My christian name is Luis Rafael Valdez Vargas. I was born in Santa Maria, Pepillo, Salcedo, Dominican Republic, the 23 day of the month of May in 1961, in the days in which the tyrant Trujillo was executed.
I am the first son of my parents: Ana Victoria Vargas Perez and Juan Bautista Valdez Santana.
There are 12 children: 6 females and 6 men. I am the only musician in the family.
My grandparents: María angel Vargas, Amelia Perez, Nicholas Valdez and Eligia Santana. These two last ones were the parents of my father.
I am descending of Spaniards by the side of my father and French, Haitians and natives on the part of my mother.
It is why I am a mestizo of high caliber.
My papa and my mother always lived in a constant dispute on would happen with the boy as soon as they separated when I was hardly 6 years; but my mother always won.
When I did a mischief I went of to my Papa again.
I remember that when I turned 16 years, first thing my papa did was to enlist me in the National army, in Mao, Valverde, but to me I did not like the idea to be a military man, because in fact I was musician of birth, although for my papa, music was something for vague people.
Soon I left the Army and I returned to my mother.
There I knew a boy called Abilo, who was the only one in the region who played guitar.
He taught the first tones to me with a guitar that had bought me my mother.
I stuck to Abilo and I went away to work with him, he taught me some on the guitar. Soon, he went from the country to the city, promising to me when he went away, that would look for me when he settled in the capital city, and thus he did.
A year later it was there where I recorded my first simple one of 45 rpm, that was custom for that time. I left to sell the disc store by store, and nobody wanted to buy one of me. That was my first great deception. I remembered my father when he said to me: "That does not serve, that does not make money, you will be a failure".
Overwhelmed and disappointed by my first artistic failure, I went to the country again, because I remembered some friends that I left there, with whom I did some little parties when I was learning to play the guitar.
Those friends were: Alcide the Vocua (passed away), Diogenes the one of Vianela, Pedro Pimentel, Artemio Sanchez, Antonio Carrasco, and Ágel the one of Jose Agustín (to whom today they call Anthony Santos).
Then, I began here again, with the support of the boys of the radiostations of the area. I remember Zamba Radio, Beller Radio, and Montecristi Radio, that supported me much and gave me the spirit to go on.
I began again, and here I am Father of 7 children, although not yet married. All are children of different women. They are not going to think bad of me, what happens is that when one is so young and has a carreer like this, and suddenly becomes famous and acquires money, one does not know what to do with so many things. And the women, who are my adoration, do not know either what to do with one, and that is why my children arrived that way.
I have children with women who I only knew that night and I never returned to see them until they appeared in another celebration. But at the end, the children are meat of my meat, and if you give good raise them well, maybe I'll be the father of a future President of the Republic.
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