July 4, 2025 • 28 mins
What happens when your musical partner is also your life partner and you’re raising a child together? We hear the answer in Buscabulla’s new album Se Amba Así, which takes us through the trials of modern love. From arriving at a crossroads in their relationship, to celebrating the breaking of learned patterns, the Puerto Rican couple lets listeners in as they grapple with the challenges of long term relationships. In this interview, we also hear about their experience collaborating with Bad Bunny on the song “Andrea.” Plus, our host Maria Hinojosa gets personal about her own marriage.
Latino USA is the longest-running news and culture radio program in the U.S., centering Latino stories and hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
El Camino is really about sort of that confusion. It's
like when a relationship just hits across road, and I
remember writing it and imagining as if Luisa and I
were like riding this car. It's like the sun came
down and like we can't see the road and we
don't know where we're going, and it's just we just
have to choose somewhere to go.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
From Futuro Media and r X, it's Latino Usa, I'm
Maria jo Josan Today. The Puerto Rican indie music duo Busca,
Luis del Vaye and Raquel Verrios not only make music together,
they're also romantic partners and they have a kid together.
(00:58):
Their new album, which dropped in June, is called Saa
Mava Assi, which you could translate many different ways, but
roughly it's this is how One Loved. The record takes
listeners on a narrative journey through Raquel and Louis's intimate
relationship and the challenges of modern love. And I couldn't
(01:20):
help but think about my own marriage, which has had
its own bumps along the way, and the choices that
my husband and I keep on making to keep on
loving each other. Now for thirty four years. Saah mava
Assi is Uska Wuya's first album in five years. The
couple sat down with me to talk about Puerto Rican pride,
(01:42):
the creative process behind the album, and the stickiness of
long term relationships. Raquel and Louise, Welcome to Latino, USA.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Hi, thanks for having us, Thanks for having us. What
a great sound voice?
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Oh well, thank you? I try iconic, I try well,
thank you? Or really I want to start every morning
like this.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
I'm Louis del Vaso, from producer, engineer and ranger and
instrumentalists in the group.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
My name is Raquel Verrios Seton, also a member of BUSK. Yeah.
I'm also very lucky to be co partners with Louis,
who is a creative force and also makes me laugh,
which is really important.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
So I've been listening to the album and now I'm
completely immersed in a lot of of the.
Speaker 5 (02:43):
Both of you.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
To be honest, at some point you were like, wait,
the album is about us, The album is about our experience.
When did it kind of hit you that you were like,
it's kay?
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Is this?
Speaker 5 (02:54):
Els said, this is the album that we have to do.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
The band is already more than ten years old. Our
relationship has even been even longer than that. I met
Louise and sort of the winter of twenty ten. Sometimes
they ask us what came first, like our relationship or
the music, and sometimes those lines are blurred, and I
think precisely, kind of like the intertwining of both things
(03:20):
has been both a blessing and also a big challenge.
I don't want to say it's a curse, but it's
definitely been a big challenge. And we've been doing it
for enough time that clearly it came to a point
where it got pretty difficult, and we just decided to
sing about it, to really pour our hearts out and
(03:41):
just be really honest about it. When I would sit
down at the piano, it's all that I could sing about.
And after I kind of had a couple of ideas
and demos, I sat down one day with Louise and
I said, I think this is the record that we
have to write.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
And Louise when she said that, which meant basically, Okay,
we're gonna have to be really honest about what's going
on between us.
Speaker 5 (04:03):
What was your reaction.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
My immediate reaction was a bit of hesitation, like because
it has never been sort of our mo or our
voice to speak too much about our life, you know.
But then I had to reflect, and I had to
really think about the artists that I admire, and I
think they're all brave and vulnerable and truthful.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
And it became clear that it was a bold artistic.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
Move, and and and then I had to embrace it.
Speaker 5 (04:28):
Sol simper flutum jig.
Speaker 4 (04:37):
Eventually begrudgingly, I did you know, or as we would say,
she won, I think she.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Won this one. I mean she forced my hand.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
To be honest, after writing six or seven songs about you,
you can't really do another thing, you know.
Speaker 5 (04:51):
Well, you state there's this thing that you did.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
You collaborated with Bad Bunny on a song called Andrea
for his album UMMEERANOSINDI.
Speaker 5 (05:12):
I think people don't realize.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
If unless you've been to Puerto Rico and you kind
of have a deep understanding of Puerto Rican culture and arts,
how hugely important music is on the island of Puerto Rico.
And that's why having someone like Bad Bunny, who is
changing music around the world and yourselves, it's not a
surprise that it comes from Puerto Rico. But you know,
(05:34):
the art world there is big and small at the
same time. So how did the collaboration between you and
Bad Bunny come about.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
I mean, we just got a DM from his I
love this from his producer, But like Benito had never
really talked to us directly or we've never received anything.
And maybe he did a couple of stories where he
had tagged our music, but it really came out of nowhere.
It all happened really fast. I mean, the track was there,
his verses already there. They very much sort of produced
(06:03):
the track in the style of buscabuya, you know, and
he sort of laid down his verses. And when the
first time we heard it, I was sort of impacted.
I'm like, this doesn't sound like most of his songs.
This is a different type of vibe. This is a
different song. The theme was really profound, like he was
saying really beautiful, poignant lyrics. And you know, we just
(06:26):
got on a call with him, a FaceTime call. You know,
we were in our pajamas. He was dressed to the
nine in his studio. He's like, I want you guys
to write a chorus. I want you guys to produce
all the last part of the song like go Crazy,
I don't care if it lasts fourteen minutes. And after that, yeah,
and after that we had two weeks and it was
(06:46):
really intense and we put it in and about a
week after that the record came out. We were the
last song to make it to the record. So it
was wild, honestly, because we were at a weird moment,
(07:07):
like after the pandemic. We put our record out in
May of twenty twenty, right in the middle of the pandemic,
so already two years had gone by, and Lisa and
I were kind of feeling like, where are we going
to go now? And then apparently Benito, all that he
had done was here this record when he was on lockdown,
and we I don't know, but we had worked some
(07:28):
sort of inception in his brain that he was like
he really wanted to collaborate and really wanted us to
be in this album.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Bad Bunny has once again put Puerto Rican music on
the map around the world like no one else putting
Puerto Rican Spanish, you know, on the global scale. And
I talked about Puerto Rican pride. It is an essential
part of being Puerto Rican. So Luis just talk a
little bit.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
About that I think, Yeah, the pride of being Puerto
Rican is kind of our biggest export. You know, wherever
we go we have that, we wear it on our sleeves.
I think we do live in a pretty special place.
I mean, I don't want to, you know, gloat and
the fact that it's so known now is kind of
(08:13):
a double edged sword, if I'm being honest, And I
think that's also made it unique and interesting in its
own way. I remember being ridiculed by other Hispanics, you know,
for our accent, and now because of Benita and people
like him.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
You know, this is like now the new vernacular.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
But you actually went back to Puerto Rico. You went
back soon after Hurricane Maria, and actually living on the
island is beautiful and challenging. So why move back at
that moment? And what's it been like?
Speaker 1 (08:52):
I think growing up in this island, the poll is
really big. Some people get used to it and never
come back, but a lot of people want to come
back or really idealize the island. The problem is clearly,
I mean, we have a lot of economic problems. There's
a lot of corruption, there's a lot of problems with
the power grid. We always knew we wanted to be
(09:13):
back on the island. We wanted to make music in
the island. It hasn't been easy. Our rent got hyped up,
you know. After that, like three times we had to
move to San Juan. My father passed away, and sometimes
I also questioned myself, like why am I still here?
(09:34):
But our daughter has been here now for eight years,
and we have no regrets.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
She's here.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
We're cultivating her with the love of the island. She
speaks the language, she understands the history. We are very proud.
So yes, it's a challenging place to live, but lately
I feel like it's a challenging place to live anywhere.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
How do you think that living in Puerto Rico versus
being here in New York, How do you feel like
that impacted your relationship?
Speaker 1 (10:10):
It definitely has effected our relationship as any other place could.
But I think also in a good way. I think though,
coming back home, being in the place where you grew
up and also having a bit of that space is
the best place to be self reflective and really go
deep within. What better place to do it other than
being back home.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
Yeah, it sort of you know, makes you face your
past in a way that. I guess perhaps living somewhere
else doesn't do it.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Coming up on Latino USA, I get personal about my
own relationship journey, and Lisa and Raquel take us through theirs.
Did you decide not to get married? Have you decided
to do that as a political statement or is it?
Speaker 4 (10:53):
Yeah, very much political. It was a political maneuver. We're
very much known for these. No, honestly, it was not.
Speaker 5 (11:03):
Stay with us.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
A citizen. Hey we're back. I've been speaking with Luis
del Bayer and Raquel Verrios. They're the duo known musically
as Busca. The Puerto Rican couple doesn't only make music together,
(11:36):
they're also romantic partners and they have a child together.
Their latest album is about the ups and downs of
a long term relationship. So let's get back to our
conversation now. And this is where I get a little personal.
So I listened to the whole album Samasi, and I'm
going to tell you something.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
I don't mean it in a bad way.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
So I'm listening to it while I'm doing other things
for watering my plans, walking the puppies, et cetera. The
thing is is that in a lot of ways, it's
really like Buskabua does music that is really easy to
listen to.
Speaker 5 (12:13):
I e. Easy listening.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
Yeah, and this is the easy listening record about heartbreak
and couple's therapy.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
I was horrified saying those words, but at the same
time I was I was like, the thing is that
it's very comforting. It's very comforting music to have get
that that can be with you. And in that sense
it was easy to listen to.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
I mean, I think that that's kind of what we want.
I mean, we've never been very aggressive. I personally, when
I make music, I look at it more from a
therapeutic standpoint, and I hope that through it making it easier,
it's sort of a way for people to really pay
attention to the lyrics and maybe self reflect on their
(13:08):
own relationship and their own experiences.
Speaker 5 (13:12):
You love.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
You would translate SAMVASI you you would love this way?
Speaker 5 (13:29):
Or one loves this way? How would you translate it?
Speaker 1 (13:31):
The way it was loved? Could be a good translation.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
I have to give credit to Raquel. She wrote the song.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
She sort of wrote it from one go and she
showed it to me. But it's interesting also that it
has the double on tundra or several on Tundra, you
know what I mean. There's different spins you can put
on it. If you put our name right in front
of it, it's it's a sentence, you know, Musca, yes,
Mavasi some Okay Sae. Both of us felt like it
(14:08):
very much clicked because it has this sort of it
can mean this is how we love, This is.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
How love used to be.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
These people loved each other like this and in the
past tans, which is very curious.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
I think it's it's a.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
Powerful, powerful three words in.
Speaker 6 (14:29):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
So we're going to talk a little bit more about
the arc of the album Samvasi, And because there's a
whole drama that happens and you're documenting it, we're with
you as these things happen in your relationship. So how
did you love Como Samamon or Gomo Salmon.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Still, when I wrote the song sam Maasi, I was
reflecting on my sort of my parents' relationship. It reflects
sort of on my own parents way of love, but
it could also be hypothetically ourselves, you know what I mean.
But it does sort of start with Atapa Mama magazine,
So it's already talking about a family and a relationship,
(15:13):
a relationship between a man and a woman. As a child,
I couldn't see what was right or wrong about it.
It's just what I knew that it was my reality.
And then it's sort of a reflection on how we
just take for granted the way that we're taught how
to love, and then that later in my life, through
my own reflection, I realized the patterns that I had
(15:34):
been repeating. And then eventually I realized sometimes that you
end up sort of repeating things that maybe subconsciously you
didn't want to know.
Speaker 5 (15:44):
This person.
Speaker 6 (15:47):
Is seeing.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Sing, and then what's interesting is that towards the end
of the song, our daughter sings a couple of melismas.
It's also maybe about, you know, transgenerational trauma, or like
the way our parents love, the way our grandparents love.
And then we also learn a new way to love.
So I would say that Samawasi is kind of maybe
(16:13):
recognizing sort of the way that you loved, which is
not necessarily the best way to love, that maybe we
have to learn how to love each other in a
better way.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
The first track El Camino, it's almost like an initial
separation in your relationship.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
The same.
Speaker 5 (16:49):
He Commino El Camino.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
You can go your own way, by the way, couldn't help,
but notice the parallel to Fleetwood Mac.
Speaker 5 (17:03):
You can go your own way.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
Never going back again.
Speaker 5 (17:11):
Can you say that again? Can you sing Fleetwood Mac
for me?
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Can you just talk a little bit about this push
and pull that you wanted to really capture in the
song at I mean.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
I wanted to open the record with sort of the
dilemma and the crisis of the story. I mean it
starts immediately with sort of the problem as being presented
to people. It's a crossroads. It's a moment of indecision
of do we stay do we separate? I think it
was a song that I wrote to kind of soothe
myself into saying sort of like I can't take this anymore,
(17:55):
which means either go take the road, and sometimes it's
choose the road. Let's both go and do what you
need to do, but it's also you have to choose
what you want to do.
Speaker 5 (18:11):
Luis, can you talk a little bit about track number
four and Poche Oh god bo.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
So this one has you on vocals and truly it
feels like you're in conversation with Raquel's tracks in the piece.
Can you tell me about the decision to have you
sing on this album, and in fact, were you responding
to Raquel in the song.
Speaker 4 (18:37):
Once Raquel had all this you know sort of body
of work, you know, it sort of really did put
me in a position where I was like, well it
to balance this off of it only makes sense to
to sort of offer my own perspective as well.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
And you know, finally sing on a track selling.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
No gael se track number four and MP is genuinely
that sort of response. Raquel sets up a narrative and
at some point I'm sort of photo bombing here and going, hey,
(19:17):
look there's another side to the story. I've got something
to say to you know.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
We did you decide not to get married? Have you
decided to do that as a political statement or is it?
Speaker 4 (19:35):
Yeah, very much political. It was a political maneuver. We're
very much known for these. No, honestly, Maria, it was
it was not I have to be honest.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
Oh my god, you guys, that was too funny.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
I was like, oh, dude, because you know, there's a
deep political analysis around the institutional marriage.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
There's a song about it on the record addressing just this.
Speaker 6 (20:00):
Yeah, the one called me Mario Mario me Marido is
a song about loving a person and being present in
their life, just as if we were married, but without
ever really signing papers and sort of.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Thinking that ultimately, like love should really kind of be
a commitment made between two people. I think that it's
more about a commitment of like deepness, whereas people got
married and never had deep conversations about their relationship. So
it's sort of challenging that notion of marriage.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
In every interview, we're always asked sort of, oh, what's
it like to be married? And and you know, work together,
and we're even in some you know places on the
internet if you look us up, it's like the married
couple who makes music in this.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Someone wrote someone started that room.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
I've never been married. I don't think Raquel has either.
There is something interesting to point out about the evolving
nature of relationships, what we take from the past, what
we what we don't, what we choose to move forward with,
And I think it's it's an interesting open ended conversation
to sort of start.
Speaker 5 (21:25):
So you end with track ten.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
It's de lea hito, which again Puerto Rican Spanish de
le hito, which means from Afar. This is adorable, because
part of the refrain of the song is please go away,
take some time for yourself, so that when you come back,
(21:49):
I'm like, oh my god, I missed him so much.
I love him. I'm wondering what ended up happening. Did
(22:09):
the Lehito's part happen?
Speaker 1 (22:11):
I think that we've given each other space.
Speaker 4 (22:14):
Yes, we it's intentionally. I think we want to keep
the open ended, sort of ambiguous nature of the of
the song and records in a way so that people
can apply it to their own lives.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
I think the central reason why I've been able to
stay married and have decided to stay married is because
I truly, truly adore my husband Spieda, because he's an artist,
because he's always creating, because he's Dominican, because he makes
me laugh, because he's still adorable and gorgeous. But there
(23:08):
are these moments in relationships. We went through a really
difficult time a decade ago. I was not shy about
talking about that publicly or even in my memoir, and
my therapist asked me.
Speaker 5 (23:20):
She was like, do you love Hermann?
Speaker 2 (23:22):
And I was like, I adore him, and she was like,
he adores you, too, Therefore, can you lead with love,
but again, you can't force love. What do you all
want to say to couples out there, married or not
who are making that decision like do we stay or
(23:43):
do we go?
Speaker 1 (23:45):
I think that it's really important to understand the context
of our relationship. We work together, We've worked together for
ten years. We're sort of an anomaly, and it hasn't
been easy. I feel like the fact that we put
our record out is in itself sort of a feat
because we're constantly having to kind of choose between these
(24:07):
two things. I mean, when you're working on something and
the stress hits and the creative ideas and the creative egos,
that's definitely going to affect a relationship. I think also
like the Lahito could kind of be a song about
codependence and the need for independence and relationships, for people
to really be able to look from afar so that
(24:28):
there's more mystery, so that there's more space to sort
of admire each other.
Speaker 5 (24:34):
Doomlympis it.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Through avis kiro Slo Porkisian Thrism.
Speaker 5 (24:44):
Trou De la.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
Hito has more of a song about how necessary it
is to have space to have a healthy relationship.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
Everybody's going through their own journey.
Speaker 4 (24:59):
I think in this record we go through ours and
it's important that, like you said, that we lead with
love in in whatever shape that may taste good.
Speaker 5 (25:29):
Very sis, So great to speak to the both of you,
and maybe I'll see you on tour.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Thank you, Maria, and that would be great so much.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Say Amava Assi is out now wherever you get your music.
MS is on tour now through July twelfth, closing out
in Houston, Texas. This episode was produced by Tasha Sandoval.
(26:09):
It was edited by our managing editor Fernando et Chavarri.
It was mixed by Julia Caruso. The Latino USA team
also includes Rosanna Guire, Jessica Ellis, Victoria Estrada, Renaldo Leanos Junior,
Stephanie Lebau, Andrea Lopez Cruzado, Luis Luna Flor, mar Marquez,
(26:29):
Julieta Martinelli, Marta Martinez, Monica Morales, Garcia, JJ Carubin and
Nancy Trujillo, Pennilee Ramirez, Maria Garcia and I are co
executive producers and I'm your host, Maria Inojosa. Join us
again on our next episode. In the meantime, I'll see
you all on our social media, and remember, dear listener,
please join futuro Plus. It's super easy, you get bonus episodes,
(26:54):
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Speaker 4 (27:36):
Flossy.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
Latino USA is made possible in part by California Endowment,
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The Hiding Simon's Foundation unlocking knowledge, opportunity and possibilities more
at hsfoundation dot org and the Ford Foundation, working with
(28:11):
visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide.
El Camino is really about sort of that confusion. It's
like when a relationship just hits across road, and I
remember writing it and imagining as if Luisa and I
were like riding this car. It's like the sun came
down and like we can't see the road and we
don't know where we're going, and it's just we just
have to choose somewhere to go.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
From Futuro Media and r X, it's Latino Usa, I'm
Maria jo Josan Today. The Puerto Rican indie music duo Busca,
Luis del Vaye and Raquel Verrios not only make music together,
they're also romantic partners and they have a kid together.
(00:58):
Their new album, which dropped in June, is called Saa
Mava Assi, which you could translate many different ways, but
roughly it's this is how One Loved. The record takes
listeners on a narrative journey through Raquel and Louis's intimate
relationship and the challenges of modern love. And I couldn't
(01:20):
help but think about my own marriage, which has had
its own bumps along the way, and the choices that
my husband and I keep on making to keep on
loving each other. Now for thirty four years. Saah mava
Assi is Uska Wuya's first album in five years. The
couple sat down with me to talk about Puerto Rican pride,
(01:42):
the creative process behind the album, and the stickiness of
long term relationships. Raquel and Louise, Welcome to Latino, USA.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Hi, thanks for having us, Thanks for having us. What
a great sound voice?
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Oh well, thank you? I try iconic, I try well,
thank you? Or really I want to start every morning
like this.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
I'm Louis del Vaso, from producer, engineer and ranger and
instrumentalists in the group.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
My name is Raquel Verrios Seton, also a member of BUSK. Yeah.
I'm also very lucky to be co partners with Louis,
who is a creative force and also makes me laugh,
which is really important.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
So I've been listening to the album and now I'm
completely immersed in a lot of of the.
Speaker 5 (02:43):
Both of you.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
To be honest, at some point you were like, wait,
the album is about us, The album is about our experience.
When did it kind of hit you that you were like,
it's kay?
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Is this?
Speaker 5 (02:54):
Els said, this is the album that we have to do.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
The band is already more than ten years old. Our
relationship has even been even longer than that. I met
Louise and sort of the winter of twenty ten. Sometimes
they ask us what came first, like our relationship or
the music, and sometimes those lines are blurred, and I
think precisely, kind of like the intertwining of both things
(03:20):
has been both a blessing and also a big challenge.
I don't want to say it's a curse, but it's
definitely been a big challenge. And we've been doing it
for enough time that clearly it came to a point
where it got pretty difficult, and we just decided to
sing about it, to really pour our hearts out and
(03:41):
just be really honest about it. When I would sit
down at the piano, it's all that I could sing about.
And after I kind of had a couple of ideas
and demos, I sat down one day with Louise and
I said, I think this is the record that we
have to write.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
And Louise when she said that, which meant basically, Okay,
we're gonna have to be really honest about what's going
on between us.
Speaker 5 (04:03):
What was your reaction.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
My immediate reaction was a bit of hesitation, like because
it has never been sort of our mo or our
voice to speak too much about our life, you know.
But then I had to reflect, and I had to
really think about the artists that I admire, and I
think they're all brave and vulnerable and truthful.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
And it became clear that it was a bold artistic.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
Move, and and and then I had to embrace it.
Speaker 5 (04:28):
Sol simper flutum jig.
Speaker 4 (04:37):
Eventually begrudgingly, I did you know, or as we would say,
she won, I think she.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Won this one. I mean she forced my hand.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
To be honest, after writing six or seven songs about you,
you can't really do another thing, you know.
Speaker 5 (04:51):
Well, you state there's this thing that you did.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
You collaborated with Bad Bunny on a song called Andrea
for his album UMMEERANOSINDI.
Speaker 5 (05:12):
I think people don't realize.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
If unless you've been to Puerto Rico and you kind
of have a deep understanding of Puerto Rican culture and arts,
how hugely important music is on the island of Puerto Rico.
And that's why having someone like Bad Bunny, who is
changing music around the world and yourselves, it's not a
surprise that it comes from Puerto Rico. But you know,
(05:34):
the art world there is big and small at the
same time. So how did the collaboration between you and
Bad Bunny come about.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
I mean, we just got a DM from his I
love this from his producer, But like Benito had never
really talked to us directly or we've never received anything.
And maybe he did a couple of stories where he
had tagged our music, but it really came out of nowhere.
It all happened really fast. I mean, the track was there,
his verses already there. They very much sort of produced
(06:03):
the track in the style of buscabuya, you know, and
he sort of laid down his verses. And when the
first time we heard it, I was sort of impacted.
I'm like, this doesn't sound like most of his songs.
This is a different type of vibe. This is a
different song. The theme was really profound, like he was
saying really beautiful, poignant lyrics. And you know, we just
(06:26):
got on a call with him, a FaceTime call. You know,
we were in our pajamas. He was dressed to the
nine in his studio. He's like, I want you guys
to write a chorus. I want you guys to produce
all the last part of the song like go Crazy,
I don't care if it lasts fourteen minutes. And after that, yeah,
and after that we had two weeks and it was
(06:46):
really intense and we put it in and about a
week after that the record came out. We were the
last song to make it to the record. So it
was wild, honestly, because we were at a weird moment,
(07:07):
like after the pandemic. We put our record out in
May of twenty twenty, right in the middle of the pandemic,
so already two years had gone by, and Lisa and
I were kind of feeling like, where are we going
to go now? And then apparently Benito, all that he
had done was here this record when he was on lockdown,
and we I don't know, but we had worked some
(07:28):
sort of inception in his brain that he was like
he really wanted to collaborate and really wanted us to
be in this album.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Bad Bunny has once again put Puerto Rican music on
the map around the world like no one else putting
Puerto Rican Spanish, you know, on the global scale. And
I talked about Puerto Rican pride. It is an essential
part of being Puerto Rican. So Luis just talk a
little bit.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
About that I think, Yeah, the pride of being Puerto
Rican is kind of our biggest export. You know, wherever
we go we have that, we wear it on our sleeves.
I think we do live in a pretty special place.
I mean, I don't want to, you know, gloat and
the fact that it's so known now is kind of
(08:13):
a double edged sword, if I'm being honest, And I
think that's also made it unique and interesting in its
own way. I remember being ridiculed by other Hispanics, you know,
for our accent, and now because of Benita and people
like him.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
You know, this is like now the new vernacular.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
But you actually went back to Puerto Rico. You went
back soon after Hurricane Maria, and actually living on the
island is beautiful and challenging. So why move back at
that moment? And what's it been like?
Speaker 1 (08:52):
I think growing up in this island, the poll is
really big. Some people get used to it and never
come back, but a lot of people want to come
back or really idealize the island. The problem is clearly,
I mean, we have a lot of economic problems. There's
a lot of corruption, there's a lot of problems with
the power grid. We always knew we wanted to be
(09:13):
back on the island. We wanted to make music in
the island. It hasn't been easy. Our rent got hyped up,
you know. After that, like three times we had to
move to San Juan. My father passed away, and sometimes
I also questioned myself, like why am I still here?
(09:34):
But our daughter has been here now for eight years,
and we have no regrets.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
She's here.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
We're cultivating her with the love of the island. She
speaks the language, she understands the history. We are very proud.
So yes, it's a challenging place to live, but lately
I feel like it's a challenging place to live anywhere.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
How do you think that living in Puerto Rico versus
being here in New York, How do you feel like
that impacted your relationship?
Speaker 1 (10:10):
It definitely has effected our relationship as any other place could.
But I think also in a good way. I think though,
coming back home, being in the place where you grew
up and also having a bit of that space is
the best place to be self reflective and really go
deep within. What better place to do it other than
being back home.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
Yeah, it sort of you know, makes you face your
past in a way that. I guess perhaps living somewhere
else doesn't do it.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Coming up on Latino USA, I get personal about my
own relationship journey, and Lisa and Raquel take us through theirs.
Did you decide not to get married? Have you decided
to do that as a political statement or is it?
Speaker 4 (10:53):
Yeah, very much political. It was a political maneuver. We're
very much known for these. No, honestly, it was not.
Speaker 5 (11:03):
Stay with us.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
A citizen. Hey we're back. I've been speaking with Luis
del Bayer and Raquel Verrios. They're the duo known musically
as Busca. The Puerto Rican couple doesn't only make music together,
(11:36):
they're also romantic partners and they have a child together.
Their latest album is about the ups and downs of
a long term relationship. So let's get back to our
conversation now. And this is where I get a little personal.
So I listened to the whole album Samasi, and I'm
going to tell you something.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
I don't mean it in a bad way.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
So I'm listening to it while I'm doing other things
for watering my plans, walking the puppies, et cetera. The
thing is is that in a lot of ways, it's
really like Buskabua does music that is really easy to
listen to.
Speaker 5 (12:13):
I e. Easy listening.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
Yeah, and this is the easy listening record about heartbreak
and couple's therapy.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
I was horrified saying those words, but at the same
time I was I was like, the thing is that
it's very comforting. It's very comforting music to have get
that that can be with you. And in that sense
it was easy to listen to.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
I mean, I think that that's kind of what we want.
I mean, we've never been very aggressive. I personally, when
I make music, I look at it more from a
therapeutic standpoint, and I hope that through it making it easier,
it's sort of a way for people to really pay
attention to the lyrics and maybe self reflect on their
(13:08):
own relationship and their own experiences.
Speaker 5 (13:12):
You love.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
You would translate SAMVASI you you would love this way?
Speaker 5 (13:29):
Or one loves this way? How would you translate it?
Speaker 1 (13:31):
The way it was loved? Could be a good translation.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
I have to give credit to Raquel. She wrote the song.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
She sort of wrote it from one go and she
showed it to me. But it's interesting also that it
has the double on tundra or several on Tundra, you
know what I mean. There's different spins you can put
on it. If you put our name right in front
of it, it's it's a sentence, you know, Musca, yes,
Mavasi some Okay Sae. Both of us felt like it
(14:08):
very much clicked because it has this sort of it
can mean this is how we love, This is.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
How love used to be.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
These people loved each other like this and in the
past tans, which is very curious.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
I think it's it's a.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
Powerful, powerful three words in.
Speaker 6 (14:29):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
So we're going to talk a little bit more about
the arc of the album Samvasi, And because there's a
whole drama that happens and you're documenting it, we're with
you as these things happen in your relationship. So how
did you love Como Samamon or Gomo Salmon.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Still, when I wrote the song sam Maasi, I was
reflecting on my sort of my parents' relationship. It reflects
sort of on my own parents way of love, but
it could also be hypothetically ourselves, you know what I mean.
But it does sort of start with Atapa Mama magazine,
So it's already talking about a family and a relationship,
(15:13):
a relationship between a man and a woman. As a child,
I couldn't see what was right or wrong about it.
It's just what I knew that it was my reality.
And then it's sort of a reflection on how we
just take for granted the way that we're taught how
to love, and then that later in my life, through
my own reflection, I realized the patterns that I had
(15:34):
been repeating. And then eventually I realized sometimes that you
end up sort of repeating things that maybe subconsciously you
didn't want to know.
Speaker 5 (15:44):
This person.
Speaker 6 (15:47):
Is seeing.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Sing, and then what's interesting is that towards the end
of the song, our daughter sings a couple of melismas.
It's also maybe about, you know, transgenerational trauma, or like
the way our parents love, the way our grandparents love.
And then we also learn a new way to love.
So I would say that Samawasi is kind of maybe
(16:13):
recognizing sort of the way that you loved, which is
not necessarily the best way to love, that maybe we
have to learn how to love each other in a
better way.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
The first track El Camino, it's almost like an initial
separation in your relationship.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
The same.
Speaker 5 (16:49):
He Commino El Camino.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
You can go your own way, by the way, couldn't help,
but notice the parallel to Fleetwood Mac.
Speaker 5 (17:03):
You can go your own way.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
Never going back again.
Speaker 5 (17:11):
Can you say that again? Can you sing Fleetwood Mac
for me?
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Can you just talk a little bit about this push
and pull that you wanted to really capture in the
song at I mean.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
I wanted to open the record with sort of the
dilemma and the crisis of the story. I mean it
starts immediately with sort of the problem as being presented
to people. It's a crossroads. It's a moment of indecision
of do we stay do we separate? I think it
was a song that I wrote to kind of soothe
myself into saying sort of like I can't take this anymore,
(17:55):
which means either go take the road, and sometimes it's
choose the road. Let's both go and do what you
need to do, but it's also you have to choose
what you want to do.
Speaker 5 (18:11):
Luis, can you talk a little bit about track number
four and Poche Oh god bo.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
So this one has you on vocals and truly it
feels like you're in conversation with Raquel's tracks in the piece.
Can you tell me about the decision to have you
sing on this album, and in fact, were you responding
to Raquel in the song.
Speaker 4 (18:37):
Once Raquel had all this you know sort of body
of work, you know, it sort of really did put
me in a position where I was like, well it
to balance this off of it only makes sense to
to sort of offer my own perspective as well.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
And you know, finally sing on a track selling.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
No gael se track number four and MP is genuinely
that sort of response. Raquel sets up a narrative and
at some point I'm sort of photo bombing here and going, hey,
(19:17):
look there's another side to the story. I've got something
to say to you know.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
We did you decide not to get married? Have you
decided to do that as a political statement or is it?
Speaker 4 (19:35):
Yeah, very much political. It was a political maneuver. We're
very much known for these. No, honestly, Maria, it was
it was not I have to be honest.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
Oh my god, you guys, that was too funny.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
I was like, oh, dude, because you know, there's a
deep political analysis around the institutional marriage.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
There's a song about it on the record addressing just this.
Speaker 6 (20:00):
Yeah, the one called me Mario Mario me Marido is
a song about loving a person and being present in
their life, just as if we were married, but without
ever really signing papers and sort of.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Thinking that ultimately, like love should really kind of be
a commitment made between two people. I think that it's
more about a commitment of like deepness, whereas people got
married and never had deep conversations about their relationship. So
it's sort of challenging that notion of marriage.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
In every interview, we're always asked sort of, oh, what's
it like to be married? And and you know, work together,
and we're even in some you know places on the
internet if you look us up, it's like the married
couple who makes music in this.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Someone wrote someone started that room.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
I've never been married. I don't think Raquel has either.
There is something interesting to point out about the evolving
nature of relationships, what we take from the past, what
we what we don't, what we choose to move forward with,
And I think it's it's an interesting open ended conversation
to sort of start.
Speaker 5 (21:25):
So you end with track ten.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
It's de lea hito, which again Puerto Rican Spanish de
le hito, which means from Afar. This is adorable, because
part of the refrain of the song is please go away,
take some time for yourself, so that when you come back,
(21:49):
I'm like, oh my god, I missed him so much.
I love him. I'm wondering what ended up happening. Did
(22:09):
the Lehito's part happen?
Speaker 1 (22:11):
I think that we've given each other space.
Speaker 4 (22:14):
Yes, we it's intentionally. I think we want to keep
the open ended, sort of ambiguous nature of the of
the song and records in a way so that people
can apply it to their own lives.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
I think the central reason why I've been able to
stay married and have decided to stay married is because
I truly, truly adore my husband Spieda, because he's an artist,
because he's always creating, because he's Dominican, because he makes
me laugh, because he's still adorable and gorgeous. But there
(23:08):
are these moments in relationships. We went through a really
difficult time a decade ago. I was not shy about
talking about that publicly or even in my memoir, and
my therapist asked me.
Speaker 5 (23:20):
She was like, do you love Hermann?
Speaker 2 (23:22):
And I was like, I adore him, and she was like,
he adores you, too, Therefore, can you lead with love,
but again, you can't force love. What do you all
want to say to couples out there, married or not
who are making that decision like do we stay or
(23:43):
do we go?
Speaker 1 (23:45):
I think that it's really important to understand the context
of our relationship. We work together, We've worked together for
ten years. We're sort of an anomaly, and it hasn't
been easy. I feel like the fact that we put
our record out is in itself sort of a feat
because we're constantly having to kind of choose between these
(24:07):
two things. I mean, when you're working on something and
the stress hits and the creative ideas and the creative egos,
that's definitely going to affect a relationship. I think also
like the Lahito could kind of be a song about
codependence and the need for independence and relationships, for people
to really be able to look from afar so that
(24:28):
there's more mystery, so that there's more space to sort
of admire each other.
Speaker 5 (24:34):
Doomlympis it.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Through avis kiro Slo Porkisian Thrism.
Speaker 5 (24:44):
Trou De la.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
Hito has more of a song about how necessary it
is to have space to have a healthy relationship.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
Everybody's going through their own journey.
Speaker 4 (24:59):
I think in this record we go through ours and
it's important that, like you said, that we lead with
love in in whatever shape that may taste good.
Speaker 5 (25:29):
Very sis, So great to speak to the both of you,
and maybe I'll see you on tour.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Thank you, Maria, and that would be great so much.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Say Amava Assi is out now wherever you get your music.
MS is on tour now through July twelfth, closing out
in Houston, Texas. This episode was produced by Tasha Sandoval.
(26:09):
It was edited by our managing editor Fernando et Chavarri.
It was mixed by Julia Caruso. The Latino USA team
also includes Rosanna Guire, Jessica Ellis, Victoria Estrada, Renaldo Leanos Junior,
Stephanie Lebau, Andrea Lopez Cruzado, Luis Luna Flor, mar Marquez,
(26:29):
Julieta Martinelli, Marta Martinez, Monica Morales, Garcia, JJ Carubin and
Nancy Trujillo, Pennilee Ramirez, Maria Garcia and I are co
executive producers and I'm your host, Maria Inojosa. Join us
again on our next episode. In the meantime, I'll see
you all on our social media, and remember, dear listener,
please join futuro Plus. It's super easy, you get bonus episodes,
(26:54):
all kinds of cool stuff, and you'll be supporting futuro
Media to make the kind of episodes that you look
forward to listening to. So please joint plus super Simples
by Yes.
Speaker 4 (27:36):
Flossy.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
Latino USA is made possible in part by California Endowment,
building a strong state by improving the health of all Californians,
The Hiding Simon's Foundation unlocking knowledge, opportunity and possibilities more
at hsfoundation dot org and the Ford Foundation, working with
(28:11):
visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide.
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