Show 17: Miami is my Valentine (feat. Ozuna, Carbone, and Jorge Ramos)

It’s an unforgettable melody, even though I didn’t understand the song lyrics. That’s fine. I was only in the 7th grade.

In the Fall and Winter of 7th grade, I used to wear a Miami Hurricanes jacket to school. Upon entering school, I would rush up to my homeroom on the second floor and hang up my treasured jacket in a tiny closet area. I would sit in my assigned seat near Maxine, Karimé, and other classmates with alphabetically-similar surnames while our homeroom teacher took attendance.

In that room, Mrs. Rosenfeld used to play Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start The Fire” on the piano in our homeroom. You know the uptempo chorus:

We didn't start the fire / It was always burning, since the world's been turning

We didn't start the fire / No, we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it

The only change to the song is that we didn’t sing it in English. Mrs. Rosenfeld, a white Jewish woman, wasn’t just my homeroom teacher. She was also my Spanish teacher. She even named me Cristóbal after Cristóbal Colón—Christopher Columbus.

She used Billy Joel’s classic song to teach los días de la semana to dozens of [mostly while and Asian] students at Nathaniel Hawthorne Intermediate school. Billy Joel’s song starts with a list of historical names and places, but Mrs. Rosenfeld cleverly replaced them with the days of the week in Spanish. Lunes replaced Harry Truman. Domingo replaced Joe DiMaggio. It was a creative use of mnemonic device to help 7th grade Spanish Language Learners. It was also the first time singing in Spanish—”proper” Castillian Spanish. It’s also probably the last time I sang in “proper” Spanish.

Coming-of-age in Jamaica, Queens and Harlem, NYC taught me colloquial Spanish from two regions. I came to know colloquial “Puerto Rican" Spanish as the variation where the “R” sound sometimes changed to an “L” sound inexplicably. It’s also what identify closest to “Spanglish,” the often comical blending of English and Spanish.

Alternatively, there’s “Dominican Spanish“ that I perceive as a singing, rhythmic kind of Spanish that often cuts off the “S” sound at the end of words. Sometimes, the switch-up is even crazier. A simple greeting of ¿Cómo estás tú?" becomes “¿Cómo tú ‘tá?” in “Dominican Spanish.” It saves a syllable by cutting out an “S” sound but reorders a word.

One of the ways I picked up colloquial Spanish at an accelerated pace was being around folks like Rosy. We first met at her high school as I was working at the neighboring college’s area afterschool programs. Almost half a lifetime later, she has done everything from help me move from one luxury building to another to providing financial guidance and services for my consulting firm. She’s also the first call I make when it’s time to fly to Miami.

From an Ella Mai private concert to jazz festivals, I’ve taken Rosy to a few of my most memorable concert experiences. At the top of that shortlist is when SiriusXM and Pandora gave me access to a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration in Miami to see my favorite Latin music artist, Ozuna. My first call was Rosy.

With respect to Bad Bunny, I vehemently claim that Juan Carlos Ozuna Rosado is the most talented Puerto Rican artist over the past decade in Latin music, particularly across the genres of reggaeton, Latin trap, and pop. Both Bad Bunny and Ozuna hail from Puerto Rico, with Ozuna also having Dominican heritage via his father. All the evidence that you need of Ozuna’s greatness is Ozuna’s 2021 NPR Tiny Desk performance.

It showcases his singing and rapping, his terrific ability to ride a beat or change pace, and his knack of working the pockets of a groove with vocals. Admittedly, Ozuna’s discography doesn’t have the cultural impact of Bad Bunny’s most recent albums, but Ozuna’s songwriting is stellar nonetheless. His songs cleverly mix in entendres while making full use of colloquial and “proper” Spanish to convey aspirational love, sultry lust, and solemn reflection.

All his hits were on full display amidst the full indoor pyrotechnic display, smoke machines, and colorfully dressed backup dancers. “Baila Baila Baila,” “Del Mar,” and “Caramelo,” “Vaina Loca,” were sequenced as the second through fifth songs on the set list. Of course he ended with “Te Boté.” These were all hits and fan favorites, no deep cuts. “El Farsante” earned the most passionate sing-a-long from the crowd—except from Rosy. She sang along to “Que Va” the most. In these hits, particularly when the pace is fast, Ozuna does the “Puerto Rican Spanish” thing of changing the “R” sound to an “L” sound. But if you listen to reggaeton enough, you can easily make out the words. “Proper” is overrated. Colloquial, is what I value.

Miami isn’t just how I end up at fun concerts or how I spend time with Rosy. Miami is how I travel the world. Unfortunately, travel to Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, or the Dominican Republic have been out of reach for most of my life, so Miami is the proxy. It’s a really fun proxy, especially if you know a little Spanish. Sure, Miami is unmistakably very Cuban, but much of Latin America—Haiti included—is represented in the area. You can find it in the street art, the small businesses, and the food.

Speaking of food, one of my trips with Rosy in Miami was to surprise an old friend in Miami. He was my classmate at Nathaniel Hawthorne Intermediate School, but he wasn’t in my homeroom class. I believe his homeroom was designated for French elective classes, not Spanish like mine, so he didn’t join me in Mrs. Rosenfeld’s class. But he would join me in the playground before school started.

In the winter, I would take off my bright green and orange Miami Hurricanes Starter jacket so we could play 4-on-4, two-hand touch football with some other schoolmates. In the Spring/Summer, we might play 3-on-3 basketball in the playground or in the gym. In fact, we made a great point guard-power forward duo. Instead of Stockton and Malone, it was Cris and Carbone.

Mario Carbone, the namesake and creator of the iconic restaurant, was one of my best friends from 6th through 8th grade. He founded Carbone the same year I launched my consulting firm. Clearly, he’s the better entrepreneur among us. I admire him for it. In one of my visits to Miami for Art Basel, Rosy came with me to surprise Mario. It had been a couple of decades since I had last saw him. We both look skinnier than we were in junior high school. I’m just glad he remembered me.

Even before the post-Covid migration to Miami, I knew it was the next huge opportunity for business. Back in 2019, I was in Miami pitching business ideas or helping other immigrant entrepreneurs pitch their ideas for funding with the likes of Jorge Ramos.

I toured the budding tech scene of Miami and met with a few of the city’s brightest entrepreneurs. I was so convinced that Miami was the next big tech hub that I advised my company’s largest client at the time to expand to Miami. Leadership at that client decided to take the findings of a JPMorgan Chase consultant instead. I was right. Mario Carbone knew the potential of Miami too. He opened Carbone Miami in South Beach in 2021.

My love for Miami extends beyond music, business or its undefeated nightlife. It started with that jacket I used to hang up in homeroom of my junior high school in Bayside, New York. The Miami Hurricanes were a brash, championship college football team from the 1980s-1990s. Before I even thought about visiting Miami, the ‘Canes were the first sports team I truly fell in love with. They were almost a championship team again in 2026. I have loved the team so much that I often get access to the Miami Hurricanes alumni events that happen in other cities like New York and Atlanta.

This week, I had a chance to hear from two of its alumni, ex-NFL star & Fox Sports broadcaster Greg Olson and the current head coach, Mario Cristobal.

I chuckle each time I hear that first name and that last name because of how familiar they are to me and how they bring me back to the bright green and orange jacket I used to hang up in Mrs. Rosenfeld’s classroom.

Unlike that classroom, I haven’t heard much “proper” Spanish spoken in Miami. I hear a lot of Cuban colloquialisms that aren’t found in textbooks. I have heard Dominicans cutting off the “S” sounds in words even when I’m not overhearing a conversation between Rosy and her mom as we would drive around Miami. I have listened to Puerto Ricans in Miami change the “R” sound to an “L” sound like when Ozuna sings his biggest hits.

Through my time in Miami, I have learned that the roots of what we love most aren’t in the formal, but rather in the colloquial—that which is ordinary and familiar. Ozuna’s music, the memorable times with Rosy in Miami, the seemingly daily junior high basketball runs with Mario Carbone, and the homeroom + Spanish class routine with Mrs. Rosenfeld were ordinary, yet integral, parts of my coming-of-age ain NYC nd my assimilation into diverse spaces in America. It’s the ordinary that brings comfort and a sense of belonging.

On a day like Valentine’s Day, when there’s so much love to share and to celebrate, it felt right to reflect on a place where I have done much sharing and celebrating. Miami would be a great destination date for Valentine’s Day. And if you’re already there, stopping by Carbone’s would be a great idea too.

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Job/Career Opportunities in Music and Entertainment:

1. To further thank the people who brought gave us access to Ozuna in Miami, I share with you the open roles at Sirius XM and Pandora.

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Concert access + more:

1. ROSALÍA’s “LUX TOUR” is a must see. She has collaborated with Ozuna

2. Bad Bunny’s World Tour continues post-Super Bowl

3. Floetry as reunited for a tour, with Teedra Moses and Raheem DeVaughn

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About the author:

Cris M. is the award-winning Founder & CEO of GrantAnswers, an NYC-based data, strategy & consulting firm founded in 2013. His journey to becoming an award-winning entrepreneur has been highlighted in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, MTV, and Forbes. He has helped +1000s launch careers in tech & secure acceptances to top colleges & programs. His speaking engagements for the likes of Columbia Business School, Teach for America and the US Chamber of Commerce encompass immigration, career development, entrepreneurship, and tech diversity & inclusion. He is also an avid concertgoer for +25 years and counting, and likes to tell stories about it.