00:00The music of Ruben Blades
00:05is quite literally the soundtrack of Latin America.
00:10And I don't know anyone of any age
00:13from 10-year-olds to 80-year-olds
00:17who don't know his songs.
00:18In my case, I learned how to dance with his music
00:21and I'm a really good dancer.
00:23I learned how to listen to salsa,
00:26to understand the arrangements,
00:28to understand the intricacy of a clave,
00:31the way a voice could float
00:33over these complex syncopated arrangements
00:36and the stories, the stories Ruben told.
00:40Ruben was the first artist who used salsa
00:43to tell us what was happening in our countries.
00:46And here in the streets of New York,
00:49take Pedro Navaja, seven minutes long
00:52and the most successful salsa track of all time,
00:56even today.
01:01The opening line says,
01:03Por la esquina del viejo barrio lo vi pasar
01:06con el tumbao que tienen los guapos al caminar.
01:09I'll do my translation.
01:11Down the corner of the old neighborhood,
01:12I saw him pass with the swagger
01:15that tough guys have when they walk.
01:18It's a movie.
01:19He made us socially conscious,
01:21telling us the good, the bad, the ugly.
01:23And then a whole other global audience discovered him
01:27when he became an actor.
01:28But to generations,
01:29he is still the voice of salsa and much more.
01:34Ruben is an activist, a mentor, a writer,
01:36one of the rare artists who speaks his truth.
01:39Ruben doesn't know this,
01:40but many years ago,
01:42way before Billboard,
01:43I went to hear him at a Q&A in Los Angeles
01:46put together by BMI,
01:48and he was giving advice on recording contracts.
01:51And he said,
01:52a recording label is supposed to do distribution and promotion,
01:55distribution and promotion.
01:57And if they don't do that,
01:59they're not doing their job.
02:00So it didn't surprise me that in 2004,
02:04Ruben launched his own record label.
02:06He went independent.
02:07This is a man who puts his money where his mouth is.
02:11And today, since then,
02:14he's collected 11 Grammys
02:16and 11 Latin Grammys
02:18as an independent artist.
02:21When I interviewed Ruben
02:23for the story on him that ran in this issue,
02:25which I encourage you all to read,
02:27I asked him,
02:28because it's a Q&A,
02:30it's his words,
02:31I asked him about his previous label experiences,
02:33and he was really very generous.
02:35He said the good,
02:36he gave thanks
02:38for what people had done
02:40for him in these labels.
02:42He also gave the bad,
02:43but he was generous in his praise.
02:44But he said another line
02:46that is etched in my mind.
02:48He said,
02:49one cannot be a slave to gratitude.
02:53Spoken like a true independent,
02:55leader.
02:56Today,
02:56Billboard is infinitely proud
02:58to give the Billboard Indie Icon Award
03:01to a man who truly shaped
03:03and continues to shape
03:05the sound of music around the world,
03:08ladies and gentlemen,
03:09Mr. Ruben Blades.
03:24Good evening.
03:25Buenas noches.
03:29Small words,
03:30and they are.
03:33My arrival to New York City in 1974
03:36was a product of a series of events
03:38totally unexpected.
03:40I started to be a lawyer,
03:42but left my country
03:43after graduating
03:45as a consequence
03:47of its military dictatorship.
03:49My family had migrated
03:51to Florida a year before me
03:52and were experiencing
03:54great economic difficulties,
03:56so my decision
03:57to come to New York
03:58was a product of desperation,
04:00not careful planning.
04:02My first job
04:03was as the only employee
04:05in the mailroom
04:06of Fania Records,
04:08the number one salsa recording
04:10label in the world.
04:13One of my chores
04:14was to label
04:15and carry a hefty load
04:16of LPs and cassettes
04:18to the nearest post office
04:19while trying to avoid
04:21being run over
04:22by a bus,
04:23a taxi,
04:24or a messenger's bicycle.
04:26To explain how from there
04:27I have ended up here tonight
04:29would take a while,
04:30so instead my intention
04:32is to let everyone
04:33understand that my success
04:34also belongs
04:36to many other people's talents.
04:38No one is successful
04:40without help and assistance.
04:42There are many
04:43who are more deserving
04:45and talented than me
04:46who simply never
04:47got the opportunities.
04:49Without the bands,
04:51the arrangers,
04:51the musicians,
04:52the DJs,
04:53and the audiences
04:53who have supported
04:55my efforts
04:55through more than five decades,
04:56I wouldn't be here tonight.
04:59So thank you, Billboard,
05:01and thank you, Leila Cobo,
05:02for this distinction.
05:03My decision
05:04to use music
05:05as a way to present ideas,
05:07propose solutions,
05:09denounce evil,
05:10and document the lives
05:11of those who live
05:12and die in our cities
05:13has made me very happy.
05:15And as this ceremony
05:17apparently aims to express,
05:19it seems to have produced
05:20some results after all.
05:23thank you, Billboard,
05:24thank you.
05:25Thank you, everybody.
Comments