Quotes from Ruben Blades

So everything that ever happened, we knew about in Panama.

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

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

Anywhere you had a commerce center, you had a lot of music.

We had something to say. Whenever we played, people didn't dance, they listened.

I was the first person to come into New York with a Latin American point of view which was also very much influenced by political happenings in Latin America.

I collected the 'Walking Dead' comics.

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

What is interesting in this is the exchange of music that occurred between New Orleans and Cuba, I mean, they had ferries that would go from one port to another.

I think being born in Panama was a blessing because Panama is a port city. It's a really - the mentality is that - I remember that of admitting things in. You know, ports, ideas come in and out all the time.

What I do not accept is the fact that so many people's talents were ripped off.

And, he'd seen me in Panama, and he talked about maybe doing something in New York so I hooked it up when I came here and I recorded in 1969 my first album with Pete Rodriguez.

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

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.

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

The first time I played was in Buenos Aires - was in 1983. The dictatorship was in position.

I think in New York we had respect and we would pretty much fill up the places where we went, but I never got the sense that we really were Number 1 here in New York among the Latin crowds.

My mother never finished elementary school. My father didn't, and that was a reality for many of us.

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

And music was a very important part of our lives. The radio was on all day.

Not everybody goes to government to serve themselves and not their country.

But, when I was about thirteen, I began to sort of sing in my neighborhood.

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.

To fix Panama, you need more than charisma and records: you need a program of action.