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" A lot of times you're just conditioned by what's around you. "
Ruben Blades
Just
Conditioned
Around
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" We had something to say. Whenever we played, people didn't dance, they listened. "
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Say
People
Had
" 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. "
Ruben Blades
Content
Doing
Street
" And music was a very important part of our lives. The radio was on all day. "
Ruben Blades
Day
Radio
Part
" What I do not accept is the fact that so many people's talents were ripped off. "
Ruben Blades
People
Off
Accept
" It doesn't make sense for me to be a lawyer in a place where there is no law. "
Ruben Blades
Law
Sense
Place
" You know, it was uncomfortable doing the same thing. I don't like a rut. "
Ruben Blades
Like
Doing
You
" Every band had their own distinctive sound, but it was pretty much dancing music and rhythmic music with a tremendous emphasis on copying the Cuban models. "
Ruben Blades
Dancing
Band
Music
" My mother never finished elementary school. My father didn't, and that was a reality for many of us. "
Ruben Blades
Never
Reality
School
" They're making a ton of money, and no one is getting a nickel. "
Ruben Blades
Nickel
Getting
Ton
" The first time I played was in Buenos Aires - was in 1983. The dictatorship was in position. "
Ruben Blades
Time
Position
Dictatorship
" In general, both in Spanish and English, the quality of the entertainment media is horrible. "
Ruben Blades
Media
Quality
Horrible
" 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. "
Ruben Blades
People
Know
Never
" I was born in Panama, the Republic of Panama, on July 16, 1948 in Panama City, in an area called San Felipe. "
Ruben Blades
Born
I Was Born
July
" I was a kid, and I remember my mother singing. She was also a radio soap opera actress, but my mother sang. "
Ruben Blades
Remember
Singing
She
" So that I saw music as a way of documenting realities from the urban cities of Latin America. "
Ruben Blades
Latin America
Way
Music
" I collected the 'Walking Dead' comics. "
Ruben Blades
Comics
Walking Dead
Walking
" 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. "
Ruben Blades
Always
Trying
Sometimes
" 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. "
Ruben Blades
Political
American
New York
" But, when I was about thirteen, I began to sort of sing in my neighborhood. "
Ruben Blades
Sing
Neighborhood
About
" Yes, I was going to law school and it was closed in '69. "
Ruben Blades
School
Yes
Law School
" 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. "
Ruben Blades
Music
Growing Up
Radio
" It was very interesting, and we went to Germany and we toured Germany like we were a German band in 1985. "
Ruben Blades
Germany
Like
Interesting
" 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. "
Ruben Blades
Respect
New
New York
" So that when I came to New York again, it was, I'm not too sure right now, but it was '74 or '75. I went to Miami in '74 and then I came to New York, I think, at the end of '74. "
Ruben Blades
New York
Now
End
" In those days the big U.S. labels didn't have any particular interest in the Latin market. "
Ruben Blades
Market
Any
Big
" 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. "
Ruben Blades
Like
Looking
Think
" People are a lot smarter than anyone gives them credit for being. "
Ruben Blades
Credit
People
Smarter
" So everything that ever happened, we knew about in Panama. "
Ruben Blades
Knew
Panama
Happened
" So I went to Miami in '74 with my family and while I was there it became obvious that we needed money and we needed to do something, because my family, we left without anything really, and we didn't have any money to begin with. "
Ruben Blades
Without
Family
Left
" I'm planning to retire from salsa. I'm planning to do a farewell tour. "
Ruben Blades
Planning
Tour
Retire