Latin and world music fans will want to have Los Angeles-based Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loca’s upcoming album, La Rumba SoYo, on their radar this summer. His latest production is set for a June 24 via Cumbancha Records in the U.S. and Canada. Three years in the making, La Rumba SoYo was recorded in three continents and four countries: U.S., Canada, France and Angola. Three of the songs were written in collaboration with Angolan artists Calo Pascoal, Kyaku Kyadaff and Adao Filipe. True to his international roots, the record features Cuban and African rumba and soukous, Angolan kizomba and semba and Cuban son and salsa. The band will tour across North America and Europe this summer and fall in support of the new album.
As much as Lemvo enjoys Afro-Latin rhythms, music wasn’t Lemvo’s first priority. Raised in The Democratic Republic of the Congo (known as Zaire at the time) with Angolan family roots, Lemvo came to the U.S. in the ‘80s to pursue a law degree but took a complete 360-degree turn. The result was the formation of Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loca in 1990. By the mid ‘90s his international beats filled the clubs in L.A.
Watch Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loca’s “Mambo YoYo” below: