Myke Towers, Shantall Lacayo and Rob The Original at Latin Music Week – Billboard

One is a Puerto Rican Latin music star. Another, a Nicaraguan dressmaker. The third, a Mexican-American barber, tattooist and visible artist. But all three have one thing in widespread: Myke Towers, Shantall Lacayo and Rob The Original are leaving their mark of their respective fields, by way of their very own means of creating artwork.

The three met on Wednesday, Oct. 4 at Billboard Latin Music Week in Miami Beach, Florida, the place they participated within the “Deja Tu Huella” panel offered by Cheetos to speak in regards to the significance of giving again. With Billboard‘s Jessica Roiz as moderator, every spoke about their inspirations, influences and motivations.

Towers, who has positioned dozens of songs on the Billboard charts, together with his newest hit “Lala,” has used his platform to offer again to Puerto Rico throughout tough instances comparable to Hurricane Fiona in 2022, when he donated $150,000 from two live shows at the Coliseo to the survivors. “I feel that I have responsibility; Those people are the first to support me,” he mentioned about his followers on the island. “And not only in Puerto Rico,” he added. “There are a lot of fans who make a sacrifice just to be in a hotel to greet you or come to the show and try to be in the first row. You see that and you try to do what you can for them.”

Lacayo, who has been making her means within the U.S. trend scene, the place she received Project Runway‘s season 19, not solely incorporates vivid colours that characterize her land into her creations, but additionally components comparable to wood buttons hand-carved by indigenous girls and different particulars made by artisans from Nicaragua and different Latin American nations.

“I believe that every artist who wants to excel in the creative industry has to find that DNA that makes them unique,” ​​mentioned the Miami-based designer. “Throughout my career, together with my team, I think the main thing we have discovered is that the DNA of our brand is our cultural roots, how we can keep alive those indigenous traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation and that unfortunately are getting lost in this world of fast fashion. We all want to leave a mark; part of my work seeks to do so through the reinterpretation of the work of artisans.”

Her model has additionally partnered with XtraOrdinary Women (XOW,) a non-profit group devoted to serving to girls in excessive poverty to work on their shallowness and put together themselves in numerous fields to have the ability to enter the work area.

For Rob The Original, who began out reducing hair, went on to be a tattoo artist and immediately makes portraits in shattered glass and different mediums — from sand and salt, to Cheetos! — his contribution lies within the variety of his work. “That is going to be my mark: telling people that there are no limits to art,” mentioned the artist, who has 1.7 million followers on Instagram alone. To that finish, he has introduced the Rob the Original Academy, by which he plans to arrange different multidisciplinary artists. “Basically, we are going to do a little bit of everything I do, we are also going to show how you can grow your social networks… how to make a career out of your talent.”

Celebrated for greater than 30 years, the 2023 version of Latin Music Week features a Superstar Q&A with Shakira; the Legends on Legends chat with Chencho Corleone and Vico C; Making the Hit Live! with Carin León and Pedro Capó; a panel with RBD’s Christian Chávez, Christopher von Uckermann, and Maite Perroni; Superstar Songwriter dialogue with Edgar Barrera and Keityn, amongst many different panels, Q&As and workshops. See the final word Latin Music Week information right here. This yr’s Latin Music Week, going down Oct. 2-6, additionally contains showcases by Peso Pluma, Mike Bahía and Greeicy, DannyLux, and Fonseca, to call a number of. Check out the dates and instances for the showcases all through the week right here.

Official companions of the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Week embody AT&T, Cheetos, CN Bank, Delta Air Lines, Lexus, Netflix, Michelob ULTRA, and Smirnoff.

Latin Music Week coincides with the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards ceremony, which can broadcast dwell from the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Fla., on Thursday (Oct. 5) and will air on Telemundo. It may also broadcast concurrently on Universo, Peacock, the Telemundo App, and all through Latin America and the Caribbean on Telemundo Internacional.