Ricardo Rivera

I, Ricardo Rivera, aka DJ Ricardo Capicu, was born and raised in NYC. As a preteen, my love of music began to be established as I listened to the music coming from the radio in my father’s grocery store or the little transistor radio that I carried with me almost everywhere I went. Doo-wop, American pop and rock, R&B, especially Motown were my early musical influences along with the Beatles and the British Invasion. But it wasn’t only radio. There were many music shows on television showcasing the music of the time. Shows like American Bandstand, Hullabaloo, Shindig, Where the Action Is and of course, The Ed Sullivan Show, among others, were shows I’d watch religiously. It was around that time, as well, that I started collecting albums and 45’s. It wasn’t until I entered High School when I started listening to, and paying more close attention to the Latin music that was coming from Puerto Rican baby boomers living in New York City’s latino barrios. I started listening to more Latin Boogaloo, Latin Soul, and modernized arrangements of Puerto Rican and or Cuban standards from the islands. One also started hearing more latin instrumentation in rock and soul music, eg. Santana, El Chicano, Malo and many more. All of this paved the way for… August 26, 1971, when I was present, front row and center, as the Fania All-Stars performed live at the Cheetah. This is considered by many salsa enthusiasts to be the beginning of the Salsa Revolution. Since that night I have become an avid follower and promoter of the genre I have embraced, over the years, the evolution of Salsa music genre as well as trying to preserve and maintain the “sound” as best as I could. The last 17 years I have learned to use technology and social media to achieve these ends. In June of 2016 I started producing my salsa music program “Manteniendo La Salsa” and a year and a half later I launched “Mundo Salsa Radio” in January of 2018. And its my sincerest hope that the station will help keep the music alive.