Victor and Johnny Lopez spent their early years in El Salvador, a Central American nation torn apart by civil war. As youth, these two young men, who would later form the band Crooked Stilo, immigrated with their parents to the United States in search of a new beginning and a better future. They settled in a housing project in East Los Angeles, a new environment that came with its own unique challenges.
In East Los Angeles, Victor and Johnny of Crooked Stilo faced difficulties of gang warfare, drugs and alcohol, and criminal elements. They focused on their music as a protection from the shootings and fights that occurred outside of their home. The confrontations between other young immigrants and the police turned into music and the stories of their lives became their lyrics.
The boys were ambitious and planned a future for themselves that would help them get out of their poor neighborhood. They wanted to become music stars and so the brothers began to toy with a musical style of their own. They quickly found that their musical interests differed, Victor had always preferred the music of his roots, with lyrics in Spanish while Johnny loved American rap music. Representing their new reality, as Latinos living in Los Angeles, they developed a fusion of their two musical interests.
The brothers combined the Latino music that they heard from their parents with the new sounds they encountered in Los Angeles. They brought together: Celia Cruz, Willy Chirino, Los Angeles Negros, Rigo Tovar, Sonora Santanera, Camilo Sesto, Los Hermanos Flores, Orquesta San Vicente, Los Bukis with NWA, Gangstarr, EPMD, Big Daddy Kane, Mellow Man Ace, Biz Markie, Cypress Hill, ALT, Snoop Dogg, Tupac, and Notorious BIG. They baptized their new style as "crooked" because, "it consists of combining the old Latin music and new hip hop music," says Johnny.
After defining their sound and style, the group Crooked Stilo began its path to stardom in 1993. They initially recorded their work independently, sold a good amount of copies, and quickly discovered an underground community for their music. They became popular in the "underground Latino rap" scene by catching the attention of their generation. Yet, they found that radio stations were unwilling to play the music of Crooked Stilo or the burgeoning movement of urban regional.
Last year, with the success of other urban regional groups, Crooked Stilo found itself poised on the edge of stardom. Their first single, "Ya Lo Saben," is sure to be a hit from coast to coast. By merging their street sounds with topnotch production, Crooked Stilo has given the regional urbano genre a sonic gem worthy of critical praise.
With their catchy loops of tropical rhythms and sounds, the Lopez brothers have added a new twist to the urban regional genre. Tapping into their Salvadorean roots, they continue to expand the scope of urban regional music, to include rap and all types of Latino sounds. Their new album, "Puro Escandalo" is at the forefront of an unstoppable musical trend that started in Los Angeles on its way to conquering the world of music.
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