Yoyo Ibarra, One Of Cuba's Top Recording Artists, To Unveil Grapevine Audio Service

A rising star of the Cuban music scene, YoYo Ibarra is set to take the stage this evening in New York City to unveil the Grapevine Audio Service. The event will take place at The Mezzanine, from 7-10pm, with Ibarra taking the stage at 7:15.

Grapevine Audio connects musicians with creators and brands looking for easy-to-license music and audio to include in posts without the hassle of negotiating fees with large record labels. This launch will be accompanied by performances during the event from rising stars Jonny Glenn, Jon Robert Byrne, and Yoyo Ibarra, one of Cuba's top recording artists.

"With today's 'always-connected' consumers inundated with content, entrepreneurial artists like myself need to seek alternative ways to gain a following," said Yoyo Ibarra. "Grapevine Audio allows me to contribute music directly to posts created by consumers and brands alike that can potentially be seen by millions of fans around the world."

Yoyo Ibarra (born 8/31/1989, Pinar del Río, Cuba) is a musician, composer, performer, arranger, producer, and one of the most successful and critically acclaimed Cuban singer-songwriters of his generation. He is known for combining
poetic, interpretive lyrics with an eclectic blend of pop, salsa, and urban flavors.

At the age of 9, he won his first award for poetry, la Flute de Chocolate, at the prestigious Ibero-American Competition. Later, a teenaged Ibarra was given his first guitar by Cuban composer Dr. Leo Brouwer (winner of 4 Latin Grammys) after hearing a live performance of one of the young star's poems -- igniting a life-long passion for songwriting and performing.

In 2009 Yoyo joined the Cuban Institute of Music (ICM) and began his professional career opening for renowned Cuban acts like Raúl Torres, the Buena Fé duo, José Luis Barba, David Blanco, and Diego Cano. Two years later he was headlining as "Yoyo Ibarra and his Orchestra."

Shocking everyone, Ibarra won 'Artist of the Year', 'Best Debut Video', and 'Best Video: Pop Rock' at the 2014 Lucas Awards (The Cuban equivalent of the VMAs) with his avant-garde music video "I Kiss You", which transformed him into one of the most popular artists in the country.

After a successful international tour in 2015, Yoyo co-wrote the Cuban Top 5 hit "Olvidame" with Manolito Simonet, conductor of the El Trabuco orchestra. In 2016, he kept that inertia going with the Number 1 hit single "Candela pa 'la Vela", co-written with singer songwriter Daniel Martín and produced by Rodnier Alfonso (Leoni Torres, Issac Delgado). "Candela pa 'la Vela" was also included by Sony Music Atv on their The Best of Cuban Music compilation album. Yoyo gained international attention that year when he performed the single on the mega-hit tv show Keeping Up With The Kardashians, where he was highly praised by Kanye West for both the song and his performance.

In 2019, Yoyo Ibarra signed with the VMG label in New York, founded by Jonathan Vieira (producer, Aruba National Anthem), and recorded the number 1 hit single "Quédate" for the Viral album. Produced by Vieira with Mikidrums (xxxxxxXX) and Jeyprod (xxxxxxXX), "Quédate" is an urban pop ballad built on the musical sensibilities of its producers: Aruban, Venezuelan, and Cuban. VMG also released a more tender acoustic version of the track as a B-side. Both versions have their own music videos, directed by David Wever (xxxxxx) and shot by Mauricio "Comanche" Vergara (Sebastián Yatra, Piso 21).

Currently, "Quédate" sits on the top of the Cuban charts and its music video is nominated for "Best Video" in this years Lucas Awards.

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