Being a rebel is an undeniable part of becoming a rock star, and that’s something that Carli Muñoz couldn’t avoid when he was a kid. He had a head full of music, but little patience for music lessons. Lucky for him, the owner of the instrument store let him pound out his own musical education on the store piano.

Michael Stuart, born in New York to Puerto Rican parents, received his musical education from his uncle Israel Timbalero Stuart, who helped him secure background vocal gigs for Johnny Rivera and Marc Antony. Since 1996, Stuart has released nine records, his latest a salsa album entitled Sentimiento de un Rumbero released on Machete Records in 2007.

We asked Carli Muñoz if he’d play a few bars of his latest compositions, and, luckily for us, he obliged. One of the tunes, “Portrait of Mia,” was written for his brand-new hija, Mia. We’re wondering if he’ll ever address her as mi’ja.

“Rock en español” is what we refer to the relatively new movement of musicians from Spanish speaking countries singing in their native language. Back in the sixties and seventies, these musicians were taken up with rock like much of the rest of the world, but they sang in English. Puerto Rican Carli Muñoz explains while looking back over his career.

Deep in the heart of Old San Juan you can hear live salsa music playing most any night at the Nuyorican Cafe. We stepped into the alley for a breather and had a little chat with two lovely salseras to get an insider view of what brings them back to the dance floor night after night.

Puerto Rican by birth, Luis Fonsi moved at an early age to Orlando, Florida. Despite having participated in a number of minor “boy bands,” it wasn’t until he was discovered by the president of the music school at the University of Florida, where he was a student, that he was offered a sizable recording contract. Success came quickly as his reputation spread throughout Latin America.

Of course tuve is the preterite yo form tener, so one might be misled to think that the refrain of this tune is “I had, I had.” However, in casual speech on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico, tú ve’ is short for tú ves (“you see”), but the uninitiated could easily mistake it for the verb tuve (“I had”). ¿Tú ve’?

Have you ever had una sospecha (a suspicion)? Puerto Rico’s Circo explores restless uncertainty and mines a treasure chest of carnivalesque imagery from the world of Santeria, that mix of African deity worship and Catholicism that sprouted after African slaves arrived on the shores of the new world.

The Puerto Rican rockers Circo never do explain what the accidente was exactly, but it doesn’t make this music video any less entertaining to hear. Lead singer Fofé (aka José Luis Abreu, formerly of El Manjar de los Dioses) sounds at times like a latin Robert Smith of the Cure. But maybe it’s the other way around, since Smith is said to be a fan....

Oye, Vivanativa puts the effee in funky! This grupo boricua has been taking the island, and now the world, like a category five hurricane heading straight for San Juan.

Puerto Rican duo Calle 13 and famed Cuban singer-songwriter, Silvio Rodriguez, team up to bring us this tune about how love can turn one's world around. Its charming video won the 2015 Latin Grammy award for Best Short Form Music Video

Bacilos was a Latin pop band founded in Miami and comprised of members from Puerto Rico, Brazil, Colombia and the United States. "Mi Primer Millón" ("My First Million"), a song about their desire to make it in the music business, won the Latin Grammy for Best Record in 2003.

Luis López Nieves' short story "Seva" takes place during the 1898 US invasion of Puerto Rico, in the fictional town of the same name, Seva. The story, first published in the newspaper Claridad, and which many readers mistook for fact, has sparked a very real debate about culture, identity, history and truth amongst Puerto Ricans of all stripes. The documentary Seva Vive explores these themes.

Ricky’s back. And he’s got a positive message to spread. Here’s the first single from his first album in nearly six years… his first since coming out of the closet.

Puerto Rican pop star Chayanne is infatuated… Not so much with a girl as with her succulent lips and mouth. He can’t get her mouth off of his mind!