3 Reasons You Should See JOATA Live

With a genre-defying mix of Latin singer-songwriter stylings, hip-hop, and indie rock, JOATA hit the stage at The Acoustic in Bridgeport, CT, this past weekend as part of his Cambio tour.

JOATA is the performance moniker of Brooklyn-based bilingual Puerto Rican musician Jose Oyola, who is a skilled guitarist, singer, emcee, and above all, knows how to inspire emotions.

Cambio, which is Spanish for change, is not only the name of his tour, it’s also the name of his latest project, and it’s a change music fans can believe in.

JOATA’s live show makes him an artist who is easy to believe in, as anyone who was in the crowd at The Acoustic can attest to.


Here are three reasons you should see JOATA live.

1. There’s a lot of passion behind his music

Whether or not a person understands Spanish, emotion is a universal language, and it’s something JOATA performs with an abundance of on stage. If he’s strumming a song about love, you can feel the emotion. If he has the Puerto Rican flag in one hand, microphone in the other, performing the high energy song “Cambio,” you can’t help but feel inspired.

It takes a truly talented individual to cross a language barrier, and relate to people on this level, and JOATA is one of those truly talented folks.

2. He’s a highly engaging artist

I’m pretty sure almost everyone likes when an artist takes the time to talk to the crowd, explain the history, and meaning, behind some of the songs, and engage in a bit of audience interaction. JOATA does all of these things, and he does them with a big smile on his face. Whether it was talking about the inspiration for a song, or joking about when he was learning English, and having trouble with the last name “Johnson,” by the end of his set you’ll feel like you’ve met JOATA, and you will most definitely like him.

3. You’ll learn a little bit of Spanish

At one point during JOATA’s performance he called for the audience to take part in a little call and response. The word he wanted everyone to say, however, was a Spanish word, so guess what – we all learned a little bit of Spanish before the end of the night.

So if you don't know any Español, attending a JOATA performance will cause that to “cambio.”


For more JOATA follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.