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Ecos en Color
(Echos in Color)
"Ecos en color" is a vibrant reflection of my life journey, celebrating my passions for travel, graphic design, music, photography, and art! It showcases my identity as a proud gay Black and Hispanic man, aiming to inspire others to dream big and think differently. Expect exciting stories from my travels, behind-the-scenes glimpses of fashion shoots, and insights on branding. I'll also share the impactful books I've read and the rich diversity of growing up in NYC. Join me on this colorful adventure!
The Cultural Phenomenon of Luther Vandross
Luther Vandross was the soundtrack to my adolescence. That butter-smooth voice playing in my mother's kitchen while she made her famous stew, in borrowed cars cruising The Grand Concourse, at every slow jam moment that mattered. He was just there, like oxygen, so constant and essential that you didn't always think to ask why his music hit the way it did. But this past summer, I finally got curious. I walked into Luther: Never Too Much , Dawn Porter's documentary, expecting t
joie
3 days ago3 min read
Faith. Hope. George Michael
Faith Picture this: a middle school gymnasium, crepe paper streamers drooping from the basketball hoops, and "Careless Whisper" playing over crackling speakers while we shuffled awkwardly. Was it appropriate for twelve-year-olds? Absolutely not. Did we care? Even less. It was the late '80s, and Wham! was everywhere "Everything She Wants" stayed on heavy rotation on my record player. One More Try official video But then "One More Try" arrived and absolutely demolished me. This
joie
Dec 10, 20253 min read
When My Cousin's Vinyl Collection Became My Emotional Education: A Sade Origin Story
My cousin Alma possessed what appeared to my childhood eyes as the largest record collection on Earth and honestly, she might've given serious collectors a run for their money. Her apartment was a temple of vinyl, and we cousins would commandeer her turntable for hours, spinning records until the grooves wore thin. Then Alma walked through the door cradling Diamond Life like it was made of glass and gold. When Sade Adu's voice poured from those speakers, something fundamenta
joie
Dec 5, 20254 min read
Top 5 Songs That Taught Me English And Scandalized My Entire Family
The face of an Angel. FYI - Drove my mom nuts that I would always make funny faces in pictures. Picture this: a five-year-old who spoke zero English but could belt out every single lyric to "Nasty Girl" with the conviction of a seasoned backup dancer auditioning for Soul Train. That was me fresh off Caribbean beaches armed with nothing but Spanish, Garifuna, and an impressive vocabulary of English curse words courtesy of my grandmother. My family was terrified I'd be stuck in
joie
Nov 21, 20254 min read
How a Curly-Haired Boy and a Synth-Pop Duo Taught Me About Love (and Letting Go)
I was eighteen, heart wide open, dancing in Earl Hall when "West End Girls" started playing and this guy with soft dark curly hair and the most devastating smile just walked up and started dancing with me. That was Will Cohen, and I had exactly two choices: run like the shy boy I was, or stay and see what happened. I stayed. After the song ended, while everyone sat on the steps either "walking the runway" or observing, my friends practically shoved me toward him, but my feet
joie
Nov 20, 20252 min read
From Coffee Shop Confessions to Distance Crushes: How Three Iconic Voices Scored my 90s soundtrack
Let's be real the '90s gave us some absolute vocal powerhouses who didn't just sing songs; they felt them, and we felt every single note right along with them. Natalie Merchant left 10,000 Maniacs and dropped Tigerlily like it was a masterclass in poetic soul-searching, with tracks like "Carnival" and "Wonder" that made us believe in both whimsy and wisdom. Then there's Norah Jones, whose 2002 debut Come Away with Me technically crept into the early aughts, but let's not s
joie
Nov 19, 20251 min read
The Voice That Healed - Me & Janet
Why do I love Janet? Because she didn't just give me music. She gave me hope. She gave me a reason to keep going when I had none. Her voice has been the gentle hand on my shoulder there with me, against all odds. One of the most beautiful videos ever. Everything about it I love. Janet Jackson was born on May 16, 1966, in Gary, Indiana, the youngest of the legendary Jackson family. While the world knew her initially as Michael's little sister, Janet forged her own remarkable p
joie
Nov 17, 20254 min read
Legendary. Timeless. Unstoppable.
Two decades have flown by since Madonna dropped Confessions on a Dance Floor (Dropped 11.9.05) in 2005, and what started as my lukewarm appreciation has blossomed into full-blown obsession. I've had this album on repeat all week, and suddenly I get it . Critics back then were absolutely right to hail it as a triumphant return to form after the divisive American Life , praising Stuart Price's kaleidoscopic production wizardry and those gorgeous, seamless transitions that make
joie
Nov 17, 20252 min read
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