Billboard Latin Artist on the Rise: Luis Alfonso Says Watching Films Inspired His Passion for Music

As Billboard Latin Artist on the Rise, Luis Alfonso speaks about his journey watching black-and-white films as a child to playing in coliseums. Watch the singer reflect on his rising star.

Luis Alfonso:

Hello! How are you, my beautiful people? I’m Luis Alfonso, the great man, and I’m Billboard’s Latin Artist on the Rise. Again. Rise … OK! Hello! How are you, my beautiful people? I’m Luis Alfonso, the great man, and I’m Billboard’s Latin Artist on the Rise.

My first memory with music … The person who instilled this passion within me was my maternal grandfather. His name was Fernando, Luis Fernando Vargas. He was very fond of Mexican cultures. Since I was a child, he instilled in me the Mexican passion by watching Cantinflas’ movies. I used to watch Cantinflas’ movies in black-and-white, Jorge Negrete, Pedro Infante, Javier Solís, of all the Mexican actors of yesteryear. From there, the roots of love for music were born.

I started out loving ranchera and the Mexican icons. Also, hand in hand with the passion for music with which we grew up, which is the popular regional music of Colombia, listening to the music of Mr. Darío Gómez, icons in our country. Caballero Gaucho, Viscontis. Better said, music in which the old ones of us sat down to tell the story and listened to it in the “lomplecitos,” on the jukebox, on the radio. They are the older men who took the musical machete and made the path on which the new musical wave is walking on today.  And they are old men that you see on the street or they sit with you and talk to you and give advice. 

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