Felix Hernandez created and hosts Rhythm Revue, New York’s first and longest-running radio show dedicated to classic R&B and soul music. Now in its 30th year, Rhythm Revue has been broadcast by WBGO-FM, WBLS-FM, 98.7 KISS-FM, Sirius Satellite Radio and WTJM (Jammin 105). Felix was also part of Sirius/XM’s first team of programmers for five years, where he developed several music channels. In 1991, Felix launched the Rhythm Revue Dance Party in New York City. This event has taken place at Roseland Ballroom, the Highline Ballroom, the Hornblower yachts, and numerous other venues throughout New York and the region. For 25 years, Felix’s dance party draws over 20,000 people each year for sold-out events.
We Like It Like That tells the story of Latin boogaloo, a colorful expression of 1960s Latino soul, straight from the streets of New York City. From its origins to its recent resurgence, it’s the story of a sound that redefined a generation and was too funky to keep down. In the 1960s, a new generation of musicians from East Harlem, the South Bronx and parts of Brooklyn fuse Afro Cuban music with R&B, jazz, funk and rock to create Latin boogaloo. The bilingual style reflects the diversity of influences that surround the musicians in the city. It is a period of revolution and social awakening and young Latinos in search of their identity adopt Latin boogaloo as their soundtrack. Once on the verge of leaving Latin music behind, the city’s young Latinos come to appreciate the music’s roots through boogaloo. But as salsa, a more traditional style of Latin music, grows in popularity by the 1970s, some say the Latin boogaloo is killed off, not by the fans, but by cultural and industry politics. By the 2000s, after decades of obscurity, the artists who made Latin boogaloo popular finally get the recognition they deserve, with the help of DJs who spin their records for younger audiences and bands that pay tribute the genre. Today, these artists are once again in demand and performing for fans around the world. Through original interviews, music recordings, live performances, dancing and rare archival footage and images We Like It Like That explores this fascinating, though often overlooked, bridge in Latin music history, seeking to understand its context in the story of Latinos in America and its continued influence around the world today.