 Mr. Stintek Hawaii, the community matters here. Aloha and bienvenido to Hispanic Hawaii, I'm Richard Concepcion. Today's program is about Felito Felix. He is an international artist, a singer, and a songwriter. Felito Felix is Puerto Rican and he studied his career with a famous group, The Four Amigos, who signed up with Capitol Records and was based here in Hawaii during the 1960s. He started his solo career in 1961 with a song called Mi Maddalena. He performed in many different countries such as Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and all Latin American countries, here in the United States too. We copied a record he recorded over 67 records and wrote over 500 songs, many which are still playing today. He recorded duo with Elvis Presley, the king of rock and roll, and during his performance at New York Center Park, he had an audience of 250,000 people making him the second singer to accomplish this remarkable achievement. Today, he has retired from the music industry and continued to inspire and encourage future musicians with his music. He was visiting Hawaii and had the honor and the opportunity to interview him. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Welcome to the Latin American Center. Thank you, brother, for inviting me. It's a pleasure for me, as always, it's a pleasure for Puerto Rican people who receive it with love and affection. Well, thank you. I would like to ask you what is the reason for your visit to Hawaii? Look, the reason for my visit to Hawaii is because I lived here in Hawaii. I had a time in the 1960s. I lived in Hawaii, my home base, and here I went out to Japan, Guam, Chicago, my Philippines, Taipei, Taiwan, and even Vietnam, too, and with a group called The Four Amigos. The Four Amigos, we had a song for that time, which was... Wow, incredible. Many songs, and we came here a lot to Hawaii, and from Hawaii we came out to all parts of the world. And many years ago, years ago, I didn't come to Hawaii, and I'm a little retired. I can't retire. And I said, I don't want to die without returning to Hawaii. How beautiful. I found people like you, and they make me feel proud, proud of the Latin race. Because you are here so far away from the country, and you defend me. Defend the Latin race. And I want you to know that even though I left, I come back to Hawaii. Your heart is here in Hawaii. Let's talk a little bit about the story of The Four Amigos. The Four Amigos was a group that, at the time of the 60s, was founded in Puerto Rico. And then we made an offer to record the Capitol Records together with Kingston Trio, Mamas and Papas, Brazil 66, but there were a lot of them, and they hired us, and from Los Angeles it was easy to get to Hawaii. And here they gave us so much love that we made our home base. Home base? Yes. Well, let me ask you. You started as a soloist, and you made your first song called Magdalena. My Magdalena. A bolero. A bolero. Talk to me. Call me. I love you so much. I love you so much. If my guitar doesn't know me, and I carry it inside my chest, I love you so much, I love you so much. It's beautiful. It's beautiful. It's beautiful. Oh, yeah. Because, you know, now they play a little bachata, too. Bolero and bachata is a combination of grace. Very easy. Very easy. When I was about seven years old, six, seven years old, I was always looking at the instrument that caught my attention. And I was singing solo in the bathroom, and I was singing in my house. And my house was looking at me because in my house, my father, my mother, nobody was singing. And I was singing, and I still said, I want to be a singer. And I want to be. And I was a singer, I worked as a singer all my life. You know, I have a number of songs written and recorded. And I asked God, God, I want to record a song. And God gave me more. And you said the truth. Oh, yes. But you have more than sixty-seven productions, more than four hundred or five hundred songs. Songs that I sometimes listen to on the radio, and I don't even remember. It's mine. And people ask me, but you know this song, and I say, I don't do it, but it's yours. I say, oh, no. I feel like that, because sometimes I've recorded in many styles. I've recorded in salsa, in bolero, I've recorded, I've recorded merengue, I've recorded with Mexican music too. I've recorded everything, everything, everything, everything. And sometimes I go to a place, and sometimes I don't know what to sing. It's like the people who have a lot of clothes, when they go to change their clothes, they have a problem, because they don't know what to wear. Yes, yes. They don't know what to wear, and they don't know what to wear. Yes, yes, yes. But tell me, when you were in Central Park, in New York, you had more than 250,000 people who participated as audience. That was the thing that happened there. They told me, go sing in Central Park, and my numbers were all stuck. In New York, my Central Park, it wasn't Central Park. What did I know it was Central Park? And I went there, when I entered, they told me, it's full, it's full, it's a scandal. We're going to take you to a limousine, because they didn't know that the limousines couldn't enter the park, and it was raining. I don't know why shoes, why everything, you know why. I don't want to go to the limousine, you know, in the car, in the car, in the car, in the car, it's a star of the show. It's what? It's a star of the show. Star of the show, I think. Who are you? I'm Felix. What do you do here? I play. Are you the star of the show? Yes, sir. Okay. I opened the door for a walk. He's the eldest one. He's the eldest one, you know. No, we're the first shoes in the park of... I was beautiful. When I saw that, experiences, you see, so many people together like this, and when they clap, you look at that, you hear, I go like this, oh my God. I know there was, there was over two hundred, six, two hundred, about 250,000 people, because of the period of Colossal Día. I said, oh my God. Because I've been in New York many times, in my super garden. But right there, where you see people that are saying, oh. I've not only been in New York, I've been in Venezuela and Mexico. I've been in the Dominican Republic and in Mexico. I went to different places, Chicago, Chicago too. And I went to Japan. In Japan? Yeah, anytime. Plenty of time in Hong Kong too. Very good. I recorded a one song Chinese. Yeah. Oh yeah. I'm sorry for this. I just go. I just go. I've come here many times. I don't know. I don't know. What? Yeah. What's your name? It's my dream. A dream that I had, that I was going to a car in Puerto Rico, convertible. And I was walking around Puerto Rico. And I met Felipe Rodriguez, a great Puerto Rican singer. And he hugged me and said, he's dead. Then he said, oh, Felipe, okay. Let's go to Santulce. And there was Cortigo, Ismael Gibera, Bobby Capo, and all this famous singer. All of them. In the party all over the island with all that people. And I talked to them. I went around Puerto Rico. I'm in the end. In the end. I was talking to the governor, Luis Muñoz Marín. The governor of Puerto Rico. And we were talking, you know, with Zafar Hernández, Pedro Florejo, this composer, and a big star that passed away. Yeah, also. And I was so happy. I was so happy. And so, Muñoz Marín, the government, he took me like this and looked at me in the eyes. He said, Felipe, your man, your world, your life is not there. I mean, you're in the wrong place. And then I understand. I look at him. I go, bye. I was flying, flying, flying, flying. I'm flying. I go away from that. All of them look at me and say goodbye. That's why you give it a title. Yeah, yeah, sueño, dream, Puerto Rican. I was so good. I was thinking all day, singing, singing that dream. I started writing. It was beautiful. Wow. So, let me ask you another question. The song has already arrived. What was that song? Look, that song, there was a Puerto Rican who was famous in the Plena, in Puerto Rico. And he was retired. And to write for him, he had to know how to write because it wasn't the Plena. Anyone had to have the tongue. And he was tired. And I say, I want to give something to him. Say, see what you're going to do because it's not easy. I'm going to try. I'm going to try. And you're gonna check out the link in the description below. It's all about that, and the same about you. It's all about that, and the same about you, And that's that, and the same about you, And then just essential, and I think about you. Ha ha ha ha ha. We the movie better and larry hallow. Ah no, willy-colon. Will-ly-colon. Incredible, good function is. because it was a standard song. Let me ask you, it's been a week and a half here in Nahuay. I want to talk a little bit about Puerto Rico. How is the situation in Puerto Rico compared to the news that we received here from our Puerto Rican people? What is the reality? The reality of Puerto Rico is sad. It's sad because Puerto Rico doesn't love us. The land of one. And seeing a monster. It's a monster. To crush, to destroy. It's like you grab a paper and throw it. It destroyed in such a short time. In the morning, when I went out and looked like this, what you could see was like a fire, like a fire had happened. It was all gray, dark. It was ugly, ugly, no light, no water. Nothing. Nothing. It's sad. It's not that this is just plain. You have to see it. It's sad. Well, here we are supporting in the best way that we can. I know it's very difficult, I also have a family in Puerto Rico. One thing, if I tell you, that I believe in my Puerto Rican brothers, what they are there in Puerto Rico and what they are here. And I know that Puerto Rican has a big heart and that Puerto Rico is going to rise. It's going to rise in the name of God. Puerto Rico is going to rise because that's how we want the Puerto Rican. And because that's how we are fighting. And because that's how God is going to help us. That's right. Well, let's ask you another question. What are the plans in the future? I know that Puerto Rico will return. When are we going to be able to see you return? Well, I'm going to Puerto Rico in a few days. I came here to Hawaii because I'm half retired now. And I didn't want to die someday without seeing Hawaii. And now that I've seen it and I've met new people, like I've met you, I did the fight. And I said, no, for me the honor is mine. Because as I see a Latino fighting for the blood of the Latino, it's my brother. I want you to know that. And that they deserve the respect and I take the hat off for you. Thank you. You are the ones who represent us. If you don't do well, we are going to be well represented. And I know that you are doing well. Because what you are doing here is for yourself. Because you want to move this and join the Latinos. They are the ones who need the Puerto Rican. Join us all, but not only the Puerto Rican. The Cubans, the Mexicans, all the Latinos. If we join, we are the majority. We can. We can. Together we can. Separated, very difficult. But if we join, the path is easier. And shorter. And we are going to enjoy more. And we are going to enjoy more. Well, we are almost going through time. Really? Yes. But I want to ask the last question. What is your advice to the young people who are now interested in learning music to have a future like music? Yes. The first thing you have to do is to learn music. To read and write music. If you like something, do it well. Even doing it well and being the best, never forget this. Never. Someday, and that is for sure, you are going to find someone who knows more than you. Where you want everything you do. Don't think you are the one who knows more than you. You are the best. There are many good people. And sometimes you don't learn only from the good. You learn from everything. Because someone who doesn't know more than you can know something that you don't know. And if you learn the profession of music, honor it, liquor and drugs, they go together to music and the environment. They walk together. But one can hurt the other terribly. And if you go to that and learn that, don't go anywhere. Respect your profession. Be clean, clear. Study every day, every day, every day. And put it in your heart. And you are going to triumph. Because God doesn't need that man who goes before, who is going to do it, but he proposes to do it and he goes forward in a failure. Well, love, I want to say thank you very much for the opportunity, it's an honor to be able to do an interview and your advice. And we are going to leave you all with the song of the victory of the Philippines. Here I say goodbye, and it's not to leave me. Here I say goodbye, and it's not to leave me. What is to pay? What I have done, someone has done it. I say goodbye, I say goodbye, and my company, but I'm going to eat. Lord God, I'm going to eat. Lord God, I'm drunk, I'm drunk, so that I don't get drunk. I'm drunk, I'm drunk, and pure sepan. I'm drunk, I'm drunk, pure sepan. I'm drunk, paint, so that you don't get drunk. Pure sepan. How good God led the way, I understood its beauty. I gave you了 your blood and initiate the victory. You made the earth hug me. Yes you're not trying to speak say goodbye. Thank you so much for watching Tintek and if you want more about Felito Felix you can get in contact with me at RichConcept at Gmail.com and don't forget you can re-watch this program at Tintek Hawaii.com and watch many other programs and gracias, hasta luego.