Pepe Vasquez is the leading Peruvian singer and composer of his generation. Mixing Afro-Peruvian folk forms such as the lando and festejo with dynamic Afro-Caribbean salsa grooves has catapulted Vasquez to the top of Peru's music scene. Both on stage and in the recording studio, his music is filled with explosive spontaneous energy. Vasquez is one of Peru's biggest stars, both figuratively and literally. In a much publicized campaign during the recording of his album, Ritmo de Negros, Vasquez dropped 20 kilos, but he hasn't lost a beat and remains one of Peru's most beloved singers. A booming voice, a real improvisational sense of the moment, and brilliant arrangements collide in this recording. Here Vasquez brings us his dazzling compositions such as "No Valentin" and "Ritmo de Negros" songs that have become new Afro-Peruvian anthems as well as infectious Vasquez versions of Peruvian classics, transforming and revitalizing timeless songs like "Se Me Van Los Pies" and "Samba Malato".

Pepe Vasquez was born on the 25th of November, 1961 in the city of Lima, Peru, the son of Don Porfirio Vasquez Aparicio and Doña Elia Montero De La Colina. Pepe began singing and playing the guitar at the age of five, and was composing by adolescence. Following high school, Vasquez attended Lima's Conservatory of Music. It was also there where he began to study the roots of Afro-Peruvian music in the coastal cities of Cañete and Chincha, two of the leading centers of Black culture in Peru.

"The person who shaped me the most was my father," explains Vasquez. "Dn Porfirio Vasquez was a pioneer in the study of Afro-Peruvian music. He was responsible for some of the first writings about the rhythms of the festejo." Vasquez expressed his gratitude towards his father in his composition "Ritmo de Negros," He explains, "In the song, when I sing, `Papa, papa, papa,' it is to express the feeling of pride through my music in being his son."

When composing, Vasquez often draws upon a dynamic range of Peruvian daily life. "I wrote the song "El Alacran" (the scorpion) when I visited the sugar cane camps that surround Lima and witness the danger of working in this environment." "Ritmo de Negros" is the first international release for this Peruvian superstar. In a time when only a handful of artists are composing new landos and festejos, Vasquez proves that the soul of Black Peru is a living tradition. Like no other Peruvian, Vasquez breathes new life into timeless folk songs like "Samba Malato," by throwing in touches of salsa and blues, and some very funky vocals. Today in Peru, many of his compositions such as "No Valentin," "Ritmo de Negros" and "Jipi Jay" are so popular that virtually every band in the country includes Vasquez covers in their sets. These songs are Afro-Peruvian classics in the making.