“Puerto Rico,” Victor Manuelle greeted fans as he entered the Premios Tu Música Urbano stage on Thursday (June 23), where he performed “Vamo’ a Ver Si el Gas Pela,” honoring the legendary salsero Marvin Santiago. The stage came alive with Manuelle who, along with a troupe of dancers, gave a masterclass in salsa dancing. He was later joined onstage by Puerto Rican rapper Miky Woodz.
During the awards ceremony, the 51-year-old artist also took home the Contribución Award, which, according to Telemundo, is given to “artists of other music styles who weren’t afraid to try what the urban sounds had to offer, and they opened doors for them.”
Manuelle’s special award was presented to him by El Alfa. “First of all, thank you to all the urban artists whom I reached out to in the early 2000s. None of them said no to me, although people thought I was crazy. Thank you for contributing to this idea and vision that I had. [Urbano] is now the number one genre in the world. And thank you to this awards show for letting me sing a salsa and pay homage to Marvin Santiago. Puerto Rico, thanks for all the support.”
#VictorManuelle recibe el Premio Contribución en #PTMU y agradece a todos los artistas urbanos que se arriesgaron con él y contribuyeron a su visión musical. #PremiosTuMusicaUrbano pic.twitter.com/gmjyH0efsi
— Telemundo (@Telemundo) June 24, 2022
“Vamo’ a Ver Si el Gas Pela” is part of his latest 15-track set, Lado A Lado B. The high-energy collaboration, which also features salsa veteran Marvin Santiago, fuses salsa with urban beats and brings together two generations and two worlds. It’s as modern as it gets for Manuelle, who then switches gears to his more “traditional” roots for Side B of the album.
“Many think that because I am a sonero I have to make more traditional music. There is an audience that demands that and there is another that includes young people who have known me since I started collaborating with urban music artists,” Manuelle said in a statement when his album was released back in April. “So, at this stage, I wanted to please everyone and work on this concept album.”
The third edition of Premios Tu Música Urbano, hosted by Omar Chaparro, Zuleyka Rivera and Carmen Villalobos, is going down at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico and was broadcast live for the first time on Telemundo, awarding artists in 34 categories.
