Profiles of artists breaking at radio and/or retail and entering Billboard charts.
November 07, 2008
Ayala Ben-Yehuda, L.A.
Dominican singer-songwriter Wason Brazobán has found success writing hits for tropical acts. On his third album with his band Negros, Brazobán's own career is looking brighter than ever, thanks to a hit song and movie placement.
Brazobán has scored tropical airplay hits for his band as well as for stars such as Monchy & Alexandra, Hector Acosta and Domenic Marte. But Negros' pop single "En Un Solo Dia" is his group's first entry on the Hot Latin Songs chart, where it stands at No. 47 this week.
The song comes from the album "Armadura de Rosas," which was released on New York-based indie Premium Latin last year. The label, which is also home to chart-topping urban bachata act Aventura, also has a film division that produced a hit movie in the
Dominican Republic, "Sanky Panky." (A "sanky" is a guy who tries to bed a tourist in hopes of eventually getting a visa to leave the island).
Negros' single "En Un Solo Dia" – a song about falling in love in the space of a day -- was featured on the film's soundtrack and DVD, released in the U.S. this summer.
"The film moved the song, and the song helped the film," says Brazobán. "I had the demo and the movie's producer heard it when he passed through the studio one day. He said, 'I'd like that song for the movie.' I said 'OK, you can use it,' and everything started from there."
Delivered in Brazobán's raspy voice, the pop-rock single makes just passing reference to the tinkling guitars of bachata, the Dominican Republic's signature musical style and one that is particularly hot among Latin urban groups at the moment. Reggaeton, merengue and bachata versions are floating around, but it's the original that's a hit on the charts.
"I've loved rock and pop ballads since I was little," he says. "When it comes to singing songs in that style, I feel very sincere."
Following shows in Guatemala and Paraguay, Brazobán and Negros will be performing in New York early next year before their new album comes out in March.
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