User:SouthernBoricua/sandbox

Charlie "The Southern Boricua" Rivera

Growing up in the 1970's, Charlie was constantly musically influenced by his father's collection of Motown records and listening to groups like the O'Jays, Stevie Wonder, Earth,Wind & Fire, & listening to harmonies as well as just about every single Elvis Presley album, that his Dad loved. Then also, with the sounds of his mother singing in Spanish around the house and all day long Afro-Caribbean percussions embedded into him from bands & artists like El Gran Combo, Tito Puente, Ruben Blades, Willie Colon, and the Fania All Stars; Charlie had a strong musical foundation.

In the mid to late 1980's Charlie turned away from the vinly path of Technics & Gemini's like most of his friends, and as a young teenager began promoting for NYC clubs such as The Tunnel, The Underground, RedZone, Limelight and The Palladium. Working in The Village at The Antique Boutique, hanging out by Unique's on Broadway and getting hair cuts in Astor Place, Manhattan quickly became a second home. He spent the next few years promoting and networking. In his late teens, he landed a bartending job at club Redzone. This is where he first saw celebrities such as a very young Sean "Puffy" Combs, Dr. Dre & Ed Lover, the cast of In Living Color and the Fly Girls, Rosie Perez, and began his path into they NYC nightlife.

After making some Freestyle music demos, NYC radio station Hot 103 became Hot 97 and changed to a Hip Hop format ending that musical path quickly. Charlie then began event promotions and after work parties via his company Adeon Productions for most of the 1990's alongside many other great promoters and dj's which included venues such as the Copacabana, China Club / Jade Terrace, LQ's, The World and various boat rides that spanned over 10 years. From carrying milk crates of records to sleeping on the couch in the recording studio til 4 in the morning, music like Salsa, Freestyle, Hip Hop and R&B has always been a major influence and a driving factor in his life from working on beats, to singing background vocals, all which have fine tuned his ear in this industry.

Charlie then reached a majorly influential part of his life when he joined a theater workshop group in Brooklyn called FACES. Director of FACES, Susan Montez, was a visionary social worker that created the workshop, sanctioned by the Psychiatric Department of Maimonides Hospital, to interact with teens by creating improvisational and scripted scenes dealing with issues such as anger, domestic dispute, drug abuse, rape, and many other topics. FACES has received many awards and citations from several NYC Mayors, showcased on HBO as a documentary by Edward James Olmos, has been to schools and colleges all over the world and has many talented alumni's such as actress Zoe Saldana.

Charlie has since then been working with some key people like independent directors and executive program producers by being part of several productions teams that has conducted auditions and casting calls for many different projects, performances, interviews and independent films in just about all 5 boroughs. All of which have led to the creation of Southern Boricua which is a platform where artists, dj's, models, and radio personalities are interviewed, networked, and all linked together via Facebook and Twitter and many other social networking platforms.

Charlie Rivera, working along side with great correspondents, radio personalities, dj's, actors, and more, will strive to continue to bring enticing interviews, videos and amazing artists.