Nava

For the Puerto Rican artist currently known as Nava, a man who's written hits for major Latin stars like Jose Feliciano and La India, his own album, Nava (Ryko Latino) began six years ago with a cow.

"One day I was very upset," he remembered. "I drove to the center of the island, to this barrita. I was drinking a beer, and looked out of the window at this small cow. It was chewing the grass, very relaxed. And I thought to myself, ‘Come on! It's better to live like that cow, without problems.'"

"I'm a Caribbean and Puerto Rican. I worked to mix all my feelings."

That inspired him to write "La Vaquita" and from there it all began to grow - albeit at a very slow pace.

"Rhythms have life and spirit," he explained. "I didn't want to do it with computers, so to mix the rhythms with real players, to find them, it took me a long time. If I'd gone too much to the tropical, I'd have lost the rock feeling, and vice versa. It took that long to find the balance. I'm a Caribbean and Puerto Rican. I worked to mix all my feelings. People think if you use electric guitar or drums, it's rock, but sometimes rock is a feeling. I tried to mix the freedom of rock, especially in the lyrics, but also have my Caribbean soul. So this record is my statement of that."

While this is his first album, Nava (the name, which was given to him by an Indian friend, means ‘Father of new love') has been making statements for a long time.

Over a decade ago, apart from writing songs for other people, he was also touring the U.S. with his Spanish language rock band, Hola, well ahead of the rock en espanol curve.

"We were one of the first rock bands in Spanish," the man formerly known as Rudolfo Barrera recalled, "and we were very successful. I stopped because I realized rock was becoming a copy. I came back to Puerto Rico to try and find my roots."

And with Nava he's certainly discovered them, offering native meregnue and bomba rhythms, along with the full-tilt salsa of "Hey You." But he's also carefully integrated rock, hip-hop, and samples into the whole, making the album feel very modern and edgy. It's still Latin pop, with hooks and choruses, but it has much more in common with Manu Chao's Clandestino than Ricky Martin.

"I want to be honest with my roots, with what I am - and what I am is eclectic. That's the world at this moment, and it has been for Puerto Ricans for a long time - we're open to music, and that's the only way to enjoy it. It's a beautiful moment to make music. I don't want to limit myself to one kind of music. I come from a small town, and I've lived in New York, too. I'm very urban and very pueblo," he laughed.

Even though he's had plenty of experience and success writing for others - in 1998 two of his songs ("Serpiente Mala" sung by Olga Tanon and "Mi Mayor Venganza" performed by La India) were nominated for Grammys - Nava knew songs like the hip-hop inflected "Asi Na'Ma" had to be for himself.

"They were so personal I couldn't give them to anyone else. I'm searching, and this music is a feeling of finding myself." Although he's now a recording artist in his own right, Nava has no plans to stop writing for others.

"I like to be a songwriter," he said adamantly. "It's incredible to hear great singers doing my songs. It's an honor to have someone like La India sing my song."

He'll simply juggle it with his own career. There's talk of an American tour to promote the album, and he's already looking ahead to his next record.

Let me see what God wants," Nava said patiently. "Expectation means frustration, so I do things day by day, second by second. I'm hoping to be more global next time. I want to call a guy from India, a guy from Russia, because I want to do the same Caribbean thing but with a world approach, using all the incredible musicians I'm beginning to discover."

Hopefully, this time it'll take him less than six years .

This article first appeared on Sonicnet.com

Nava

"I'm a Caribbean and Puerto Rican. I worked to mix all my feelings."

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