{"id":324510,"date":"2025-06-17T19:17:50","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T23:17:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=324510"},"modified":"2025-06-17T19:17:50","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T23:17:50","slug":"issac-delgado-music-only-betrays-you-when-you-dont-believe-in-what-youre-doing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/culture\/music-culture\/issac-delgado-music-only-betrays-you-when-you-dont-believe-in-what-youre-doing\/","title":{"rendered":"Issac Delgado: \u201cMusic only betrays you when you don\u2019t believe in what you\u2019re doing.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Issac Delgado<\/a> is a distinguished figure in Cuban popular music. He created his own group in 1991 and established a very personal stamp. He had previously been part of groups such as the Pacho Alonso Orchestra and NG La Banda.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEl Ch\u00e9vere de la salsa,\u201d a nickname that also came to him in the early 1990s and which he has not been able to shake off, was part of that wave of musicians who flooded Cuba and the world with the timba boom, although his style was always distinct, especially because it leaned closer to salsa.<\/span><\/p>\n

For many, Issac is simply the elegance that timba can also possess, that perfect blend of banter, the street, the people and exquisite taste, the cadence, the sweetness in his voice.<\/span><\/p>\n

More than four decades of work cannot be summarized in a single interview, especially when Issac Delgado continues to constantly make headlines.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just a few days ago, he released his new album, <\/span>Mira como vengo<\/span><\/i>. Just a few weeks ago, he made headlines by being the most awarded artist at Cubadisco 2025 for his tribute album to the 100th anniversary of Sonora Matancera.<\/span><\/p>\n

Summer is here, and music lovers know that Josone awaits us, the event with which Issac has once again transformed Varadero into a major cultural center.<\/span><\/p>\n

Talking to Issac Delgado is a multifaceted journey, which as an excuse we began with his new album, which arrives six years after his previous release, <\/span>Lluvia y fuego,<\/span><\/i> in 2019, although that doesn\u2019t mean the artist has been inactive \u2014 quite the opposite.<\/span><\/p>\n

Issac lives with his feet on the ground, observing and absorbing his surroundings, reality and, of course, being a part of it. The title of his new album is a call to attention, and that\u2019s where I wanted to start.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Issac Delgado. Photo: Lied Lorain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How is Issac Delgado coming?<\/b><\/p>\n

Issac comes with new music, with new insights from how we worked on this new album, which was truly a challenge because we recorded, as always, between several waters. We made part of the album here in Cuba with musicians who don\u2019t usually record with me, who are musicians from the orchestra, and the work they\u2019ve done is excellent; and with Alain P\u00e9rez again, after many years of working together as well. I wanted this project to be very intimate and include part of my family. I\u2019m very happy about what\u2019s happening.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Issac Delgado with Alain P\u00e9rez during the recording of \u201cMira como vengo.\u201d Photo: Taken from Issac Delgado\u2019s Facebook page.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cMira como vengo\u201d is a song that\u2019s been in your repertoire for over a decade. Wasn\u2019t it a risky move to revisit it to present something new?<\/b><\/p>\n

That song is co-written with Manuel Gonz\u00e1lez \u201cManol\u00edn,\u201d and we had written it to be performed with representatives of urban music, with an urban style. We were already thinking about that and didn\u2019t know it would have such a strong boom in Cuba.<\/span><\/p>\n