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Rumbazo Festival performer Yendry unites listeners with her Latin grooves

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Yendry
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It feels like Las Vegas’ entertainment options are multiplying by the day, and Rumbazo, a one-day Latin music and culture festival set for the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center on September 10, represents a strong recent addition to the scene.

The inaugural edition will boasts an award-winning lineup of Latin stars, headlined by Colombian mainstay Maluma and also featuring bachata artist Prince Royce, genre-bending singer Omar Apollo, reggaeton royal Ivy Queen, rapper Natanael Cano and Dominican-Italian singer-songwriter Yendry.

“The biggest thing about Latin culture is feeling like you belong to a community,” Yendry tells the Weekly. “I think this festival is going to really feel like that, plus it’s going to be my very first festival gig in the U.S., first time in Las Vegas, so it’s amazing to represent my culture.”

The 29-year-old shines as one of Latin music’s most promising rising artists, having collaborated with superstar J Balvin and earned nominations at the prestigious Premio Lo Nuestro Awards. The Weekly caught up with Yendry ahead of her 5:30 p.m. Rumbazo set to talk Hispanic Heritage Month, embracing identity and more.

Rumbazo Festival is a celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. What does that month mean to you and how do you honor it? I read books about the Dominican Republic, about the history of it, about colonization, about a lot of stuff I want to know about my culture. … I celebrate it every day, even by cooking myself some sancocho. … But this month is really about getting other people to know our culture and to develop that inclusivity we’ve wanted for a long time.

I’ve been talking about Hispanic Heritage Month with Oprah [Daily], [and] I’ve done Tiny Desk at NPR for Hispanic Heritage Month, so these are moments where I can actually highlight my culture and topics that are part of my culture, like immigration, what [my song] “Nena” is about for example, and also empowering girls. Latin girls who are outside of their native countries, and they’re struggling to find their identity. That’s a big deal for people like me.

Who would you say empowered you in that way growing up? My mother and my aunties, because even if we were in Italy, they’ve always brought that culture to me. … We had barbecues at the end of the week, where we’d cook Dominican food and speak Spanish and have that Dominican vibe. They kept it very alive for me in a place where I could have just ... slip[ped] away from that. In terms of artists, Selena, and also Jennifer Lopez was a big influence for me when I was a kid, because she was the first one I actually associated with as a Latin person.

Your music is very connected to your family’s past. Like “Nena” is about your mom immigrating to Italy. Are there more stories like that to tell? Or have you said everything you’ve wanted to say? We don’t talk about it enough, but there’s a lot of people who have the same story. … My story is very common in the Latin community but not only for us honestly. In Italy, a lot of African people who come over have the same story. … If I’m actually sharing my music with other people, I want to share my story. I am who I am because of this, and I’m very proud of that. I want people to feel proud about where they come from and what they’ve been through and to celebrate it instead of hiding it. Sometimes there’s a little bit of shame in that. … My neighborhood in Santo Domingo, it’s a very tough neighborhood, but I never felt like I had to hide it. I want people like me to feel like they can talk about it openly.

Is that where the inspiration for your mini documentary, last year’s En El Patio, came from? Definitely. People think they know artists, but we have a whole personal life. Especially now with social media, you decide what you want to put out. So these are things that nobody can see, and I just want to be very transparent about who I am, about my message and my art. So that was more, “Hey, guys, this is where I come from.” I’m introducing myself.

Would you say Latin music is getting more mainstream attention? Latin music is getting way more understood. There are different artists bringing something new and fresh to the table, like Omar Apollo ... or The Marias. It’s good to have this new wave of people being transparent about what they’re doing. They’re sharing their own stories, and they’re making different music, but it’s still very accessible. You still enjoy it. It’s still commercial.

I feel like this is the right moment for me, as well, to open up, because I used to sing in English before, and I started to sing in Spanish because I had a reconnection to my roots. I started to sing in Spanish, and I got goosebumps. Like, “OK, there’s something there,” and I want to express it in this language right now. It’s definitely become a wave, and it’s becoming bigger.

Do you feel like your music can be a gateway to Spanish-language music, for people who might not listen to it? I feel that with “Nena,” “Barrio” and even “El Diablo,” which is half Spanish, half English. A lot of people from different countries who are not Spanish speaking, like in Turkey, Japan or Denmark, Switzerland … they were like, “Listen, I don’t know what you’re saying, but I love the vibe, and I started to translate your lyrics, and I’m learning a little bit of Spanish” (laughs). It’s amazing.

Sometimes they send me voice notes in broken Spanish, and they’re like, “I’m learning Spanish thanks to your song.” I feel like an inspiration for that. I went through that with English. I used to translate songs to understand what they were saying, and music really helped me do that. It’s a universal language. You don’t really have to understand, but it’s good that it’s getting people inspired to do that.

What are you listening to these days? I’m always listening to Radiohead all the time. They’re something that’s always there for me, no matter what new songs I listen to. I’m listening to more Afrobeat right now, because I’ve been working with DJ Spinall from Nigeria. I’m listening to Burna Boy right now, and artists like SZA and the new Kendrick Lamar album.

What should we expect from your new album coming in October? I’m trying to mix two different worlds, and I’m trying to make my music more experimental, to have less boundaries. When people ask me about the album, I always say it touches those topics I’m still talking about, like traveling a lot, having a family that’s ... not depending on you but I say you always have that cultural baggage that you take with yourself. The fact that my mom immigrated to a different country to give me better opportunities, and now I’m doing something out of it, and I’m having to travel to other countries for work, or to make it happen, is a cycle. It’s gonna really be about that and the traveling, the struggles and the love we have for family. In the Latin community, I feel like we have this special bond with family.

There’s gonna be different genres as well, because I think for me, it’s more about stepping into the idea that I’m free to jump into other genres that are not necessarily from my culture, but I can bring my culture into them. I’m trying to cross cultures and trying to make it in the right way. It’s taking more time, but I’m very sure it’s gonna be saucy.

What do you hope people take away from your performance at Rumbazo? I’m gonna give a different experience from what it is to just sing on top of instrumentals. With the band, you really get the live music experience, the sort of experience you have when you go see artists like Erykah Badu, big artists that are more into music than performing. … It’s a festival, so we’re gonna have to dance and jump and have fun. There’s definitely [going to be] some rock styles and more of an indie band in terms of how the music is rearranged. But I love when people go to see a concert, and they have a different experience from the music that they’re listening to on digital platforms. I’m really trying to give that.

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Tags: Nightlife, Music
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Amber Sampson

Amber Sampson is a Staff Writer for Las Vegas Weekly. She got her start in journalism as an intern at ...

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