LOS ANGELES - As a child, Adrian Quesada dreamed of success at the MTV Video Music Awards, but now, he is on an even bigger stage -- with an Oscar nomination.
The American musician with Mexican roots hopes the presence at the Academy Awards of someone from the Texas border town of Laredo will help serve as an inspiration for other people from minority communities.
"Representation, I think, in the arts, is a big thing," Quesada told AFP in Los Angeles as he promoted his powerful track "Like a Bird" from the prison drama "Sing Sing" -- a nominee for the best original song prize.
"If I'm a young kid watching MTV or watching movies or watching TV, when you actually see people that look like you out there, people that you know come from your culture, it inspires the next generation."
The Black Pumas guitarist co-wrote and performed "Like a Bird," which closes the film, with singer Abraham Alexander.
The nomination is one of three for "Sing Sing," which tells the true story of Divine G (Colman Domingo), a wrongfully convicted inmate who finds an outlet in a prison theatre group.
Former prisoners who participated in the real-life theatre programme performed in the film, which was directed by Greg Kwedar.
Domingo is nominated for best actor, and the script is vying for best adapted screenplay honours.
Quesada and Alexander did not have their sights set on Hollywood's glitzy awards season when they signed up for the film, and Quesada admits that it has been "surreal" to be caught up in Tinseltown's annual jamboree.
"It's still something that is hard to process," he said. "I still sometimes wake up and can't believe that."
Quesada is no stranger to plaudits, earning multiple Grammy nominations during his long career and winning one golden gramophone for his work with Austin-based Latin funk outfit Grupo Fantasma.
But he admits a nod from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is something special.
"The Academy Awards just seemed like such a different world," he said.