Futuro

From Futuro Media and PRX, it's Latino USA. I'm Maria Innojosa and today.

From med school student to musician, how Eric Rodriguez transformed himself into Simafunk

and carved a place for his band in Cuba's rich musical scene.

Nicknamed the Cuban James Brown for his intoxicating mix of Latin groove, African rhythms, and American funk.

30-year-old singer and songwriter Eric Rodriguez is building a new stage for Cuban music.

After a year as a solo artist, he and a band called Los Boys merged in 2018 to become Simafon.

It's a name Rodriguez had already been using on stage, and just one year later, that

band was named one of Billboard's top 10 Latin artists to watch.

Deriving from Simarrones, the Spanish word for Africans who escaped slavery in Cuba,

Sima Funk's sound, strives to embody not only the island's roots, but also its branches.

Mainly I made funk music with Afro-Cuban music.

It also is a crazy mix of both music style.

The Cimarron for me is this kind of element in the Cuban culture.

It's a big part of the Afro-Cuban movement.

And funk, well, because funk is something similar for me also, but from United States.

So I mix the boat's name, and I use that for calling myself.

Hailing from Cuba's countryside, a city called Pinard del Rio,

Rodriguez grew up listening to his mom singing Michael Jackson at home,

dancing to the sounds of salsa at family parties,

and popping in Lionel Richie and Stevie Wonder cassettes while driving around and singing with his

deal. Nevertheless, Rodriguez was not always planning on shaking up Cuba's music scene.

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