PURA VIDA
Interviewed by: Angela

 

Where did your name originate and what does it mean to you?
B Luva: “Pura Vida” is the designated national motto for Costa Rica. Everyone uses the expression on a daily basis because the words conveyed the state of happiness, peace, and it reminds us of home and all of its beauty. Nowadays, the expression "Pura Vida" has become so popular that has been added to Costa Rican Spanish dictionaries as an idiom to greet, or to show appreciation.
Pura Vida has different meanings and it is implemented as an informal Spanish expression:
To greet someone:
When you see someone on the streets, shake hands, or just to say hello you would say "Pura Vida!" That means, in English Hi, Hello, How are you doing? and/or What's going on?
To say good bye:
When you leave a place, you want to say goodbye, you say Hasta luego todo estuvo Pura Vida.
To show appreciation for a person, object, or situation:
If you want to express that a situation, object, or situation is great, cool, abundant, joy, and/or fun. You would say something or someone is Pura Vida. "Usted es Pura Vida!" means You are a great person.
But overall to us Pura Vida is the official Reggaeton artist for Costa Rica.
Did you have any other names that you wanted for the group before deciding on PURA VIDA?

B Luva: Depends on how you look at it. Originally back in 2003 we began working with beats from a well known underground hip hop producer. Most of the beats we were working with had a latin club feel to them. At the time we went under the name “Triple Sec”, mostly cause it tastes good and the name fit us. Once we moved into the Reggaeton genre we kept our names but changed the group name to “Pura Vida” to represent our country.

Who is in your group and what do they play?
Freak’N Costa Rican: There’s the Freak’N Costa Rican a.k.a. Freak’N. I know some basic Spanish and write the Spanish lyrics along with my own verses and some of the hooks. B Luva writes his own verses and most of the hooks, sings the harmonies and does all the technical work.

How did you meet?
Freak’N Costa Rican: We actually met at a job together where B mentioned he had kind of the same life as I. There were a few odd similarities between us and we’ve been connected since then. We were both born in San Jose, Costa Rica and raised in New York.

How would you describe your music in your own words?
B Luva: I’d say our music is that gray area between the Reggaeton coming out of other countries and the hip hop reggaeton remixes you’re hearing on the radio and in the clubs. I’m a big fan of the Puerto Rican Reggaeton as well as the Reggaeton I’ve been hearing from the other countries. I’m also a big fan of the DJ’s who are putting the American hip hop artists over Reggaeton beats. But there are still a lot of people all over the world who love the music but don’t understand the slang terms or maybe don’t understand the language all together. Our music bridges that gap by having Latin singing hooks with English hip hop verses, it’s what we do best. The whole idea came naturally to us, since we were born in Costa Rica but raised in New York it has always been more natural to sing/rap in English, however once we began writing over Reggaeton beats, it became more natural to do use both languages in our songs. Overall I’d say we have Zion, Don Omar, Tony Dize, Baby Ranks style chorus parts and our verses are more the American hip hop style with some spanglish in there. It’s a lil something for everyone.

Do you classify the music that you play as Reggaeton?
Freak’N Costa Rican: The way we see it, is that we’re putting our own spin on Reggaeton. We’re staying true to the reggaeton beats, working with some hot producers, staying true to the Spanish language in the songs. There’s definitely a club vibe to it and our music makes you want to dance. It’s Reggaeton in our book.

Are there any artists who you would love to work with in the future?
B Luva: We’d love to work with DJ Nelson, Luny Tunes, Daddy Yankee, Zion y Lennox, Don Omar, Baby Ranks, Tony Dize, Noriega, Pitbull just to name a few. Mostly we’d like to get the chance to work with the best producers in Reggaeton and collaborate with the best artists as well.

How often do you record?
B Luva: I’d say we record at least once a week. We have our own recording studio where we can record anytime we want. If we get an idea or a new beat from our producers we’ll plug in and record. We’re always writing too, I know Freak’N writes a lot, which is good practice. I write about the same amount but I like to write with beats in front of me, but when it comes to recording we get serious and lay the tracks down.

Is there any new albums, demos or anything else scheduled to be released in 2005?
Freak’N Costa Rican: Well, as B says, we’re always recording, we’re always writing. We have stuff we haven’t used yet and we’ve barely begun to tap into our well as far as what we can do.

So you are shooting a video this year. What can we expect ?
B Luva: REALITY MEDIA is what you can expect. My boy Brazil is head of the company and has his own clothing line as well. He’s flying up here from Chicago, IL to New York in August to shoot our first Reggaeton video. Imagine the hottest Reggaeton videos with all the girls dressed to impress and moving those hips. Now imagine the hip hop videos in the clubs with all their boys havin a good time. Our video is going to be a mix of that. The whole video will be shot inside of a hot club around here. We will also be doing a live performance that night which will also be part of the video. Reality Media will take the footage back to Chicago, IL where he’ll do the final touches and then it’ll be released. Check out the site: www.realitymediacompany.com

Do you write all of your own songs?
Freak’N Costa Rican: Yes. All our verses, all our hooks came from us.

Out of all of your songs, Which one is your favorite? Why?
Freak’N Costa Rican: Well I do love them all. I guess one of my favorite’s is Senoritas Con Margaritas, a collaboration we did with MGM. Also, I love Bailando My Boricua. That one is a hot club song.

Name one person in the music industry that has helped you more than anyone else? Why?
B Luva: The one person I can say who’s inspired us the most is Carlos Perez from Elastic People. I contacted him a while back about making a web site for us. Once we spoke on the phone I let him know where we were going and who we were, he wanted me to send him some material. Since then I learned that he works closely with Daddy Yankee and I can tell you he’s been nothing but nice to us. I have a lot of respect for how talented Carlos and his company are with their creative designs. I hope one day to work with him, I’m sure that it would take us to the next level.

In your personal lives do you speak more English or Spanish?
Freak’N Costa Rican: English definitely. B and I were raised speaking English, but I’ve picked up Spanish from friends and school and I do speak Spanish everyday, but not all that much.

Can you guys dance?
Freak’N Costa Rican: Besides making hot music, it’s what we do best. We’re the guys that you see at the club either starting the dance/battle circles, or jumping right in them. I myself love to dance and not too much more makes me happy.

What are your favorites music types to dance to?
Freak’N Costa Rican: Reggaeton, Reggae, Hip Hop (new and old school). I can dance to anything, though.

What is your official website?
B Luva: As of right now our site is www.myspace.com/reggaeton
But we’re looking into making an Official site like www.puravida.com once our CD is completed and our video comes out. Hopefullly Elastic People can help design that and we’ll get things up and running. Right now a married couple who are very nice people own www.puravida.com and they share their adventures in Costa Rica. We’re hoping to buy the site off them. For now keep in our through our site and we’ll post updates till we have the Official site running.

Influences

Freak’N Costa Rican: Don Omar, Daddy Yankee, Zion y Lennox, Nicky Jam, Hector y Tito…there’s a bunch in Reggaeton. As a kid I used to listen to Biggie, Method Man and one of my favorite rappers, Jay-Z.

Shout outs

B Luva: I got a few…DeeJay Element, DJ Twist, DJ Crew, DJ Sho Down, DJ Sho Nuff, DJ EDdii, DJ Prozpect, DJ El Niño, DJ Rich aka El Pistalero, Angela from Indie Street Latino! Brazil from Reality Media, Carlos Perez, Chino Rodriguez, Chris V., Clancy, C-Mack, Ebel Guerra from Reggaeton Wear, Eric V., Fiore, Harry Rawling from Booking Entertainment, Jay V., Jose V. jr & sr., Melinda from MTV Productions, Liege and Soulless from MGM, Luise V., Mike H., Puerto Rican Pete, Stevie V., Tony Capone, Big Zo and fo sure Lonnie.

Freak’N Costa Rican: Yeah, definitely DeeJay Element, DJ Playground, Twist, Sho Nuff, Zoe, Kamellia, Tony Capone and the rest of the security team, all my real friends showing us love and supporting us all over the world, all the girls I’ve loved before, and the one person who will keep me growing and going strong, and keep me from giving up, my beautiful daughter, Alexis.