In the same interview, you said, "What I say about sexuality is, I leave it for my room and lock the door." Given your amazing success and the realities of modern media, do you really think you can keep the door locked for much longer?

R.M.: You know, I've done it for fifteen years, and maybe it's going to be different now. But in the end, it's my space, it's my house, and it's not only for me, but also I have a mother, and I have a sister and brothers, and I have a father. And some people want to cause them pain. People are out there just wanting to destroy it. They see you happy; they don't like when they see you happy. They just want to break that magic. So you've got to ignore them and just pray for those souls that just want to do you harm. I don't owe them anything.

Whom do you see as your role models in this business? I know you've become friendly with Madonna.

R.M.: Having the opportunity to work with her, yes, I learned a lot. I learned that it doesn't matter where you are or who you are, you have to be willing to listen, and not everything has to be the way you want it to be, nonnegotiable. Madonna goes into a studio and she says, "What do you think? What do you like? What do you hate?" But there's a lot of others, like Sting or David Bowie, I've learned from as well.

Why has Latin music taken off here all of a sudden? Is it a real change or a temporary fad?

R.M.: Besides the fact that the Latin community is the fastest-growing minority in America, I think it's a phenomenon that is not only happening here; it's been happening in Europe for the past few years, and in Asia, stronger than ever. All over, people are becoming open to different ideas and different cultures.

But there have been complaints that the Latinos who are most successful are invariably the ones who seem the least, well, Latino. Someone in Time magazine claimed that darker-skinned Latins still still can't land a contract. What do you think of that?

R.M.: I can't get any more Latin! It's so racist to say that because you are dark-skinned you cannot make it in America. Whoever wrote that should go to jail or at least get sued. It makes me angry. People forget that there's a long list of artists who have been doing this for so many years, like José Feliciano, like Gloria Estefan. Santana played Woodstock! So this so-called Latin movement isn't new. There are a lot of artists in Latin America who have all the tools to cross over. It will happen. It's just not there yet.

What do you think Anglo culture has to learn from Latin culture?

R.M.: Long pause Faithfulness.

Your success has also renewed a lot of interest in Menudo, which some former members now remember as cruel and exploitative. What was it like for you? Do you have good memories of that time?

R.M.: It was a lot of work. I look back, and I can't believe the hours I had to work, and I was a young kid and I gave up a lot. To be a kid, to work for twelve hours a day. God, that could be lonely! But they tell you, Hey, if you're not happy, you can leave! It's okay.

And then you were forced to retire when you were, I guess, 18.

R.M.: Seventeen.

Seventeen. And you moved to New York. What neighborhood did you live in?

R.M.: I lived in Astoria, in Long Island City. Everyone but me was Greek.

What was your life like at the time?

R.M.: Very quiet. I wanted to be outside of Manhattan. I just needed to spend time with myself. It didn't matter where I was. But I stayed in New York because I wanted to study acting, and I didn't want to go to L.A. because it was too far from home. So I thought New York is perfect, you have, you know, the theater, the culture, museums. You can grow intellectually. And at the same time, I had anonymity.