Pete Rodríguez

Creator of the Latin music classic "I Like It Like That,” American pianist and bandleader Pete Rodríguez - not to be confused with his contemporary namesake Pete ‘El Conde’ Rodríguez (1933-2000) - was nicknamed ‘the king of boogaloo.’ Born into a family of Puerto Rican immigrants in New York's Bronx district on April 16, 1934 (or 1932, depending on the source), Pete Rodríguez formed his first orchestra, La Magnífica, with whom he recorded the album At Last! (1964) for Remo Records. His music, drawing on a variety of Caribbean styles such as guaracha, guajira, mambo, son, merengue, and bolero was mixed with American soul and jazz into a fusion known as boogaloo. A precursor of the genre, Pete Rodríguez recorded the albums The King of the Boogaloo and El Rey del Boogaloo in 1965, and then formed his orchestra, Pete Rodríguez y Su Conjunto. The group reached its peak with the album I Like It Like That (1966) and its title track sung by Tony Pabon. Pete Rodríguez y Su Conjunto continued his popularity in the Latin community with the albums Latin Boogaloo (1966), Oh, That's Nice! (Ay, Que Bueno!) (1967), Boogaloo Navideño (1967), Hot & Wild: Yo Vengo Soltando Chispas (1968), and Latin Soul Man (1969), several of which were released under the name Pete Rodríguez & His Orchestra. Moving into salsa, Pete Rodríguez continued as a solo artist with the albums Now! (1970) and Right On! Ahi Na Ma! (1971) before retiring from the scene. The song “I Like It Like That” went on to become a classic when it was covered by The Blackout All-Stars for the film I Like It Like That (1994) and was later sampled on the track "I Like It" (2018) by Cardi B, Bad Bunny, and J Balvin.  On March 11, 2024, Fania Records announced the death of Pete Rodríguez at the age of 89.