12 samba schools from various neighborhoods in Brazil, and each school’s one-hour performance includes extravagantly costumed dancers, singers, and acrobats, who portray historical and cultural allegories about their homeland. After the judges vote who the winner is, the Champion parade takes place where each school does a final performance according to who wins. The samba school that takes first place is awarded national prestige and is honored for their victorious portrayal of Brazilian culture.

As tradition, on the days you attend the official carnaval parade, everyone in the camarotes (party boxes) of the Sambadrome represents a samba school. They do so by wearing t-shirts that are created for each performing samba school. We customized our jerseys into sequined tops — the flashier the better because carnaval is all about color — and grabbed our entry tickets. The dress code also applies to those spectating in Sambadrome Marquês de Sapucaí, a designated carnaval venue originally constructed for Rio’s carnaval celebration in 1984.

The 2023 parade featured tales of conquest and love. Dancers of multiple generations rejoiced and sang to honor their Brazilian heritage. There were myriads of dance numbers and choreographed scenes that referenced stories of colonization, community, matrimony, history, and equality. The rhinestone-decorated bustiers, feathers, masquerades, chanting in unison, and pelvis-swinging music all contribute to the ecstasy that permeates through the air.

A Moment for History

In 2023, there was a major focus on the Afro-Brazilian diaspora, reflecting the diverse demographics of Brazil’s largely black population. Brazil is the second-largest Black nation outside of Africa. The samba school Beija-Flor posed intergenerational Afro-Brazilian performers on their floats holding hands. The image of togetherness was powerful. Beija-Flor’s floats displayed African farms being taken over by European colonizers who first sailed to South America centuries ago, a pivotal moment in Brazil’s colonial history that should not to be forgotten.

Then, the parade transformed into a modern scene about the country’s current toils with police brutality and Brazil’s major inequality crisis, with projected imagery of protests on top of a parked police vehicle. Nevertheless, hope prevailed through these darker scenes, and the group’s finale was marked by a guest appearance from Brazilian pagode superstar Ludmilla. Dancers sprinted down the runway holding rainbow pride flags, leaving love and togetherness as the final sentiments of their performance.

When the main parade wasn’t on, the bloccos (block parties) took over. Some tourists make the choice not to attend the parade so that they can visit multiple bloccos a day. Most block parties are in Leblon, Ipanema Beach, Centro, Pedra do Sal, and Lapa, the epicenter of Rio’s nightlife.

Go For the Party, Stay For the Feijoada

One of our first stops after touching down is at Boteco Belmonte, a famous Brazilian restaurant chain. They serve typical Brazilian staples like the beany, meaty stew Feijoada, Bacalhau (salted cod), farofa (pulverized cassava flour), pao de queijo (cheese bread), and more. A caipirinha is Brazil’s version of a margarita. Caipirinhas, or caips for short, are made with a sugar-cane fermented alcohol called cachaça and mixed with lime and sugar. Caips are often seen prepared at mobile bar stalls accompanying classic street foods like pão de queijo, kibe (meat patties), and mandioca frito (cassava chips).

A Cabana in the Shade

Ideal places to stay range from the shaded, jam-packed shore of Ipanema beach, where Two Brother Mountain protrudes in the background, or away from the noise in the posh, tropical rainforest neighborhoods of Praia da Joatinga, where climbing tamarin monkeys live. We opted for the tucked away homes of Joá (Joatinga hills) to have moments of peace outside from the main parts of Rio. If you are choosing to buy tickets to the official carnaval parade, staying closer to Central Rio may be the wisest choice so that you don’t have to rely on public transportation.

Venture Outside of Rio

If you are yearning for more restorative days on your trip, outside the crowded spaces of carnaval, there are several other Brazilian cities (Recife, São Paulo, Brasília, Porto Alegre) that feature beaches and tropic canopies and give the feel of urban rainforests. We went to the symbolic Christ the Redeemer statue, an often lightning-struck landmark in Rio’s Tijuca National Park that is worth visiting up close.

The religious sculpture stands high in the surrounding Tijuca forest. There are plenty of waterfalls, trails, reptiles, and mammals to hike among. We decided not to but many even took a helicopter ride above the Sugarloaf mountain cable cars to catch a full glance of what the city has to offer inside its 463 miles and over 80 beaches. The fearless, daredevil travelers tend to partake in paragliding and hanggliding that is met with airborne heights where only high-flying frigatebirds and black vultures frequent.

Outside of the tourist areas, many Rio natives live in stacked low-income housing communities (favelas), mostly in the mountains, except for favela Vidigal. This beach-adjacent neighborhood is usually only reachable by motor-bike, however, during carnaval, a van takes tourists to the top, under police protection. (The favelas are unfortunately known to be violent and controlled by drug lords.) These blocks are increasingly patrolled by police as the new president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva enforces safety measures in vicinities that suffer from fatal gun violence and theft. A closer look into the favelas gives tourists a special sight into the streets where Brazilian culture lives and breathes.

Hit the Praia

The beach culture of Brazil is like no other. The beach is a lively and round-the-clock affair, with many outdoor bars, food vendors, sun bathers, and pick up futebal games. Set up camp by renting a beach chair and umbrella, take out your speaker and watch the day pass by. Escaping to praias or further south to the forest terrains of Barra can help assuage the chaos of carnaval’s weeklong, nearly 24 hour festivities. A caipirinha on the praia is the customary way to quench your thirst in Rio’s humid summer.

Saudade

The portuguese word saudade describes an unequivocal, special longing that is nearly indescribable in English. Saudade is constantly used in samba music, the word lends itself to a feeling that expresses a deep love for a memory, person or place. Rio de Janeiro’s carnaval is a revelry of saudade for Brazil, with its diverse population, abundant culture, and colorful history.

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Images courtesy of the writer.

Malik Peay is a music, travel, film, and fashion journalist. @MalikPeay

The most-watched 1990s television show in Black family homes was NBC’s Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Fresh Prince starred rapper-turned-actor Will Smith — a homegrown talent from West Philadelphia with a fictional televised story based loosely on his life.

The family series was broadcast for six seasons ending in 1996. During its third season, the Banks family, known for taking in the trouble-maker main character Will, was televised in over 20 million households and held the second highest TV ratings of 1992 to 1993. The famed success of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air slingshotted Will Smith into a multi-decade career of acting, producing, and music-making.

Today the Los Angeles family’s storylines and deep moments of togetherness have now returned in a fresh revival series called Bel-Air on NBC’s streaming platform Peacock.

Bel-Air, a more serious take on Fresh Prince, is Peacock’s most-streamed original series to date and has just been renewed for a third season. Like the original, Will, a snapback-on-the-side wearing teenager from West Philadelphia with major growing pains, is dropped off in the boujee, gated neighborhoods of Bel-Air to live with his extended relatives.

In Peacock’s reboot, they don’t try to steep heavily into nostalgia, instead giving the series a modern revamp that makes its characters more relevant to Gen Z, exemplifying Black excellence at its core. R&B singer Coco Jones plays the swanky Hilary Banks and Will’s goofy cousin Carlton Banks is reenacted by Olly Sholoton. Jazlyn Martin, a rising Afro-Latina actress (This Is Us, The High Note) plays a new interpretation of one of Will’s childhood friends and love interests, Jackie Ames, the role previously played by Tyra Banks.

Jazlyn Martin names the tucked away city of Sunland, just outside of Los Angeles, as her first home. Known colloquially as “The Valley,” the local region is oftentimes hailed as a glitzy dreamscape painted by early Hollywood films. Captivated at a young age by the film industry, she gradually gained her acting chops and began booking jobs that would land her in national commercials, music videos and guest-starring roles. The dancer, musician and actor waited for the phone call she received in the spring of 2022 her whole life.

She recalled the excitement she felt when she received the call, “I can’t believe I get to make my own version of this iconic show that my parents [used to] watch… I get to act in scenes that have gritty, deep messages that the [original] comedy may have not touched on by bringing Jackie Ames to life again.”

With the focus of the new series less on quick laughs, Bel-Air confronts difficult topics surrounding mental health, social media exposure, and more. The suspenseful nature of the show effectively relates the Banks family to younger audiences while acting as a tribute to the 90’s comedy for nostalgia tv watchers.

In Bel-Air, Jackie Ames is a self-made South Central LA-native who is obviously sparking Will’s interest. Their connection develops into a young romance after Ames schools Will on the basketball court. Her character is Afro-Latina in the reboot, more accurately depicting South Central’s largely Black and Latino population. Jazlyn addresses how she “never really knew what being Afro-Latina was” as a kid, but she was aware of her family’s blended culture. “All the Latinas that I ever did see on screen were white-passing, and a lot of Afro-Latino actors were always casted solely as Black characters that didn’t express their Latin heritage.” Now, she is overjoyed that her first television role is an iteration of her true self and the cultural impact she wants to have by building visibility.

“Being from South Central dictates what Jackie’s environment is and what she has grown accustomed to,” Jazlyn Martin tells LATINA. “Her city is beautifully populated with Black and Mexican communities.” Martin adds that the reason Will and Jackie fall for each other is because she is his version of home away from Philadelphia. “Jackie is very independent and headstrong. She has been through a lot and is fully aware of what she doesn’t like in a person and what she does, which unfolds in the show.”

“Bel-Air is a very important Black show to this generation, and this is my first big role so I feel like I am stepping into new waters,” Martin confesses. “Jackie’s perspective in her life is so different from mine. She is teaching me that all humans are trying to just survive and it just looks different on everybody. Playing pretend through Jackie Ames, someone who didn’t receive a lot of privilege, is expanding my empathy and grace towards humanity.” Jazlyn Martin’s effervescent yet strong performance in Bel-Air exhibits the heart she wears for her culture, community, and Will on her sleeves.

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Malik Peay is a Los Angeles-based entertainment and culture writer who has written for Vanity Fair, Hollywood Reporter, Rolling Stone, LA Times, Essence, Insider, and more.

Ludmilla is the uncontested princess of the Brazilian music genre pagode, a subgenre of samba. Akin to western R&B music but drenched in Latin culture, Ludmilla thrives in the world of pagode. The 27-year-old spent her childhood and teenage years in Rio De Janeiro’s Duque de Caxias suburb. At eight years old, spoiled by her mother and grandmother’s cooking and unconditional love, she would sing to the heavens and fantasize of one day becoming an on-stage singer. Today, she’s weaving the essence of the graffiti-covered neighborhoods where she grew up, full of Afro-Brazilian dreamers and street musicians, into the traditional cloth of pagode. Ludmilla’s 2014 breakout single “Sem Querer” embraced Latin club pop and, to this day, her proven talent is for performing infectious funk that activates the hips with the resplendent tunes of samba.

Now a fixture in Brazil’s club scene, Ludmilla has made her name known throughout Rio, from the street to the city’s famed stages. The artist’s 2022 Salvador music fest performance sold out to a sea of fans. Her pop-up concerts, full of thousands of concertgoers, are no different. The star continuously leaves every corner of Rio De Janeiro paraded and jam-packed with ebullient fans who know her discography in full. The uncontrollable delirium from the thousands of fans herded together at every one of her shows marks Ludmilla as Brazil’s latest pop-phenom.

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Prior to Ludmilla’s fame, she used to perform as MC Beyoncé, inspired by the Houston-bred superstar. Today, Ludmilla has transcended icon-status in her home country, made apparent by her Carnaval performance with Beija-Flor. Her 2023 bloccos (Carnaval block afterparties) broke the record for most attendees with over 1.5 million fans parading the streets. Daniel Caesar even stepped out with a live special duet rendition of “Get You.” And Ludmilla’s latest single, the trap-samba-pop “Sou Má” featuring Tasha & Tracie, credits Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and Pharrell Williams as composers. For the Brazilian performer, the astronomical trajectory of her musical career is orbiting closer and closer to where stars are born.

In 2022, Ludmilla took home her first Latin Grammy for Numanice #2, a neo-samba album overflowing with the sweeping sounds of Rio. Tamborims, snare couplet drums, synced trumpets, shakers, and more share the euphonic foreground for Ludmilla’s sweet-toned voice to melodize with the modern band. She is also the first Black Latin artist to reach over one billion streams on Spotify. Ludmilla spoke to LATINA before Rio De Janeiro’s week-long Carnaval celebration to reflect on her childhood dreams, releasing music in English, and a new album that is set to release in March.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

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You are currently touring South America and have recently come off of some amazing performances. Recalling your musical journey, what was it like at the very beginning versus where you are today?

I started singing when I was eight years old and I realized I was creating natural pagode rhythms that were familiar to Brazil. Pagode is very similar to R&B in the West. I would always sing with my family in Rio and it’s becoming very popular here again.

Nowadays, my career has gotten really big, bigger than I could ever dream of as an Afro-Brazilian female artist. I began to break a lot of records. I just can’t believe most of my music is in Spotify’s Top 50 and remains there. But at eight [years old], I had first heard about Beyoncé and was like: “Who’s that girl? She’s so free. She is super emotional like me and the crowd loves her. I need to be like her one day.” My first stage name was MC Beyonce and I had all these outfits, the hair… I wanted to be just like her. I would never expect that I would become a recognized Black female singer in Latin America this fast. The journey was really hard. A lot of people tried to take me down but their attempts failed, and now I feel free to sing pop, funk, or trap music. The success I have now allows me to be able to do what I want. I am not inside a box anymore, they are.

How was growing up in the suburbs of Rio?

All my family was so supportive of me. We just lived our lives, opposite from what people may think of me, or the ideas they try to push onto me because I am Afro-Brazilian in this music space. I had the opportunity to study and to live all the stages of my life before fame. Growing up in Rio was really good. I feel lucky.

What are some of your earliest childhood memories?

When I was 15, I used to throw so many parties. They would be at my house without my mom knowing. One day at the beauty salon, my mom was getting her nails and hair done. A kid from my neighborhood came over to my mom and asked for tickets to my party at our family’s house. My mom was so angry when she found out, she left the salon immediately with her hair curlers and confronted me.

I was at the computer selling more tickets for another party I was hosting. Then she saw the bag of money I was making from charging friends. My mom got interested and we started creating parties together with her permission. They used to always sell out and she would help with the catering. She was always so supportive of me and I think these parties helped with me getting comfortable on stage and in front of crowds of hundreds. Now, in Brazil, I am known as the Queen of selling out [venues] and I never knew this would be the same for my own concerts.

Do you have any Brazilian artists that have mentored you or inspired you?

Marilia Mendocha created great art. She was on top and was always super nice to me. Other Brazilian artists like Belo have been by my side and continue to show love.

What music do you play when dancing with your family and friends to celebrate?

[It] depends on if I am in São Paulo or Rio De Janeiro, I just want to please people and make sure everyone is present at the parties when it’s more with my family. We will play some samba, traditional music, Funk, and just let go. If I am in Sao Paulo, I will play more Rosalia and modern artists.

With the success of your Grammy-winning album, Numanice #2, what is it like to see the influence of your music in Brazil?

I was super happy because this project humanized me. “Numanice #2” wasn’t a project that the record label wanted to release. There was a certain instinct that was telling me that I needed to do this. I feel super touched when I see people singing all the songs at the concerts and I get so emotional. People are screaming my name and I finally see pagode music becoming more popular in Brazil. I knew the genre wasn’t gone and you can hear the music everywhere today.

When you are not creating music or singing, what do you love to do in your off time?

When I am not in a creative mood, I love to spend time with my wife. We will just relax together and be normal people. Away from the spotlight, media, and everything.

Let’s talk about the way you blend R&B, samba, bossa, pop, and trap. I know this album was made a year after Numanice. Share a bit about your process of creating this album.

I was working so hard on this album for two years. I would listen to the songs and do everything over again if I wasn’t pleased with it. I brought a lot of references from R&B music. I sang in rhythms that people usually don’t consume a lot in Brazil, but I wanted to do something that I really believed in.

How are you celebrating Carnaval this month?

I am super excited because I am coming back this year with another parade. Last year, I confirmed that more than a million and a half people were on the streets during my presentation. At last year’s parade, thousands were just singing my songs. The theme for this year’s parade float is villains so we will all be dressed up as characters from movies, tv, cartoons. We are expecting more people this year too.

What are your goals for 2023?

I am going to release an album in March. This album is especially elevated and more eclectic, at the moment.

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Malik Peay is a music, travel, film, and fashion journalist. @MalikPeay

Netflix’s stab at the infamous Addams Family arc concentrates on the titular teenager Wednesday, played by Jenna Ortega. The eight-episode season, shot in Bucharest, Romania and executive produced by Tim Burton, inspects a macabre chain of murders that take place at Gomez (Luis Guzmán) and Morticia Addams’s (Catherine Zeta-Jones) alma mater, Nevermore Academy. The New York-bred actor Luis Guzmán plays the new Gomez, who was famously played by fellow Puerto Rican entertainer Raul Julia over two decades ago. With about 40 years of acting oeuvre, Guzmán gives a welcomed take on the Addams patriarch with his crooked snarl, delightful snarky wit and, of course, a steaming desire for his soulmate, “Tish” (Morticia).

A household name in TV and cinema, Luis Guzmán has played a myriad of roles, mixing cleverness and vice in TV and movies like Narcos (2015), Magnolia (1999), Boogie Nights (1997) and Carlito’s Way (1993). In his latest role, Guzmán’s portrayal of Gomez is similar in physicality to the original 1938 Gomez, without the stunts we saw from 1991’s Raul Julia. From his home in Puerto Rico, Guzmán spoke to LATINA about his admiration for the late Julia, who was the last to embody Gomez. “He did such great work as an actor, and for me to step into this role was something that I was really thrilled and happy about. I just want to continue to honor the legacy of the Addams family.”

The twisted on-screen patriarchal lineage of the Addams family has transcended throughout decades of entertainment, from its cartoon inception in the 30’s, to its 1964 TV reboot, to the widely-known 90’s franchise. With the legacies of John Astin and Raul Julia behind him, Guzmán conjures the latest Addams father with precision and a modern twist. For this, Guzmán credits Burton, who directed four episodes of the Addams’ new world. “Tim Burton gives a certain level of realness to the directing and script writing that was really incredible. With those two ingredients together, as an actor, you pretty much just run with the comedy that came out of the writing,” recounted Guzmán.

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Taking the parody of the classic American family deeper, Wednesday places importance on creating a supportive, healthy depiction of Latino fatherhood. This comes in contrast to previous Gomezes, now with less machismo and fixation on wealth. His family’s Latino heritage is cinematically more tangible, without diluting his signature characteristics. This modern rendition offers a deeper look into the cultural and spiritual traditions of their Latin ancestry. With nods to Día de Los Muertos, “La Llorona” musical folklore, brujería-like seances and use of Spanish vernacular, the Addams family feels even more connected to the culture. “As our voices have grown, we continue to grow,” Guzmán expresses with gratitude as a longtime actor who got his first big break in crime films. “I believe that is really important when it comes to audiences, knowing that the Latino audience is the biggest supporter of this genre in the entertainment industry. For that, I believe we need to have more Latino producers, directors and actors to create our own stories,” explains Guzmán.

We also see a new layer of modernity added to Gomez. Guzmán plays a Gomez who is unable to escape from his troubling past, but through therapy, becomes willing to put in the work. This unfolds when Wednesday discovers her father’s been accused of murder and works to exonerate the Addams’ stained reputation. To unearth the truth about what happened, Gomez and Wednesday commit to heart-to-heart therapy sessions together. Here she admits that Gomez bestowed her the “strength” and “independence” to get through life’s “darkest moments.” This emotional scene breaks through to the softness beneath the characters’ gothic, guarded exteriors, and brings them closer. Guzmán comments on the stigma surrounding therapy in Latino households, “Latinos never sit down as a family and discuss our issues, discuss our problems, and open up to each other. That is why therapy is really important because in the past it was so taboo. There are so many broken families because they just can’t confront, hear, cry or laugh with each other and deal with issues head-on. I hope the Addams family gets to heal those wounds.”

Netflix’s reintroduction of the Addams family salutes former installments with evolutionary casting while maintaining its essence of ghoulish satire in the scriptwriting. Gomez is the beating heart of the Addams family, while Wednesday is the brains; Luis Guzmán’s performance and character actuate the mystery developments in the series while cementing the Latin community in this genre. Appraising the misfits’ portrait of cinema’s most cynical family, with Guzmán as the impassioned television father, Gomez is mobilizing the new age.

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All eight episodes of Wednesday are available to stream on Netflix.