Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Names and faces
■ A year after a series of concerts in Puerto Rico that ended up being his last because of the pandemic, Daddy Yankee is bringing those performances to YouTube as a Christmas gift to his fans around the globe. “DY2K20,” the digital version of his show “Con Calma Pal’ Choli,” will be released in three parts on Yankee’s YouTube channel, with the first installment out Friday. The others will drop Dec. 14 and Dec. 21. “I wanted to give a Christmas present to all my fans during the pandemic, bring the party to their homes free of charge, bring them joy in such difficult times,” the reggaeton star said in a phone interview from Miami. Yankee, who has stayed mostly out of the spotlight in 2020, said that while the pandemic has hit many people very hard, it has also allowed him to do something he hadn’t done in three decades — focus on his health and rest. It’s something he had to gradually learn after gaining 40 pounds during the first months of quarantine. “Maybe because of the anxiety … I started eating and eating and eating and I put on the pounds like never before. I got to weigh 230 pounds … But I recovered my normal weight from 10 years ago. That was my focus,” said the “Despacito” and “Gasolina” singer, adding he achieved his goal by watching what he ate and exercising a lot. “I devoted myself to my health and to something that was unknown to me, which was rest,” he said. “I started to learn how to live with calmness and to appreciate it … And I feel different, I feel in a new phase completely.”
■ The rapper Casanova remained in federal custody after surrendering to law enforcement in a gang-related federal racketeering case, authorities said. The New York City rapper, whose legal name is Caswell Senior, was charged in an indictment unsealed this week against 18 members of the Untouchable Gorilla Stone Nation gang, which authorities say operated in New York City and other parts of New York state. Casanova, 34, turned himself in to the FBI late Wednesday. He pleaded innocent Thursday to charges of conspiracy to commit racketeering, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and firearms possession. The gang is charged with crimes that include the killing in September of a 15-year-old boy in Poughkeepsie — Casanova was not hit with that charge — and defrauding programs meant for people hurt by the coronavirus pandemic, prosecutors said. His attorney, James Kousouros, said Casanova had been “painted with a broad brush of conspiratorial conduct” in an indictment short on specifics. Raised in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, Casanova is known for hits like “Don’t Run,” released in 2016 and, more recently, “Set Trippin.” He released a first full-length album, “Behind These Scars,” last year.