Two of today’s leading urban acts headline on the same stage for the first time during the nation’s original Urban Latin Music Festival at Sun Life Stadium
SOULFRITO The Urban Latin Music Festival, the nation’s original and largest multicultural event for today’s U.S Hispanic, has announced its initial headlining talent for highly anticipated performances at Sun Life Stadium on Saturday, February 22nd, 2014. Tickets will be available from November 22nd through Ticketmaster and www.Soulfrito.com.
New York’s celebrated lyricist, political activist, actor and hip-hop mogul, Nas, will be performing alongside the Puerto Rican actor and King of Reggaeton, Don Omar, as a tribute to the synthesis of U.S and Hispanic artistic expression that now forms part of today’s mainstream urban and pop music culture in America. Both artists will be making their inaugural concert appearance on the same stage during the nation’s 7th Annual Urban Latin Music Festival in South Florida. His headlining performance at SOULFRITO The Urban Latin Music Festival will be the first South Florida appearance by Nas since 2010.
Since its inception in 2002, SOULFRITO The Urban Latin Music Festival has been the premier launch pad for emerging and established artists, as well as brands looking to connect with the multicultural U.S Hispanic audience that now forms today’s mainstream market. International blue-chip corporations, including General Motors (Pontiac, Chevrolet), Toyota (Scion), Jack Daniels, Anheuser Busch, Coca Cola, Heineken and Spirit Airlines, formed strategic partnerships with the festival in an effort to capture the country’s fastest growing demographic. SOULFRITO made an early contribution towards launching the careers of artists such as Pitbull, Wisin Y Yandel, Aventura and Kat Deluna, among others, and continues to provide an attractive platform for producers and brand partners that wish to engage second, third and fourth generation U.S Hispanics and enthusiasts of Urban Latin culture.
“The format of SOULFRITO has progressed to become the first event of its kind that targets the “Urban Latin Millennial,” says Melissa Giles, founder of SOULFRITO The Urban Latin Music Festival. “Miami has become one of the fastest growing international markets in the world, and is still recognized as the ‘Capital of the Americas’ by way of its melting pot of cultures and nationalities. In addition to a massive resurgence and increase in the Brazilian population, Russians and eastern Europeans are also migrating to Southern Florida for its attractive real estate development. As a result, we have seen the Urban Latin entertainment industry attract a new and diverse ethnicity, due to the music itself, and international artists like Pitbull, immigrating overseas in to countries that have only been exposed to the sounds of the Urban Latino movement over the last five years. Miami has allowed SOULFRITO to become a truly international destination event.”
As one of the region’s pioneering marketers in this burgeoning sector, SOULFRITO was viewed as an excellent strategic partner for complementing the ongoing Hispanic outreach initiatives undertaken by The Miami Dolphins and Sun Life Stadium. A five-year relationship was formed between SOULFRITO and Sun Life Stadium, during which SOULFRITO The Urban Latin Music Festival will be hosted at the stadium’s grounds on an annual basis with full marketing support from the organization.
“SOULFRITO The Urban Latin Music Festival fits well within our Hispanic community outreach program of sports and entertainment at Sun Life Stadium,” said Todd Boyan, Senior Vice President, Sun Life Stadium. “Our partnership with the festival is based upon the unique nature and multi-cultural audiences the event will draw from. This is different than other Hispanic music events that often target a single nationality. SOULFRITO has a crossover appeal to multiple genres, cultures and ethnicities, including the mainstream urban music enthusiast, which is a testament to how today’s general market has developed to include the Hispanic consumer.”
As part of the joint marketing campaign being executed by SOULFRITO and Sun Life Stadium, a series of fan-centric activations will be implemented during key dates on the Miami Dolphins’ home game calendar. “SOULFRITO Sundays” at Sun Life Stadium will be launched to drive awareness around the festival through a program of activity involving local talent being showcased at the stadium, allowing exclusive access for contest winners each month leading up to the festival. Art Basel Miami Beach and the anticipated Miami Dolphins vs. New York Jets home game on December 29th will also play host to launch events for the festival.
Nas is often referred to as one of today’s leading hip hop artists. MTV ranked him at number 5 on their list of The Greatest MCs of All Time. In 2012, The Source ranked him No. 2 on their list of the Top 50 Lyricists of All Time. In 2013, Nas was ranked fourth on MTV’s “Hottest MCs in the Game” list. He has 11 Grammy nominations; seven platinum albums and six number one albums on the Billboard 200, tying him with Eminem and Kanye West for the 2nd of all-time among hip hop artists.
Don Omar rose to stardom with the release of his first studio album, The Last Don. Both the studio version and its live edition have been certified platinum after selling over one million copies, earning him awards for Latin Pop Album of the Year and New Artist & Latin Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year by the Billboard Latin Music Awards in 2003. The Last Don: Live was also nominated for Urban Music Album at the 2005 Latin Grammy Awards. The album Don Omar Presents MTO2: The New Generation was released on in May 2012. The album includes the singles Hasta Que Salga El Sol, which won the award for Best Urban Song at the 2012 Latin Grammy Awards, and Dutty Love featuring Natti Natasha, which was also nominated. The album has been well received after winning the award for Best Urban Music Album at the 2012 Latin Grammy Awards and becoming a top seller on iTunes. Omar has 10 Latin Billboard Awards to his name, and is currently pursuing a second career in drag car racing while working on his latest album, The Last Don 2.
Additional acts and headlining performances for SOULFRITO The Urban Latin Music Festival at Sun Life Stadium will be announced this Winter, together with details on SOULFRITO The Urban Latin Music Festival making its international debut in Estepona, Spain in July 2014.
For further information and updates, visit www.soulfrito.com