I grew up speaking both languages, and for me that's really important.

I write in English first, and then I translate to Spanish. I've always felt more comfortable with the English side of things first.

I might be a Cuban American, but I'm also an Afro-Cuban American.

And my career, the things that have happened have happened because of my music education background.

So, when I got the contract for my album, even though it was an English record, my manager insisted on making sure we would record in Spanish as well, and it worked out really well for me.

This record has a lot of influences that I'd love to cover, like Marvin Gaye and Earth, Wind and Fire. Maybe I'll do some covers of my major influences during my live show.

I was a teacher for a long time. I taught at a community college: voice, theory, humanities. And nowadays, music education is a dying thing. Funding is being cut more and more and more.