Ruben Blades

“So that I saw music as a way of documenting realities from the urban cities of Latin America.”

“Basically, I would like to be considered for roles that are well-written. I think that part of the problem that we've had as actors is that they insist on looking at us as Latino actors and not as actors, period.”

“Tango was very popular in Panama at the time when I was growing up. In the Fifties in Panama, the radio stations played all types of music.”

“I don't accept ideologies that are not a product of consensus. I don't have an ideology, but I do have a sense of what's right and what's wrong.”

“They're making a ton of money, and no one is getting a nickel.”

“Yes, I was going to law school and it was closed in '69.”

“So that when I came from Panama... my family was exiled in 1973 and they went to Miami.”

“I was always interested in trying to find how different genres would affect the lyrics that I'd written. Salsa is where most of my songs have been recorded, the genre of salsa. It's very frenetic, fast-paced. And I felt that the lyrics sometimes were being lost.”

“I decided we should book ourselves, so I started booking the band.”

“You know, it was uncomfortable doing the same thing. I don't like a rut.”

“A lot of times you're just conditioned by what's around you.”

“In those days the big U.S. labels didn't have any particular interest in the Latin market.”

“So that in 1974, when I graduated as a lawyer, I figured I'm not going to be a lawyer under a military regime.”

“I was never particularly a part of the following of tango; I just liked it... most of all, I recognized that the urban content and the approach seemed very familiar and very connected to the songs that I was doing, the kind of songs that I wanted to write - the songs about the street.”

“There's something about the tango that brings even more emotion out of the lyrics.”

“I didn't do drugs, I never did do drugs. Never. I don't have any story of drugs, you know, to speak of. Never did drugs, never was interested in drugs and then I wasn't interested in the people around the drugs.”

“Rock is young music, it is youth oriented. It just speaks for a generation.”

“I'm planning to retire from salsa. I'm planning to do a farewell tour.”

“There was no television, so the radio provided you with everything.”

“It was very interesting, and we went to Germany and we toured Germany like we were a German band in 1985.”