The Énye tradition began in 1999 when Robert Ruiz had the idea to form a company that could create a professional outlet for all of the talented people he saw around him. The word Énye comes from the phonetic spelling of the letter 'ñ' in the Spanish alphabet. At the time, Robert was inspired by a newsweek article that had labeled his generation of Latinos in the United States "Generation Ñ." The article talked about the impact his generation was having on arts, music, business, and culture in general. The first company started under this tradition was a software development and business consulting firm called Énye Group.
After three short years, the success of Énye Group had allowed Robert to fund a new project called Mariachi Ogullo de América. Robert had been a mariachi since he was 12 and it was time for him to get back to his roots. Soon after Robert had the idea to apply the same vision he had three years previous to the world of music. This began the second company in the Énye tradition, Énye Music.
The next group to be formed under Énye Muisc was Son del Barrio. Like Mariachi Orgullo, Son del Barrio fillled a major gap in Latin music in the area, bringing live tropical music to thousands of people. Along with veteran trio musicians Alberto Aguilar and Marco Tulio Yanez, Énye Music then formed Trio Estelar (no longer performing). Already established colombian group, Tierradentro, joined soon after making Énye Music even more representative of all kinds of Latin music.
These groups have recently been joined by an even more diverse roster of musical groups ranging from american pop-rock to big band. In 2008, Ricardo Sasaki joined Robert as partner of Énye Music with the goal of offering even more capabilities and support to the groups and to expand services into the areas of production and promotion as well as releasing albums as a music label.
In the area of production and promotion, Énye Music has helped to establish several festival including the Norman Hispanic Festival, the Oklahoma City Mariachi Festival, and most recently the hugely successful Norman Music Festival. Énye Music is now in charge of production for the Zoo Amphetheater concerts and is a sponsor of Fiestas de las Americas in Okalhoma City.
Future plans for Énye Music include releasing more albums for its groups, as well as creating even more events to share the music to growing audiences.
