# Ileana Padrón **Categories:** Singer, female composer, Actress Cucu Diamantes. Cuban singer, composer, actress and philanthropist, resident in the United States since 1991, co-founder of the Grammy-nominated fusion band Yerba Buena, of which she was the lead singer. Among her collaborations are works with artists such as Carlinhos Brown, Vico C and Fatboy Slim. 'Cuculand', her debut album as a solo artist was released in 2009, and nominated for a Latin Grammy in the Best Alternative Song category with the song "Mas Fuerte". She made her debut in Cuba in 2009, with her participation in the Paz sin fronteras concert. She starred in the autobiographical film Amor crónico (2012), directed by actor and filmmaker Jorge Perugorría. She was born in La Habana Vieja and later moved with her grandmother to the Havana neighborhood of Párraga, where she lived until she was 9 years old, when she moves with an aunt to a building in El Vedado, facing the Havana Malecón. At age 17 she travels to Rome to study Art History and Restoration, and begins to develop as a singer. At night, she worked as a wine server in a wine bar in the bohemian neighborhood of Trastevere. Artistic Career Upon finishing her studies, at age 21, a drummer friend convinces her to move to New York City, where she meets her current spouse Andrés Levin, with whom she creates in 2001 the group Yerba Buena which mixed sounds of New York hip hop and soul with the Afro-Cuban roots of rumba and boogaloo. Before Yerba Buena, she danced in the freakiest bars in New York City, alongside her transgender friends Amanda Lepore (muse of photographer David LaChapelle) and Sophia Lamar. In her voice the influence of artists such as La Lupe, Celia Cruz, Moraima Secada (La Mora, Jon Secada's aunt), Elena Burke, and also Italian singer Mina is notable. Yerba Buena Group Yerba Buena is a mixture of Latin music with African roots (Cuban rumba, Colombian cumbia, pan-Caribbean solca and Nuyorican boogaloo) with hip-hop, Motown soul, Nigerian afrobeat and a touch of Middle Eastern themes, played by an extraordinary multicultural group of musicians, who revived the new sounds that were emerging in the streets of New York City. Debut as a Solo Artist The artist launched in 2009 "Cuculand", her first solo album, in which she fuses rhythms such as conga, cumbia, tango, hip hop, son, flamenco, samba and rock. Despite being independent, the album Cuculand reached the #1 position for downloads on iTunes Latino in early August 2009, above major productions from multinational labels (Pitbull, Wisin & Yandel). Her most memorable performance was at the party offered by Pedro Almodóvar and his friend, actress Rossy de Palma, at the Cannes Festival, the night before the premiere of the film Los abrazos rotos. She rose to fame in Cuba following her participation in the Paz sin Fronteras concert led by Colombian Juanes at the Plaza de la Revolución in Havana, in September 2009. Her tour around the island included concerts in the cities of Bayamo, Santiago de Cuba, Gibara, Camagüey, Santa Clara, Cienfuegos and Matanzas. Discography Cuculand (2009) Amor Crónico Alguien (Feat. Yotuel from Orishas) Mas Fuerte Free Mentiras Vengo Show me the money papi Overture Sentimiento Still in Love Filmography . Amor crónico (2012). Dir. Jorge Perugorría . Boccaccerías Habaneras (2013). Dir. Arturo Sotto . Fátima o el Parque de la Fraternidad (2015). Dir. Jorge Perugorría Amor crónico (2012) Amor crónico participated in the 'Cinema Under the Stars' section of the Cartagena Film Festival. It was the first Cuban-American film co-production in more than half a century, with which Cuban actor Jorge Perugorria made his solo directorial debut. produced by American Sarah Green, who in 2011 was nominated for an Oscar for The Tree of Life, the film features performances by Vladimir Cruz and Mirtha Ibarra. The music is composed by Andrés Levin, Grammy Award winner and producer for Miguel Bosé, Ana Torroja, Carlinhos Brown and the acclaimed Broadway musical In the Heights, among others. In Amor crónico, which takes place between documentary and fiction, the director ties together a story of platonic love, a conflict of identity dislocation, with a tour around the island in which from theater to theater, Cucu captivated her audience. The Board of Education of the city of Union City in the State of New Jersey canceled her contract to perform on Saturday, September 26, 2009, at a gala party at a high school in that city in retaliation for having participated in the Paz sin fronteras Concert. In 2010, Cucu Diamantes was among the participants in the Meeting of Cubans Residing Abroad Against the Blockade, in defense of National Sovereignty. The blog Cambios en Cuba interviewed her about the Obama administration's policy toward Cuba and the censorship of which she was a part in a New Jersey school for having been one of the stars that accompanied Colombian Juanes in the Concert for Peace that took place in Havana.