Dallas Latinos Gave Donald Trump The Middle Finger At Saturday's Cultura Dura Block Party.

Toward the end of Saturday's Cultura Dura block party in Deep Ellum, Dallas' Latino population let its thoughts on Donald Trump known. With hometown heroes Play-N-Skillz on the stage at this Remezcla– and Mountain Dew-sponsored celebration of all things Latin urban culture out in the parking lot of Life in Deep Ellum, the crowd — at the urging of the performers, granted — dedicated a sea of in-the-air middle fingers to the presidential hopeful, as well as his would-be international and immigration policies.

How's that for a welcome to the Republican candidate, who'll be in town later today for a rally at the American Airlines Center?

It was a memorable moment, for sure. Unfortunately, much of the rest of the event was fairly forgettable — through no fault of the day's many performers, who tried their best, to varying degrees of success, to turn the sparsely attended affair into more of a party than it really was.

Once the sun set, headliners Paul Wall and Play-N-Skillz fared better than the day's earlier performers — also included on the lineup were Bombon, Dustin Cavazos, Doeman and bemyfriend — by relying on some old tricks. Wall may have teased a new single called “Swangin' in the Rain” from his forthcoming Slab God, but it was his older hits that had his fans reaching up toward the stage for a high five. Play-N-Skillz similarly relied on its tried-and-true EDM-meets-hip-hop aesthetics to turn its set into a call-and-response-filled dance-off. These acts, much to their credit, made the best of a so-so situation, with Wall even going so far as to mingle out in the audience after his set for an impromptu and extended meet-and-greet/photo session with his fans.

In those moments, the event felt somewhat like the block party it was billed as being. But those moments were too passing, too few and far between.

No, Cultura Dura may not have been a festival, per se. But it appears it still fell victim to the same regional fatigue.














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