When speaking of East Harlem-bred musicians, names like Tito Puente and Celia Cruz come to mind. The pioneers of the rich Afro-Latino, mambo and salsa musical genres that have helped shape the area’s music scene today are immortalized through murals and street signs all around the neighborhood. But as East Harlem has evolved, through the wave of cultural and economic change, so has the definition of what an East Harlem musician is supposed to sound like.

Meet iFFY The Badman, a singer and songwriter of pop and soul influenced punk music who is a walking representation of that change.  After moving to East Harlem at 12 years old, his deep Rock and Roll influences clashed with El Barrio’s Afro-Latino culture, and his musical identity has made him stand out from East Harlem’s current musicians. Despite being recently signed to Universal Republic records, gaining his neighborhood’s support for his different sound has been a challenge, one that he has chosen to use as motivation to stick to his guns.

As he performs for the first time in New York City, iFFY The Badman provides a glimpse into how it feels to represent something different than the norm.