Yotuel Omar Romero Manzanares

Yotuel Romero is a singer, musician and actor. He has been a member of the rap group Orishas and has participated in the Spanish television series Un paso adelante.

Yotuel was born in the Vedado neighborhood of Havana. Since his parents could not agree on what name to give him, they finally decided to call him "yo-tu-el", for his mother, for his father and for him.

From a young age his passions were sports and music. At five years old he started playing water polo and at 15 years old he decided to switch to jujitsu until he turned 19.

He has been rapping since a young age. At just 18 years old he joined his best friend Hiram Riverí (Ruzzo) and Joel Pando (El Pionero) to form the group Amenaza. The group began a hard work in rescuing orality and urban poetry, modifying it and looking for new forms, new changes, another alternative to say what was happening with his generation through a new rhythm, rap.

They rehearsed at Joel Pando's and Yotuel's houses. They would move all the furniture and set up a stage, starting at 8 in the morning and going until 9 or 10 at night, continuing to rehearse, only stopping to eat something. They would leave the house a mess, their mothers were a bit upset, but they let them do it because they saw them very enthusiastic about rap, and then of course, it was they who had to clean up the whole house.

During this time Amenaza frequented places where hip hop was made in Havana with the hope of recording a demo. Places like Café Cantante, a venue in the gardens of Teatro Mella, Casa de la Música, Casa de la Cultura of Centro Habana, the Vedado venue.

In 1997 the group's hard work yielded its first results and they were awarded First Prize at the Semi-clandestine Cuban Rap Festival of Alamar. Then the Cuban Liván Núñez (fourth member of Orishas and member of Sargento García's live band) who was working in France with producer Niko Noki on a project that would mix traditional Cuban music with hip hop, and they needed to incorporate some Cubans into the project, came to Cuba and communicated to Amenaza his interest in making some recordings with them, but it all came to nothing.

Then Joel Pando left for Norway, although he remained part of Amenaza. People thought it was the end of the group but they said "let's move forward, we can't stop now". Then they made a very good "demo" produced by X Alfonso with its own sound, very Cuban.

There was a period of splendor for the group with good radio promotion and television appearances. As a result of all this they met Petra Morales, the president of a French association called A.D.H.E.S.I.F. (association of solidarity with the Cuban people). She liked their work and was responsible for Amenaza going to France to conduct a cultural exchange through rap, all thanks to and through the Asociación Hermanos Saíz.

Then they decided to fight for themselves, taking advantage of being in France and the existence of a rap movement with great strength. Now they only needed a son singer to complete the project, which is when Roldán began to be part of the project. Soon they began to develop the lyrics and musical bases trying to develop a concept, a coherence: From this hard work came a "demo" that was nothing more than the clear and defined concept of what they wanted to do. Record companies EMI and SONY had great interest in signing them. Finally they went with EMI.

With Orishas he released 4 studio albums:
A Lo Cubano 1999
Emigrante 2002
El Kilo 2005
Antidiotico 2007 which achieved worldwide fame, touring the best stages on the planet and gaining worldwide recognition from audiences and critics.
Cosita Buena 2008

In 2003 the magazine "Time" included Orishas among the 10 most important bands outside the USA. The others were U2, Radiohead, Pulp, Sigur Rós, Aterciopelados, Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers, Japanese Brilliant Green, Malagasy Tarika and Brazilian Pato Fu.

They obtained a nomination for the Grammy Awards with their album "Emigrante" in the category of Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album. And at the Latin Grammy Awards they won the award for best Hip Hop/Rap album. That same year they also received the award for best international hip hop album (that is, non-American) which is annually awarded by the Bible of the genre, "The Source".

In 2005 "El Kilo" (Orishas' third album) was nominated for the Latin Grammy Awards in the category of "Best Urban Music Album", and at the Grammy Awards in the category of "Best LatinRock/Alternative Album".

In 2008 they obtained 3 nominations for the Latin Grammy Awards (Best Urban Music Album for Antidiotico, Best Video for Hay Un Son and Best Urban Song) of which they won Best Urban Song for their collaboration with Calle 13 on the song "Pal Norte".

They have been awarded at the Spanish Music Awards in the category of Best Hip-Hop Album in 2006 and 2009 for their albums "El Kilo" and "Cosita Buena".

Orishas albums have achieved gold sales status in countries such as Spain, Switzerland, Germany and Portugal. The album "A Lo Cubano" is Platinum in Spain. Orishas' music, whether from songs on their albums or new compositions, has been part of several films such as:

Kubaner Küssen Besser Germany 2002
Fast Furius II, 2003
Bad Boys II, 2003
Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights 2004
Perfecto Amor Equivocado Cuba-España 2004
El Benny Cuba 2006

On December 12, 2009 Orishas held their last concert as a group in Zurich, Switzerland. After that, each member of the group went their own way to work on solo albums.

Filmography
As an actor he has worked in television series
"La casa de los líos"
"Cuando yo sea grande" (Peruvian Television)
"Un Paso Adelante"
"Cafetería Manhattan"
"Hospital Central"

In film he has acted in three movies:
"Color Habana"
"Perfecto amor equivocado"
"El Baile de San Juan".

Music Producer
In addition to being a singer, actor and model, Yotuel is establishing himself as a producer. He co-produced almost all the songs on Orishas' last 2 albums. He also co-produced the album "Mi Generación" and produced the albums "Carrousel" and "Bela y Sus Moskitas Muertas" by Spanish singer and actress Beatriz Luengo, and some songs by Hanna and Cucu Diamantes (Yerba Buena).

Solo Work
After 10 years of career with the Orishas group, Yotuel prepared his first solo album called "Afrocuban Punk". The first single from this album is called "Rock'n Roll con Chancleta" and it features Puerto Rican Tego Calderón. The album also features collaborations with Enrique Bunbury, Rita Indiana, Nelly "el arma secreta", and Beatriz Luengo. Lyrically, he continues writing his stories in a very autobiographical and sincere album, but of course, without losing the Latin flavor and certainly not the dance. He wants people to have fun and enjoy the songs. He is a great lyricist and when he sings he does it with his heart. Live he is spectacular, and not just because of his way of dancing and singing, but also because he gives himself completely to his audience and never stops animating the atmosphere.

After 18 years away from Cuban stages, the popular Cuban band Orisha announced their return for Havana World Music 2018, where songs like A lo cubano and Cuba, Isla bella were not missing. They also participated in the Habanos Festival. Gourmet is the name of their new album. After two years of work at the end of 2020 the group Orisha decides to separate again and its members will continue their solo careers.