Don Segundo

About

Don Segundo is a ska and reggae band from the island of Puerto Rico. The group was formed in late 2005 as seven musicians from San Juan's punk and reggae music scenes came together to share their common love for Caribbean roots music. They started playing live shows under the name Don Segundo in May of 2006 and found an immediately receptive audience. Don Segundo's music brings together various Latin American influences to their otherwise strictly-Jamaican sound, most notably salsa and bossa nova. The lyrics to their songs are written in Spanish and English and can be taken as modern musings on interpersonal relationships, consumerist culture, and the unexpected twists of everyday life; all from a female perspective. In 2007, after a year of playing gigs in their native island and honing their repertoire, Don Segundo started to work on a full-length album in hopes to take their music abroad. This record would feature the band's signature female vocals by Lourdes López, as well as its careful blend of high-energy horn riffs with the jazzy stylings and soulful lyrics of sixties-era ska and rocksteady. The album, titled Censura, was released in North America through Jump Up Records in June 2008 and was later released in Europe and in digital-download format through Megalith Records.