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Over the years reports have surfaced that the social and emotional lives of the kids in Menudo were poorly supervised, even neglected. Diaz will admit only that the group did have "problems," though he denies he was the root cause. Says Diaz: "I think a lot of problems come from the house, from the family, some of the parents the kids have." Martin, Diaz says, actually fared better than most. "Ricky had that special personality, like a charm," says Diaz. "He could handle himself."
In fact, Martin dreamed of breaking out of the group's constraints and setting off on his own. Producer-performer Robi Rosa recalls talking to Martin about his ambitions when they were both in Menudo: "Mainly our conversations were about life and being true and making it and doing something great."
After finally leaving the group at age 17, Martin embarked on a commercially successful Spanish-language solo career. He was signed by Sony, which early on saw a future in Latin pop (Anthony, Lopez and Shakira are all on various Sony labels). Says Sony Music CEO Tommy Mottola: "The heart and soul of the music will be able to break down barriers easily. It's undeniable."
And Martin has plenty of both. His performance of the soccer anthem La Copa de la Vida at the 1998 World Cup confirmed his superstar status internationally; his pelvic-swiveling rendition of the song at the Grammys earlier this year proved a breakthrough as well. He had done the impossible: he had sung about soccer in Spanish and got Americans to care. What could be harder? A French-language ode to cricket? At the Grammys, Beck stood and clapped. Madonna signed on for a duet. Martin's stateside career was launched. Several publishers, including HarperCollins and St. Martin's, are already rushing out books on him.
"A lot of people say, 'Well, why English, why do you want to do it in the States?" says Martin. "It's all about communicating. The last album [Vuelve] did really good, to be quite honest--I want to be humble about this--all over the world. One of the songs was No. 1 in 22 countries. And it was in Spanish. So I didn't have to go to English to make it."
But his timing--and we're trying to be humble about this too--was perfect. Spanish-language radio is booming, and it has proven to be a terrific launching pad for Latin crossover artists. Today Spanish-language FM stations are top rated in New York City and Los Angeles. "Music has a stronger connection with Hispanics than with other groups," says Cary Davis, general manager for New York City's La Mega 97.9. "In a sense you have a double hit with Hispanics: it's good music, but it also takes you back to your culture."
Spanish-language radio hasn't always received its due from advertisers. Early this year, a study sponsored by the Federal Communications Commission found that advertisers who spend $1 per listener for general-market stations pay only 78[cents] on comparably rated minority-formatted stations. Report author Kofi Ofori says he also found that 91% of minority-radio broadcasters had run into advertisers who had instructions not to buy time on urban or Spanish-language stations. A sales manager for a Spanish-language station is quoted in the report as saying that an account supervisor for a major car manufacturer told him, "We're wasting our time here... You know Hispanics don't buy or lease cars."