Latina.com Blog

There was plenty to celebrate during Wednesday night’s announcement of the 2009 Grammy nominations–except of course, for the snubbing of El Cangrí, Daddy Yankee–but nothing made me more psyched than Karina Pasian’s nod for Best Contemporary R&B album. The Dominican singer just turned 17, and her debut album, Karina, was released in August–and now she’s in the running for a Grammy against industry giants like Mary J. Blige and Ne-Yo! Given my own excitement, I couldn’t even imagine how she was feeling. So I decided to call her and find out:

Congratulations on your nomination!

Thank you so much. I’m really, really excited.

Where were you when you first heard the news?

Well, I was doing my homework and we were watching the nominations on TV. And we knew they weren’t going to announce every single category, but since I was pre-nominated for six of them my Dad had all my uncles over the house, and they all had drinks and stuff. I was like, ‘Dad, you could at least wait until we find out!’

When the show finished, they said the rest of the nominees would be listed online, so my sister checked and shouted “Karina’s nominated!” and I was like, “Oh my God, I’m nominated!” And I was like crying and screaming…the whole reaction was so amazing. Everyone in my house was cheering. We were throwing a party.

I bet you didn’t get back to your homework after that.

No, I really didn’t! [laughs]

You’re in pretty big company–Mary J. Blige, Ne-Yo–how does it feel?

To me it’s just an honor–you know, knowing that there were other people that I was chosen over, basically. This is my first album and I’m only 17, and to get my first Grammy nomination is like a dream! I really feel like I’m living my dream right now.

Have you already started to think about who you’ll bring to the ceremony?
Yes, my entire family. I would really want to take them all.

I know it’s early, but have you thought about what you’ll wear?

I started thinking about that, too. Probably some designer like Versace, or Gucci [laughs]…I know I have some time to choose and check out what I’m going to wear. That’s gonna be fun.

What are you most proud of, in terms of what you’ve achieved with your debut album?

I’m just really proud of the fact that it’s reached a lot people. I get a lot of emails everyday, and comments on MySpace, from people who say that my songs have inspired them to sing or be more positive in life. I’m really just happy that I achieved that with this album, because that’s what I wanted to do.

Well you definitely achieved that and a whole lot more this year. Now if you had to make a resolution for 2009, what would it be?
Every time I make those I never keep them. But this is my senior year of high school, so it would probably have to do with that…graduating!

-Monica

I’m a sucker for year-end lists. As redundant as they often are, it’s still fun to read other people’s rankings of all the cultural highs and lows of the past 12 months–and it’s even more fun to analyze/disagree with them!

So the first thing I noticed when iTunes released its numbers for 2008 today is that A) My least favorite band in the entire world, Coldplay, had the best selling album this year, with their very faux-Latin sounding Viva La Vida. Feel free to disagree with me in the comments, but in my opinion this is a most undeserved accolade. Who’s buying this crap?!

On to B: There are zero Latin artists on the list! What a shame. Being the pesky audiophiliac I am, I immediately hit up the folks at iTunes Latino to get our numbers, and they were quick to send me this link with all the rankings. Now let’s break this baby down.

For starters, the top-selling single of ‘08 is, tragically, “Te Quiero,” a reggaeton love song (is there any other kind of reggaeton song these days?) by the panameño known as Flex* (pictured above). This, plus the presence of either Wisin, Yandel or Wisin & Yandel four times in the top 15, proves that the only way to approach reggaeton and be commercially successful nowadays is to treat your song’s lyrics as Ne-Yo would, and just romance the hell out of us ladies. Recounting life en el barrio or providing social commentary just won’t do.

The top-selling albums of the year are Juanes’ La Vida…Es Un Ratico and Luis Miguel’s Complices. You might expect me to complain about this, too, but I actually had such a huge crush on Luismi as a tween, that I once waited outside the back entrance of Radio City Music Hall for a full hour after his concert, just to catch a closer glimpse of the man himself. When I finally did, I cried happy tears. I can’t believe I’m confessing that but it’s true.

More reactions: I wish there were more female artists included. I’m super psyched to see Angel y Khriz included on the Best New Artist list, because I think they’re the future of reggaeton. And I love that Manu Chao’s Radiolina and Julieta Venegas’ Unplugged are the #5 and #6 top selling albums–very promising for Latin alternative acts! Maybe one day we can even come up with a better genre name for them.

My personal fave albums of the year are Calle 13’s Los De Atras Vienen Conmigo, Monte Negro’s Cicatrix and…wait a minute! I’m not going to give it all away just yet. Come back for my fully fleshed out list of the Top Songs and Albums of 2008, and start making your own list, too. Heck, make a list of the worst ones. I’m all ears.

-Monica

*Only in the U.S. Outside of the States, Flex is known as the N-word, a fact that continues to boggle my mind.

For all you hardcore David Archuleta fans out there, here’s a quick scoop before Thanksgiving. I met up with David and his incredibly sweet mother, Lupe Archuleta, just yesterday–check out our matching scarf action in this photo!–and the pop star revealed that “Touch My Hand” will no longer be his next single, as many outlets have been reporting:

“They changed it. It’s gonna be “A Little Too Not Over You” now. That’s one I wrote with Robbie Neville, who wrote “One Step at a Time” for Jordin [Sparks], and Matthew Gerard, who wrote “Breakaway” for Kelly [Clarkson]…It was cool because it’s like, I can’t believe I’m working with these people. Sometimes I feel like I’m wasting their time because they’re working with some kid who came off of American Idol who laughs too much and stuff [laughs]. But it was cool, they were really great to work with and I learned a lot.”

Though I generally gravitate towards “Touch My Hand” when I listen to David’s album (it sounds vaguely Tears for Fears-esque to me, and I love that), I think this is a smart change of strategy. “A Little Too Not Over You” helps to validate him as a pop-R&B artist who sounds current (a la Chris Brown–speaking of which, can you believe how far David’s come since his awkward cover of “With You” on Idol?), and not just the adult contemporary favorite of grannies across the nation.

David also talked about what it was like to be in the company of so many A-list artists at the American Music Awards this past weekend:

“I felt like I wasn’t supposed to be there or something! I still feel like I need to prove myself, that I should be here among all the other artists and stuff. I was excited to see Pink, Leona Lewis, and Daughtry, and Chris Brown, and Annie Lennox, and Jordin–but I’m friends with Jordin! She’s awesome, I love her. She’s always giving me advice–she’s like, make sure you’re giving yourself some breathing time and taking care of your voice, and just remember to have a good time. Things like that…Jordin is like my big sister, and David Cook’s like my big brother.”

Aw. We hope David stays this humble forever.

What do you think, Chuleta fans…do you like “A Little Too Not Over You” better than “Touch My Hand”? And make sure you check back next week for our video interview with David and Lupe Archuleta, where David talks about the Spanish-language version of “Crush” he’s recording, reveals that Lupe has recorded a couple of songs herself (much to his mami’s dismay!), and much more…Happy Thanksgiving!

-Monica