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Myke Towers was just a child when he saw the future. On his way to school in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, he had his first real-life glimpse of Tego Calderón, the Black rapper who at the time was one of the island’s — and Latin music’s — biggest stars.
“I was a little kid with a backpack, and he was in a huge Cadillac,” Towers recalls. “When you see that in real life, you don’t forget. Tego saw just another kid. But for me — on my way to school — that was a Kodak moment. You get it? It was, ‘Wow, if Tego did it, how can I do it my way?’ ”
That chance encounter set in motion the way Towers saw himself: as a Puerto Rican act whose core is rap but who also sings reggaetón; who collaborates prolifically but releases mostly solo albums; who is notoriously private but identifies strongly as a Black artist. And now, following the huge success of his 2023 hit “Lala,” and with the backing of Warner Music, as a Latin urban artist who is willing to experiment to gain global success.
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On April 25, Towers released “Adivino,” the focus track from his upcoming album, La Pantera Negra, due out likely at the end of May. Featuring Bad Bunny, “Adivino” is dance banger with a subtle reggaetón beat built over padded synths; it’s ear candy with pop leanings, as “Lala” was, but it’s also romantic and wistful and unexpected in its downtempo breaks.
It’s an auspicious kickoff for La Pantera Negra (The Black Panther) — an album Towers says goes back “to what I like to do musically, and to what people liked about my essence from the beginning, when they got to know me and said, ‘This kid has the goods.’ ”
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Its single notwithstanding, La Pantera Negra is mostly a solo effort, and “a priority for the entire company,” says Warner Music Latin America president Alejandro Duque, who has plans to support the album beyond traditional Latin music markets and into places like Europe, where Towers is touring this summer.
“Latin music’s influence and global impact are undeniable. But Myke’s versatile flow and magnetic presence go beyond the confines of any single language or culture,” adds Max Lousada, CEO of recorded music for Warner Music Group, who was heavily involved in signing Towers to a global distribution deal with Warner Music Latina and Warner Records in 2021. “He effortlessly experiments with new sounds and pushes the boundaries of artistic expression. We’re proud to support Myke’s journey as he continues to make his mark with original music that is exciting fans around the world.”
La Pantera Negra is the follow-up to 2023’s La Vida Es Una, which in turn spawned global hit “Lala,” a chill, downtempo dance track with a reggaetón beat that was a departure from Towers’ more urban fare. Given the extraordinary success of “Lala” — it hit No. 1 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart — Towers’ 1.8 billion on demand streams in the United States alone, according to Luminate, and his more than 44 million Spotify listeners (making him No. 61 on the platform), expectations are high for the set.
But Towers is looking straight ahead.
“Obviously, I know there’s [a lot going on], but I try to make it just another day at the office,” he says. “Because that’s how I did these songs. Another day at the office. I’m not looking for the hit, nor losing my focus. I always try to stay on the same wavelength.”
Myke Towers photographed April 11, 2024 at House Of Hits Recording Studio in Miami.
Natalia Aguilera
Towers is chatting and playing new music inside a black SUV that’s driving slowly through Miami’s Design District on a Thursday night. It’s 10 p.m., shops are shuttered, and there are few people out. But Towers, notoriously private, wanted a private space, and this is it. Still, there’s a cluster of people inside: his driver and trainer in the front seat, his publicist and security in the back, and Towers and myself in the middle.
Like so many Puerto Rican urban artists, Towers — who tonight is dressed in a light blue track suit — likes traveling in packs. But unlike many, he can truly compartmentalize and command those around him. Later, he will tell me that when he’s working in the studio, “Everyone has to behave like we’re on a spaceship; focused on the project at hand, no distractions.”
Which explains why tonight it’s quiet inside the SUV as he pulls out a good bottle of Caymus Cabernet (“I heard you like wine,” he says) from his backpack, pours it into small plastic wine glasses he shares with his publicist and I before playing a few tracks from La Pantera Negra.
Aside from Towers’ collaboration with Bunny, their first since “Puesto Pa’ Guerrial” in 2020, there’s a collab with Peso Pluma, “who I really like how he understands reggaetón,” Towers says. “Obviously it’s a Mexican representation, but reggaetón style, which he does well.”
Other new names in the mix include Benny Blanco, who produced one of the strongest tracks on the set, a remix of a classic 1990s American pop/folk track that speaks to Towers’ respect for the past; every one of his albums includes a look back.
But overwhelmingly, La Pantera Negra is a return to Towers’ origins, literally, musically and figuratively.
“There was a legendary person in my neighborhood [Quintana, in Río Piedras] who had several panthers as pets. One escaped and it was a mess. So I said, ‘I’m from here. I’m the black panther of Quintana,’ ” Towers recalls.
But it’s also impossible to ignore the symbolism of the “Black Panther” moniker and all it conveys, which is why Towers waited to use the name at a time when he truly embodied it.
“It’s something I’ve been called before, but I had to believe it. When you’re the protagonist of something, you don’t really see what’s going on until others do. That happened to me.”
La Pantera Negra, the album, kicks off with the eponymous track that describes where Towers is now and how he feels: powerful. “I feel we’re in a good moment, we have staying power. I can give people something they’re not used to, but it also helps me because when I go back to my essence, you feel the contrast.”
And after “Lala,” which was a musical departure for Towers, “La Pantera Negra goes back to my essence.”
Myke Towers photographed April 11, 2024 at House Of Hits Recording Studio in Miami.
Natalia Aguilera
But what exactly is Towers’ essence? Musically, it’s clear. He navigates between reggaetón and rap — although he clearly prefers the latter — with clear influences from Puerto Rican hip-hop pioneers like Daddy Yankee and Calderón as well as commercially successful rappers like Jay-Z and Drake, with his albums alternately focusing more on one style than the other.
From a personal standpoint, Towers is more enigmatic. Tall and lanky — his muscles defined thanks to a yearlong new workout regime — he comes across as reserved and polite, using a self-effacing brilliant smile as a shield, but still conveying the assuredness of someone who has done a lot of self-reflection.
Unlike many of his counterparts — who post constantly on Instagram and TikTok about their personal lives, prowess and riches (the plane, the watch, the car) — Towers is famously private. His Instagram account, where he has 12.1 million followers, is devoid of personal content, save for the occasional workout photo, and he rarely and reluctantly speaks about childhood sweetheart Ashley Gonzalez, the mother of his son, Shawn Lucas. Now 4 years old, Shawn (named after Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter), who Towers holds as a baby on the cover of his 2020 album, Easy Money Baby, made a rare appearance onstage at his father’s show at Miami’s Kaseya Center last fall. Beyond that, questions in that area are politely deflected.
“Just say he’s growing quickly,” Towers finally musters, looking away with that smile. “That’s separate from what I do,” he adds. “That’s my life. I have my social media because it’s a tool. But otherwise, I want people to listen to my music and just imagine what I’m like.”
Michael Anthony Torres Monge is now 30 years old, no longer the baby-faced rapper who dazzled in 2018 and 2019 with a seemingly never-ending string of hits featuring a rotating cast of collaborators that was a who’s who of reggaetón.
It was all a prelude to his second album, Easy Money Baby — which included only solo tracks save for a single collaboration with Farruko. Released on Puerto Rican indie Whiteworld Music, it debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart in February 2020 and established a blueprint for Towers’ future output: His singles would be collabs from all sides of the music spectrum — they’ve ranged from Becky G and Sebastián Yatra to Jay Wheeler and Quevedo — but his albums would largely be solo efforts.
Exactly a year later, Towers and Whiteworld signed their global distribution deal with Warner Records and Warner Latina that was brokered between Warner’s Latin department along with Lousada and Warner Records co-chairmen Aaron Bay-Schuck and Tom Corson, with the latter calling it at the time “one of our most important signings of the past year.”
Today, the Warner pact, a distribution deal with full services, has been extended, but Towers’ masters still belong to him and his original co-managers, Orlando “Jova” Cepeda and José “Tito” Reyes, co-owners of Whiteworld. The two signed Towers in 2018, buying his contract from another independent label.
“He was like an ugly duckling, vastly underestimated; quiet, humble, the opposite of the genre. But we saw the originality in him. His voice was different from anybody else’s,” Cepeda told Billboard at the time. He adds today: “I told him he was a star.”
Myke Towers photographed April 11, 2024 at Soho Beach House in Miami.
Natalia Aguilera
Towers, born in Río Piedras, the cradle of reggaetón, fell in love with making music thanks to his grandmother, who owned a karaoke machine and was constantly practicing in her little home studio.
“I think that’s where I learned to write songs,” says Towers, who to this day writes most of his songs in notebooks that he never tosses out.
“The notebook is always with me, in my backpack. I also write on my phone, but anytime I want to develop something, I pick up my notebook. I have 10 years’ worth of notebooks in bags around the house. One of these days, I want people to study them and see what I did in real time and say, ‘Damn, that’s how he wrote this song.’”
The weight of history has always mattered to Towers, and although he doesn’t constantly reference his Black experience in his songs, he speaks of it often and is aware of the responsibility.
“People know I’m Black. Everyone says, “‘El negro llegó y rompió’ [“The Black kid came and hit it”],” he says. “We represent both the culture and the world at the same time. It’s not a division, but I have to represent my own.”
Disciplined in the recording studio and in public, Towers is prolific, consistent and a meticulous songwriter, all traits that have allowed him to stand out and remain relevant in the very crowded field of Puerto Rican urban acts that rose to prominence in the mid-2010s.
“The way this guy puts a song together is so next level,” says Blanco, who first met and worked with Towers this year. “You blink an eye, and he already has the full song written and recorded. It’s truly spectacular to watch.”
The connection with Blanco was made by Brandon Silverstein (who previously managed Anitta), who came in to co-manage Towers with Cepeda last year, specifically to help in the Anglo space.
Soon after Silverstein came in, “Lala” exploded.
By then, Towers had numerous hits on the Billboard charts; he has 51 career entries on Hot Latin Songs, with 10 top 10s, and 11 No. 1s on Latin Airplay, for example. With La Vida Es Una, he captured his third straight top 10 on the Top Latin Albums chart when the set debuted at No. 9 in April 2023. Then, unexpectedly, “Lala,” track No. 22 out of 23 on the album, began to rise.
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“‘Lala’ is that stroke of luck you don’t expect. I knew many artists have that moment in their careers, but it hadn’t come for me,” Towers says. In fact, “Lala” wasn’t even going to appear on the album. The track, which Towers originally began working on two years prior, had been made in bits and pieces, and at one point, wasn’t even slotted to be on the album.
“Finally, they convinced me to include it. I can’t say I realized how big it was. Many times, you get carried by your instinct, but in this case, my instinct didn’t speak to me.”
But everything else did.
While “Lala” was not the album’s focus track, almost immediately, “It began to trend,” Duque says, particularly on TikTok. “With a hit, reaction can vary, but with ‘Lala,’ every little thing we did got huge jumps. So, we went full throttle,” he says.
“Lala” climbed steadily, and by July, it hit No. 1 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart and No. 3 on the Billboard Global 200, both milestones for Towers.
Cepeda firmly believes that releasing “lots of music” is essential to Towers’ success: “Artists lose steam because they don’t release new music [for their fans],” he says, then quips, “If you don’t take care of your wife at home, someone else will.”
And so, before the year was out, Towers released a second studio album, LVEU: Vive la tuya…No La Mía, a sort of part two to La Vida Es Una that included another mega-hit, “La Falda,” which topped the Latin Airplay chart.
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Then, Towers reset. After playing his last concert of the year, he disconnected completely from his music and spent over a month between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic with his family and his “friends who are like family to me, who are next to me even if I’m not doing music, who don’t even want to take photos with me because I’m one of them,” he says. “That’s what keeps me grounded. And I’ve also learned to be alone, too, to connect with oneself and with your essence, and then come back. I have my breaks where I plant, and my breaks where I harvest.”
These are the periods Towers describes as “out of the music scene. When I take off my superhero cape.”
Now, he’s coming back as a superhero, almost literally.
“I even studied how panthers attack,” Towers says. “I had been toying with the panther concept for a while, but now we started the year like this and everything we do will be under that roof.”
Towers will be playing the festival circuit this summer in Europe but will start with his first sold-out date at Madrid’s Wiznik Center on May 21. By then, La Pantera Negra will be in full swing after the release of “Adivino.”
“We’ll be working every single separately, of course, but with the storyline of the album and black panther,” Duque says, noting that Towers is enormously popular in Spain, Italy and Portugal. “It’s a very broad album. Myke is not only an urban artist, and our goal is to grow his audience to the max.”
Myke Towers was just a child when he saw the future. On his way to school in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, he had his first real-life glimpse of Tego Calderón, the Black rapper who at the time was one of the island’s — and Latin music’s — biggest stars. “I was a little kid with a backpack, and he was […]
Capitán Avispa is already here, or at least flying to a nearby cinema. In the meantime, you can listen to the soundtrack created by Juan Luis Guerra for his first animated movie.
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As he revealed to Billboard Español in December, the musician, composer, singer and producer released Captain Wasp Original Motion Soundtrack on Tuesday (April 5). With 41 original tracks composed and arranged by the Dominican maestro, the collection includes new versions of his hits “La Gallera,” “Bachata Rosa,” “Las Avispas” and “Bachata en Fukuoka,” as well as instrumental themes and songs especially created for the project.
“That’s how the epic themes of Capitán Avispa, who is the hero of our movie, and Jacques Puasón, his archenemy, were born,” Guerra tells Billboard Español. “These were composed full orchestra — that is, trumpets, trombones, french horns, violins, piano and percussion — and each one of them reflects their character.”
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“We worked for about five and a half years on the music of this film, since we made the first demo in 2019,” he adds.
The main song of the soundtrack is “Mi Amor,” a romantic song performed by Luis Fonsi, who voices Capitán Avispa in the film, and Joy Huerta (from Jesse & Joy), who plays his love interest, princess Honey Bee. “It’s a beautiful song that speaks of love that covers all faults, wonderfully performed by my two favorite voices of today,” Guerra explains.
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Directed by his son, Jean Gabriel Guerra, and Jonathan Meléndez, the story of Capitán Avispa was created by Juan Luis, who recruited other friends and colleagues to give life to the different characters: Juanes provides the voice of Sargento Picadura, and the Colombian rocker’s wife, actress Karen Martínez, plays Ximena Colmena. Dominican actor José Guillermo Cortinez lends his voice to the villain Jacques Puasón, and Dominican actress Amelia Vega — Miss Universe 2003, as well as Guerra’s niece — voices Polibya Néctar.
Among the track stand-outs are “El Baile de los Zánganos”, “a very cheerful and fun bachata son,” says Guerra, as well as a new version of “Señorita” and another of “Las Avispas” set to a reggae rhythm. The artist also highlights “Vuelo Sobre Avispatrópolis” as “a voice and guitar tune to the rhythm of 6 x 4, but with a modern twist, in which we added marimba, xylophones and strings”.
The musical production of Captain Wasp Original Motion Soundtrack was overseen by Guerra and Janina Rosado. “All this work was recorded in Santo Domingo by Dominican musicians,” says the multiple Grammy and Latin Grammy award winner, proudly. Allan Lescchorn and Luis Mansilla were in charge of recording and mixing, and the mastering was done by Adam Ayan at Ayan Mastering in the U.S.
Capitán Avispa had its premiere on Monday (April 1) in Santo Domingo with the presence of many of the participating artists, before opening in theaters in the Dominican Republic on Thursday (April 4). In the coming weeks, it will reach more than 34 countries under international distribution of Caribbean Films Distributions.
Listen to the Capitán Avispa soundtrack and check the confirmed premiere dates in the United States, Latin America, the Caribbean and beyond below.
Release dates:
April 4: Dominican Republic Bolivia Abril 11: Puerto RicoUnited StatesArubaAntiguaCuracaoSt. CroixSt. KittsSt. MaartenSt. Thomas
April 18: Mexico ArgentinaEcuadorParaguayUruguay April 21:Canadá April 25:Colombia May 2:Antigua St. LuciaGuyanaTrinidad May 30:Costa Rica PanamaGuatemalaHondurasNicaraguaEl SalvadorBelice June 7: Spain
July 11:VenezuelaBrasilPeru August 8:Chile According to a press release, more dates will be announced soon.
In February, Nicki Nicole was scheduled to perform in Miami for the first time as part of the Vibra Urbana Festival. But as torrential rain pummeled the 86-acre open-air festival grounds, one artist’s performance was canceled, and others had their sets cut short. Nicki waited anxiously in the wings for nearly three hours, until it came down to her to open the festival when the rain abated for a few minutes.
Wearing a black cutout bodysuit, blue and white motocross pants and her new, light chocolate hair (which she first rocked at the 2024 Grammy Awards) draping over a black headband, the 23-year-old Argentine artist, joined by eight background dancers, performed a 35-minute set that included hits such as “Colocao,” “DISPARA***” and “Una Foto (Remix)” — the collaboration with Mesita, Emilia and Tiago PZK that hit No. 1 on the Billboard Argentina Hot 100 chart in January and spent six consecutive weeks at the top.
Then it started to rain again — but the response from the soaking-wet crowd was still overwhelming.
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“It was very surprising,” an ebullient Nicki says after, still wearing her damp clothes. “With this day, the rain, to see all these people there, and they know all my songs, they’re having a blast — it’s just like I imagined it could be.” Despite the rain, it’s a moment of sunshine for Nicki, who is coming off a roller-coaster week during which she publicly hinted on social media that she and boyfriend Peso Pluma called it quits just five days before her Miami debut.
But Peso is not the topic of conversation as we chat backstage outside Nicki’s trailer, where former Argentine soccer star Maxi Rodriguez has also come to support her show. Her Miami premiere is a big deal for Nicki, and her mother, sister and two brothers are also in town from Argentina for the concert. She says they’re planning to go to Disney World the next day to celebrate.
While this may be Nicki’s first time in Miami, the rapper-singer has been making inroads in the market since April 2019, when she released her debut single, “Wapo Traketero.” That August, she made history on the Billboard Argentina Hot 100 by becoming the first Argentine female rapper to debut on the chart as a solo act. (Cazzu charted first, in July, but as a collaborator on J. Mena’s “Quien Empezó.”) The following year, she made history again, becoming the first Argentine woman to earn a No. 1 with her collaboration on Trueno’s “Mamichula,” which also features Taiu, Bizarrap and Tatool.
Performing a fusion of rap and R&B — but expanding her versatility to other genres like reggaetón and cumbia — Nicki Nicole takes a feminine but edgy approach that paved the way for a new generation of Argentine urban acts — such as Emilia and Maria Becerra — who now also dominate the country’s charts and are playing arenas.
Nicki is tied with Emilia for the second-most No. 1s (both with four), trailing only Becerra, with six. “Entre Nosotros (Remix),” a collaboration with Tiago PZK, Lit Killah and Becerra, topped the chart for 16 weeks, the second-most behind Karol G and Nicki Minaj’s “Tusa,” which ruled for 25.
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While Nicki’s dominance in Argentina is established — she played the last of nine sold-out shows at Buenos Aires’ Movistar Arena on March 10 — her goal now is to go global. She’ll play Madrid’s WiZink Center for the first time on March 21, after headlining Billboard’s inaugural Encuentro de Música en Español on March 19, and will wrap her ALMA tour at the Estéreo Picnic Festival in Bogota, Colombia, on March 24.
The trek — which began in August in Buenos Aires and stopped in Costa Rica, Guatemala and Bolivia, among other countries — is in support of her ultra-personal album, ALMA, that thrives on emotions, spirituality, reason and an awakening to self-love. It was nominated for best rap/hip-hop album at the 2023 Latin Grammys, and the track “DISPARA***,” with Milo J, was up for best rap/hip-hop song.
In the middle of it all, Nicki also publicly addressed her relationship with Peso Pluma after a video of him appearing to hold hands with another woman in Las Vegas over Super Bowl weekend surfaced on social media. “Respect is a necessary part of love,” she posted Feb. 13 on Instagram, where Nicki has over 21 million followers. “What is loved, is respected. What is respected, is cared for. When you are not cared for and there is no respect, I don’t stay there. I leave. It is with great sorrow that I found out the same way you did, thank you for the love you are sending me.”
Nicki Nicole photographed on February 18, 2024 at Vibra Urbana in Miami.
Devin Christopher
The flurry of fan comments, mostly in support of her, highlighted her other side: the singer as social media personality who must focus on her art amid intense public scrutiny. For someone as young as Nicki, she has managed to do so with surprising grace.
“The truth is that I felt that everything was so public that I couldn’t have done it any other way. People already knew it and it was uncontrollable,” Nicki says, explaining why she posted a reaction. “What has healed me the most these days are the people, my fans. I received many messages from women congratulating me on the message I sent,” she says, sounding laid-back and self-assured.
While someone else might have canceled a performance or, in this case, an interview, Nicki did not.
“It’s unprofessional of me to stop every time something personal happens,” she says. “I’m not the center of the world, and there are many people who work for me and with me. I can’t stop everything. My team doesn’t deserve it. My fans don’t deserve it.”
Nicole Denise Cucco hails from Rosario, Argentina, the birthplace of soccer star Lionel Messi. Her interest in music sparked from a childhood admiration for Amy Winehouse, who she looked up to for her soulful, R&B-tinged vocals, as well as her character, resilience and how she treated fans.
“Not only did I empathize with how difficult it is to be an artist but also the internal battles of each person,” Nicki says. “I realized that even though she could be in shambles, she went out to perform, she did interviews, she was with her fans. From her I learned that every person I meet I will always treat them as they deserve and will always give my fans the attention they need.”
Devin Christopher
The youngest of four children (she has two brothers and one sister), Nicki was always the performer at home. “When I was little, I would put on shows in my kitchen and force everyone to look at me singing with the broomstick,” she told Billboard in 2022 during an episode of Growing Up.
Nicki’s mother expected her youngest daughter to finish school and go to college, but she had other plans.
“I explained to her, ‘Mom, look, I really want to make music. I know what I’m proposing is crazy because I’m one in a million who wants to make music, but I really feel that I can make it work, and if I have your support, I can do it,’ ” she recalls. Her mother agreed, and Nicki switched to night school to record music during the day.
She had fallen in love with the more melodic style of Spanish rapper Delaossa, whose music “encouraged me to make bars and freestyles,” and as a teenager, she practiced her freestyling skills at the many impromptu contests held in her hometown.
However, she found the male-dominated scene challenging.
“I would go in, but it was hard,” she remembers. She found that men would edit or change their raps when she was around. “When a man freestyled against a woman, a lot of things were lost — like being able to play with words, being able to say incredible things — and it fell into the basics. I lost a little interest because I felt my rhymes [couldn’t evolve]. So, I decided to freestyle with my friends, to evolve with people who I can rap about the culture, about what happens to me, about the fact that I am a woman — and it helped me a lot to start doing it alone, too.”
Devin Christopher
In April 2019, Nicki launched her YouTube channel with her debut single, “Wapo Traketero” — a slow R&B track fronted by her tender vocals. It was the song’s melodic approach that ultimately helped her stand out in a crowd of emerging Argentine rap and trap artists at the time.
“I always think about my mentality then and now. At that moment I didn’t know if a song was doing well or bad. For me, it just meant that people liked it and shared it,” she says. “I didn’t know about No. 1s, I didn’t know about charts, I didn’t know about trends. My mentality in music was different. When I started, I didn’t think I had to make hits. I just loved releasing the songs.”
“Wapo Traketero” caught the attention of Duki, who was then leading the Argentine trap scene and who boasted about her to his label, Dale Play Records, founded by Federico Lauria in 2018.
“Duki posted about Nicki on social media, writing, ‘We have a new boss in town,’ ” Lauria told Billboard in 2020 of how he discovered her. “When I listened to her music, I went crazy and wanted to sign her immediately.” Lauria, who launched Dale Play with Duki, added Nicki and producer Bizarrap to his roster. (He also manages all of them.) “All these artists come from the same place — the streets — but they’re all doing something different,” he added.
Nicki struck a chord. At 4 feet 9 inches, she defied the stereotype of the female Latin rapper and of what women in the local music scene could do.
Almost immediately after her signing, Nicki scored her first Billboard chart entry in 2020 with “Mamichula” in collaboration with Trueno and Bizarrap. The song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Argentina Hot 100, leading for four weeks, and became her first entry on the Billboard Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S. charts. That same year, she scored her first Latin Grammy nomination, for best new artist.
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Overall, Nicki has placed 33 entries on the Billboard Argentina Hot 100, tying with Karol G for the second-most among women behind Maria Becerra’s 46. Out of those 33, nine hit the top 10 and four reached No. 1.
On the U.S. charts, “Pa’ Mis Muchachas,” with Christina Aguilera and Becky G and featuring Nathy Peluso, earned Nicki her first top 10 when it debuted at No. 3 on Latin Digital Song Sales in 2021. “Ella No Es Tuya,” with Rochy RD and Myke Towers, became her first Hot Latin Songs entry, and her second album, Parte de Mí, was her debut on Latin Pop Albums that same year.
“All you need to do is see her live in concert to fully understand the impact Nicki has on people,” Lauria tells Billboard. “The artistic flight she has and her musical talent make her unique — how she goes through people, her sensitivity, her lyricism. This was all enhanced with her latest album, ALMA, where she was able to open up from a more sensitive place. And it clearly shows with the success that her tour is having.”
Back inside her trailer at the Vibra Urbana Festival, a cool and collected Nicki is snacking on chips and a banana — as Ivy Queen performs onstage in the background. The Puerto Rican diva’s set followed Nicki’s at the festival, which is fitting, as she has been a major inspiration.
“When I started music, one of the first women who offered me advice was Ivy,” Nicki recalls. “I loved what she said because it is unforgettable — like, ‘Mami, I want you to know that everything you do and the place you have, you earned it by yourself. And here you have a place as a woman. We fought so that you have this place.’ ”
Devin Christopher
The first woman artist to support an up-and-coming Nicki Nicole, however, was Cazzu. The artist born Julieta Emilia Cazzuchelli (and partner of Christian Nodal) became a household name in Argentina in 2018 after gaining momentum from “Loca (Remix)” with Khea, Bad Bunny and Duki. Nicki’s first time onstage was at a Cazzu concert and her first female collaboration was “Cómo Dímelo,” in 2019, with Cazzu.
“When a new woman appears, the patriarchal construction of the public makes them first compare us and then make enemies of us,” Cazzu says. “She was going to shine with or without me, but I was the only woman there. I let her know that she could count on me inside and outside of music because I had to go through endless sexist and misogynistic experiences. That hurt my spirits, and I didn’t want her to go through that. That’s what the movement is about. That one of us cleared the weeds from the path so that others could walk better and waste less time fighting and put it into music.”
That first expression of female support later appeared in other powerful collaborations with female artists from different countries and styles, including “Pa’ Mis Muchachas” with Christina Aguilera, Becky G and Nathy Peluso; “intoxicao” with Emilia; “Formentera” with Aitana; “8 AM” with Young Miko; and “Enamórate” with Bad Gyal.
“I love the woman who does not envy, who does not compete, who wants the best for everyone,” Nicki says. “One of the messages that really stuck with me is that of Young Miko. She was over the moon. She was having a big, explosive moment, and yet she flew to record the music video for ‘8 AM’ and sent me a message that said, ‘If we succeed, we all succeed together.’ What I like most is working with women, because in the studio we flow a lot, we share similar feelings and life situations that we understand among ourselves, and that’s great when it comes to working together.”
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Beyond being a loyal girl’s girl, Nicki’s bold attitude and stage presence have organically earned her the respect of the music industry and fans globally.
In addition to her eight Latin Grammy nominations, she won female new artist at the 2021 Premio Lo Nuestro, performed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in April 2021 and made her debut at Coachella in 2022. Most recently, on March 5 during Paris Fashion Week, she appeared as a Lacoste brand ambassador.
After her sold-out show in Madrid, she’ll play Barcelona and, later, Mexico. Once she’s done with touring, Nicki promises to spend more time in the recording studio rather than on the road.
“Right now, I feel like there are a lot of things that are happening to me personally and I want to put them into music,” she says without elaborating. “There’s a lot of inspiration,” she adds with a smile.
By now, inside her trailer, she has progressed from snacks to a shot of whiskey, and Nicki raises her glass. “For my first concert in Miami and for my first Billboard cover. ¡Salud!’”
In February, Nicki Nicole was scheduled to perform in Miami for the first time as part of the Vibra Urbana Festival. But as torrential rain pummeled the 86-acre open-air festival grounds, one artist’s performance was canceled, and others had their sets cut short. Nicki waited anxiously in the wings for nearly three hours, until it […]
Prince Royce talks in depth about his new album Llamada Perdida with Sigal Ratner-Arias, deputy editor of Billboard Español. He explains why he wanted to name his new album Llamada Perdida, being vulnerable and open about his heartbreak while making it, what his favorite songs are, what he learned about himself while making Llamada Perdida, collaborations with Maria Becerra, Ala Jaza, A Boogie Wit da Hoodie, Luis Miguel Del Amargue, Gabito Ballesteros, Nicky Jam, Jay Wheeler and more.
Prince Royce:These are very in depth questions.
Sigal Ratner-Arias:Look at the happy face.
Prince Royce:When I was young, my slogan was “live life smiling,” and that’s still my email signature. So I try to remind myself to smile. What’s up? It’s Prince Royce and this is Billboard News.
Sigal Ratner-Arias:Hi, welcome to Billboard News. We’re here today with superstar Bachata singer Prince Royce, who brings us his album Llamada Perdida. Welcome, Prince Royce! Last night I listened to the 23 songs from your album Llamada Perdida. I loved it from start to end. Congratulations! I feel I got to know you …
Prince Royce: Really?
Sigal Ratner-Arias:A little better. I thought it was a very personal album, maybe the most personal one of yours. Do you think it is more personal?
Prince Royce:Yes. I think that at a composition level, it’s very personal. I tried not to overthink the album, to have fun, add personality. There are very serious concepts, and at the same time, I find ways to, make a joke, or find the brighter things. This album comes after an album that came out during COVID. My last album Alter Ego came out in 2020. I did four shows, then tour was canceled. It was a strange moment because usually, you release an album and you have your plan. I recorded the album, tours and those things happened. I wasn’t recording much or writing. Many strange things happened in my personal life. It was definitely, a weird time the recording of this new album.
Watch the full video above!
The street that leads to Luna Líquida Hotel Boutique, above the center of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, is steep and cobbled, ending in a modest gate painted sky blue with the number 409 embedded in a yellow tile on the wall.
It’s the kind of place you find only if you’re looking. And it’s exactly how Fher Olvera, lead singer of legendary Mexican rock band Maná, imagined it when he bought it in 1994, after the group’s first major hit finally allowed him to purchase the house of his dreams: a small, rustic property with an ocean view.
“When I bought the house, I asked the agent if it had any capital gains, and he asked, ‘What do you want it for?’ ” Olvera recounts as we chat on the rooftop of Luna Líquida, from which you can see the sea, the tower of the old cathedral [Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe] and the orange tile roofs of old Puerto Vallarta. “I told him I wanted it to make songs. He asked, ‘How many?’ I said, ‘Judging from the view, at least one album.’ ‘Buy it,’ he said.”
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Exactly 30 years have passed since Maná debuted on the Billboard charts in January 1994 with Dónde Jugarán los Niños, an album of songs about love and spite, set to rock and reggae beats that revolutionized what was known as rock en español. It peaked at No. 2 on the Top Latin Albums chart. As a result of that success, Olvera bought this house, and he and the rest of Maná — drummer Alex González, guitarist Sergio Vallín and bassist Juan Calleros — hunkered down here to write the albums that would cement their position as the most successful Spanish-language rock group in the world.
“Many Maná songs were born here,” says Olvera, standing in a sunny room painted light blue with tile floors, wooden beams and long, transparent gauze curtains. Olvera, who is wearing a necklace with a silver sea turtle, his favorite animal, lived here before buying the property next door and converting both homes into this 17-room hotel that’s filled with thousands of Maná’s stories.
“Here, I finished ‘Vivir Sin Aire,’ ‘Cómo Te Deseo,’ several songs. Then on the next album, Cuando los Ángeles Lloran, you can hear the church bells from the cathedral below. The next one, Sueños Líquidos, is very linked to Vallarta. In fact, the cover — the mermaid with four arms — is the sea of Vallarta. We made all that music here with our little tape recorders. The four of us slept here, some in double beds. We hired a woman to cook for us, and our routine was to be up very early drinking coffee and stay up very late drinking red wine. Then on Wednesdays, we would go to a club called El Cactus where women got in for free. It was…” he chuckles. “You can imagine.”
Fher Olvera of Maná photographed on Dec. 1, 2023 in Fresno, Calif.
Martha Galvan
It’s Olvera’s first interview in years, just days before the band’s México Lindo y Querido Tour, its first in Latin America in eight years. The act will play 16 dates, starting in Asunción, Paraguay, on Feb. 16 and including five at Buenos Aires’ Movistar Arena and an appearance at Chile’s Viña del Mar Festival. Maná will then headline the Bottlerock Festival in Napa Valley alongside Pearl Jam, Stevie Nicks and Ed Sheeran before continuing to Spain for 11 additional dates and its first-ever London concert, at the OVO Arena.
“For me, it is a dream to play in London,” says Olvera. “Since I was a teenager, I saw The Beatles and The Rolling Stones and said, ‘Wow.’ ”
What was admiration is now, in a way, understanding. Like The Rolling Stones in the English-language market, Maná has kept its integrity and its production quality, and its live touring schedule has remained active through the decades. In 2023, the quartet played more than 55 concerts, including 16 as part of its residency at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum, where it sold over 220,000 tickets, according to promoter Live Nation. (Maná does not report its sales numbers to Billboard Boxscore — a decision based on its philosophy of valuing the artistic over the monetary.)
“It feels incredible that the band remains relevant after so many decades,” González says. “Because the songs are so good, both lyrics and music. And also, because of the way Maná plays live. And third, and most important, is that our music has been handed from family to family, from grandparents to brothers to parents and children.”
“More than representatives of Latin culture, I think we’re one of many Latin colors and that through our music, people relate in many ways,” adds Vallín.
When it comes to staying power as a live act, “Maná’s connection and reach is undeniable,” Live Nation senior vp of global touring Jared Braverman says. “The band’s total commitment to their music, their stories and their passions have meant that they reach many generations and have an influence that never passes.”
Alex González of Maná photographed on Dec. 1, 2023 in Fresno, Calif.
Martha Galvan
In terms of recordings, Maná is the rock group with the most entries (33) and No. 1s (10) on the Hot Latin Songs chart, with the most albums (15) and No. 1s (eight) on Top Latin Albums and is the Latin band, of any genre, with the most No. 1s (eight) on Latin Pop Albums.
“They’re an iconic band,” says Warner Music Latin America president Alejandro Duque. “We’ve fallen in love, mended our broken hearts and celebrated our Latin culture with them. There is no other band like them. They’ve put Latin American music at the highest level on a global scale.”
Last November, the group achieved its first Regional Mexican Airplay No. 1 with its new version of 2011’s “Amor Clandestino,” alongside Edén Muñoz. The song will be part of a currently untitled covers album of Maná’s greatest hits reimagined as duets with Mexican influence. The collection will finally arrive later this year; the band has been releasing singles from it (including “Rayando el Sol,” with Pablo Alborán, and “Te lloré un Río,” with Christian Nodal) since 2019.
“Don’t scold me, don’t pressure me,” Olvera says sheepishly. “We have been lucky — because from the beginning, we said we’d release the albums when they were ready. Less money? Yes, it is less money. It’s not an album per year.”
His attitude reflects the ethos of Maná and its other three members, who remain united “like little brothers.”
Olvera spoke to Billboard Español about what’s next for Maná, the secret of its success and what he really thinks about reggaetón and the new wave of regional Mexican music.
This is exactly where you wrote or were inspired to write some of your most iconic songs, like “En el Muelle de San Blás.”
There’s a very interesting story in this room. We went to party at one of those dives where you stay out really late. We finished like at seven in the morning, and like good Mexicans, went to kill our hangover at a taco stand. I was with my buddies, and one of them says, “See that woman over there? They call her ‘the crazy woman from the pier’ because every Sunday, she dresses in white to wait for her betrothed. So I went up to her and asked, “Why do you go to the pier?” “To wait for my boyfriend, my betrothed.” “Where is he coming from?” “From the north. By boat.” “And when is he getting here?” “Tomorrow. He hasn’t come in many years, but he’ll come tomorrow.” Then she ignored me and left.
When I came back home to this room at 8 a.m., I grabbed a pencil and wrote on the wall: “She waited for him at the pier until her eyes flooded with mornings, and her hair, like the foam of [the] sea, white.” Every time I left the room, I would read that and think, “I have to write a song about that story.” I never found the woman again, but I did find out that there were no roads back then and many people arrived by boat. So probably everything she told me was true. I called it “En el Muelle de San Blás,” which is up north, because “Puerto Vallarta” didn’t fit the song’s meter.
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What other stories does this room keep?
Tons. If this bed could talk… Once I was with a girlfriend. We were already with the candles and everything, romantic, and — I swear it’s true — this is a tile roof, and something fell through the tiles and started to move. It was a snake. We’re like, “Aaahhhhh!,” and took off running. A snake expert had to come and take it out.
What moment are you at in life right now?
A great moment. I feel very whole. My voice is whole. Emotionally, I suffered a little crisis, I had a little depression. I had many blows in a row after my father died when I was little; then another sister died, about 20 years ago; then my mother and my sister both died in 2010. I found myself almost alone with my [last] sister. There were six of us, and now there’s two. So I did get a little freaked out.
On top of that, I had some complicated relationships, and we did not have good management. But thank heaven, I’m pretty well now. I’m no longer medicated, and I just have to worry about continuing to meditate, not getting too stressed and trusting the new management we have with Jason Garner and my sister, Lourdes. They’re like a Ferrari.
Maná was always a band that sang only in Spanish. Now that music in Spanish is global, do you feel vindicated in some way?
Actually, yes. We feel good, we feel proud that as Mexicans, as Latin Americans, we said, “We’re going to do it in Spanish,” and in Spanish, we’re bigger bosses than in English. And the truth is, a culture was created through this, where we spoke about the rights of migrants, the rights of people in the United States. It’s given us credibility and consistency, and we have license to talk about all this because from the beginning we did not betray our language.
Juan Calleros, left, and Sergio Vallín onstage at Toyota Center on March 30, 2023 in Houston, TX.
Juan Botero
Fher Olvera, left, and Alex González onstage at Oakland Arena on March 18, 2023 in Oakland, Calif.
Juan Botero
A band that stays together over 30 years is almost a miracle. What’s your secret?
One, we’re still very good friends, which is very difficult. It’s like a marriage, and we are truly like brothers. And second, we haven’t fallen into the clutches of drugs, alcohol, ego, which happens to many artists. It’s hard for one person to take on so much adulation. It’s very complicated.
How did you handle those challenges? Is that something you strategized as a band?
No. Otherwise, everyone would do that. I think we’ve been blessed because we’re people who love music, love what we do and truly give our all to fans. On the other hand, the rise of Maná was slow, and we were able to understand what was going on, and we didn’t go from one day a one-star hotel to another in a five-star hotel and a private plane. No. It was little by little, and we’re still very down to earth. I can tell you Sergio sometimes comes by bus because there are no flights. I just went to see U2 in Las Vegas, and I flew commercial. We’re pretty normal.
Sergio Vallín of Maná photographed on Dec. 1, 2023 in Fresno, Calif.
Martha Galvan
In fact, people may not be aware that you cap the price of your tickets.
Yes, it’s one of the things we like to do. We want everyone to have accessible ticket prices. We have tickets from $35 … Now, if you want to smuggle a little bottle of something, it’s up to you.
In all these years, what’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned?
First, let’s define success. Success is making a living doing what you like. Whether you’re a farmer, a musician or work in architecture or design, if you’re happy doing that, you made it. You don’t have to be a superstar. So what all this has taught us is, first, that friendship is worth a lot. And also, know that you can control your ego, that it has reins like a horse, and you tell him, “Wait a minute, cabrón, you’re getting out of hand.”
How do you control your ego?
I personally meditate and say, “OK, Fher, what have you done wrong? I haven’t been too tough on so-and-so. You need to relax and let people do their jobs,” because I’m a perfectionist and I want to do everything. We can’t be saying we’re the most important rock en español band; all those things are … a bother. We truly only want to feel that we’re musicians, and that’s what we have to give.
Maná could live on its catalog and never tour again. Why do you do it?
We still love going onstage. We go out as if Mexico or any other country was playing the World Cup against another team. Every concert, we give it our everything. Everything, everything, everything. We don’t hold back anything. To this day, when I’m waiting for the curtain to open, I’ll tell Sergio, “Feel my heart. It’s going tuck-tuck-tuck.” And Maná is a band that really likes to connect with their fans. Our fans are the fifth bandmember.
Fher Olvera onstage at Kaseya Center on April 15, 2023 in Miami, FL.
Juan Botero
This is the first time you’re playing Latin America in eight years.
And we’re also returning to Spain. For the production, we hired people from Belgium, Argentina, Mexico, the U.S., so they could create a fun, beautiful production in which music is the most important element. We really enjoy the island — the set we put in the middle of the audience. That makes things a little more democratic for people who don’t have enough money to buy expensive tickets.
Why is the tour called México Lindo y Querido?
The band has always loved Mexican culture, those magical aspects of Mexico. There’s so much joy; it’s something [filmmaker] Guillermo del Toro says: “We even party with death.” Mexico has many things. For example, José Alfredo Jiménez’s songs, like “El Rey,” all that ranchera music culture narrates what happened in Mexico. Mexicans are also melancholy, our hearts ache. José Alfredo used to say, “You’re born in tears and die in tears.” That culture is embedded in Maná’s lyrics: “I cried you a river, now cry me an ocean.”
They are all evocative lyrics. You have said in other interviews that you are not a fan of reggaetón lyrics.
They’re very violent and very repetitive lyrics and sometimes even lack respect for women. That’s my feeling. I think you are running out of literary resources if you resort to that type of lyrics to be able to release your song. I respect the genre a lot, but the lyrics are not lyrics that appeal to me. Most of them are quite empty, quite simplistic, and it doesn’t look like real work was put into them. That’s my point of view. There are some better lyrics in reggaetón, but I think most are pretty poor. I don’t know if many years from now these songs will still be heard. Probably not, because they lack literary strength.
I think there has been a lot of pressure from the industry itself for artists to release a lot of music and very quickly. But I feel like right now we’re going in the direction of more melodic and crafted songs. Do you feel that way?
I think there is a point where people are going to get tired. But hey, musical taste is up to each person. Sometimes I say, “Well, it’s great that there is reggaetón and that Maná sounds different. Now, whether I like it or like it enough to dance to…” The one I definitely can’t listen to much is Bad Bunny — and I really respect him! (Smiles good-naturedly.) He has reached places no other Latin artist has, and that has merit, on the one hand. But that doesn’t mean you have to like it. It’s great to have everyone do well, but we need to change that trend. If you write a letter to a girl, you’re not going to put that stuff in there. Where’s the romance for women? Or for men, for that matter?
What do you think of the new wave of Mexican music?
That’s interesting. For example, the way the guitars and bass intertwine, everything is very well done. And suddenly they switch from four-four to three-four [time]. They’re creative. I don’t like the lyrics very much either. Our country is already violent enough. But we go back to the same thing: I see them as authentic; they’re doing something from the heart. And there are good things in the music, in the guitarrón arrangements. There are very talented people.
Juan Calleros of Maná photographed on Dec. 1, 2023 in Fresno, Calif.
Martha Galvan
Do you see Maná as a Mexican rock band? Or simply a rock band?
Along those lines. A Mexican rock band, rock pop band or whatever you want to call it. There are many fusions. Alex is Cuban, and Maná is like mestizo music. Last Saturday, I went to see Carlos Santana, and it’s the same thing. Many say, “It’s not rock,” or “Yes, it’s rock.” At one point, some bands were looking down their noses at us, saying we weren’t rock. It really bothered Alex.
Did it bother you?
The answer I gave at a press conference was, “You’re right. We’re not a rock band.” If we were, we wouldn’t have made “Mariposa Traicionera” or “Te lloré un Río.” We’re more than a rock band because we broke down the walls of rock’n’roll and went further. This whole discussion of rock, no rock is pure blah-blah-blah. Pure bullsh-t. It’s music. And in the end, Alex also said, “OK. Yes.”
México Lindo y Querido is a big tour. How hard is it to travel with it?
We send cargo to South America ahead of time, some by boat, some by plane. We want to have the exact same show as the U.S. show. We don’t have a production A and production B. Many artists, especially non-Latin acts, travel to Latin America with a trimmed tour. We take everything with us and don’t cut any music out. And if people ask us for more music, we keep on playing.
You’ve spoken for years about migrant rights, and during the U.S. leg of the tour, you donated to many immigrant organizations. What’s your position?
More than a political position, it’s a humanitarian position. When we spent time with [President Barack] Obama at the White House, we weren’t supporting Democrats. We were supporting the people who work, who put food on the table for Americans. And Obama understood that perfectly. We’re not with Democrats or Republicans. We’re for the people. For human rights. The United States benefits from Mexican workers.
Fher Olvera at home in Mexico on January 31, 2024.
Paulina Pérez
We’re in Puerto Vallarta, which has a strong connection to your environmental foundation, Selva Negra, which you created back in 1996. The beaches where you hatch the sea turtles Selva Negra is so famous for are close by.
They’re toward Nayarit, on a large beach called Platanitos. The government has a reserve that is untouchable, and we partner with them to take care of the turtles in a very large area. In Platanitos, we have a conservation station where the biologists and people who take care of the turtles are. Last year, we released almost a million baby turtles into the sea, a record. We’ve been doing this since ’96, so there are many of my daughters in the sea. And we also have a nursery in Jalisco, where we plant trees and sell them to the government, which pays us very little, but we come out even. We’ve planted hundreds of thousands of trees.
Do you feel that now more than ever artists have social responsibility?
I believe that if it comes from the heart, it’s OK. If the artist doesn’t really feel it, there is no obligation to do it. The main obligation of an artist is to make good art. Their obligation is to give their best in the songs, in the lyrics, in the arrangements, in everything that makes up a song. Now, if you feel like talking about women’s rights or human rights, education, health rights, the environment, whatever you want, then all the better, I say, because music is very powerful and young people do listen. And I think that many people have been inspired by Maná to protect the environment or think globally and act locally.
Is it exciting for you to see a new generation of artists, like Christian Nodal and Edén Muñoz, sing your songs, as they’re doing on your duet album?
They’re paying homage to Maná’s songs even though they weren’t even born when the songs were made. There is “Eres Mi Religión,” with Joy [Huerta]; “Rayando el Sol” was beautiful with Pablo Alborán; “Clandestino” with Edén Muñoz is more reminiscent of Mexican music. Christian Nodal I think is a very authentic guy, a good singer who sings from the heart. And we knew that he really liked Maná. So in this album of duets, which is more focused on Mexican music, we invited him to sing “Te lloré un Río,” and the song was so beautiful because Sergio Vallín and Christian added all this Mexican instrumentation and fusion.
You’ve told me you would like to record a duet with Coldplay’s Chris Martin. Who else is on your dream collaboration list?
Last Friday, I heard U2 at the Sphere in Las Vegas, and Bono’s singing is amazing. That would be another one to tap into and see what happens. I love Bruno Mars, too. On the new album, we’re not doing many duets, just two or three. We’re writing. We’re addicted to making music.
The street that leads to Luna Líquida Hotel Boutique, above the center of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, is steep and cobbled, ending in a modest gate painted sky blue with the number 409 embedded in a yellow tile on the wall. It’s the kind of place you find only if you’re looking. And it’s exactly how Fher […]
Performing at Carnegie Hall is only a dream for most artists in the world. Soon Andrés Cepeda will be able to say that he has done it not once but twice — and in less than two years — when he returns to the iconic New York City venue on May 1.
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“I would have really liked it if my parents, who are no longer with me, had seen me get there,” the Colombian singer-songwriter tells Billboard Español. “They also dreamed of stages like that.”
The show is part of his upcoming Tengo Ganas Tour, a 19-date engagement in the U.S. that starts in Nashville on April 9 and includes cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and Washington, D.C., before concluding on May 4 in Charlotte, NC. Countryman singer Alejandro Santamaría is coming along with him. (For more information and tickets, visit andrescepeda.com.co)
Tengo Ganas follows his tour La Ruta Púrpura, which began in October 2022 precisely with that dreamy sold-out concert at the Carnegie Hall.
Cepeda, who won his fourth Latin Grammy in November (best traditional pop album, for Décimo Cuarto) and returned this week as a judge on La Voz Kids “Colombia,” began his career with Poligamia, a Latin rock-pop band which he founded with some friends during his teenage years, releasing several albums in the ’90s.
Since debuting as a solo artist with the set Sé Morir in 1999, he has recorded a dozen albums and released hits including “Tengo Ganas,” “Día Tras Día” and “Beso Usados.” And he’s been the only artist to fill the Movistar Arena in Bogotá, the largest stage in Colombia, for five consecutive days. On the Billboard charts, he has had two Latin Pop Airplay entries: “El Mensaje” in 2013 (No. 38), and “Magia” with Sebastián Yatra in 2018 (No. 37).
In an interview from Miami on Thursday morning (Jan. 11,) Cepeda spoke with Billboard Español about his upcoming tour, his creative process and his first album under Warner Music Mexico, which he will begin recording next month.
1. Most artists prefer to give interviews in the afternoon. It’s 9:30 am. Can we assume that you are a morning person, or was this circumstantial?
I’m used to starting early when we’re on promo, because we also do a lot of things in the afternoon. So to make the most out of our working day, we start early.
2. How do you usually wake up? Biological clock or alarm?
I set the alarm, but my biological clock usually wakes me up a few minutes early. You know, you kind of program yourself and wake up but, just in case, it’s better to set the alarm. And that alarm is music. For a couple of years now I have had a song that I love by The Beatles that has a beautiful personal meaning for me, “Here Comes the Sun.” Of course it doesn’t reflect much of today’s [rainy] weather [laughs]. But I like that song.
3. On April 9, you start your Tengo Ganas Tour in the U.S. How do you prepare for that?
Well, there is a stage of a lot of rehearsal, of a very strict curation of the songs, the arrangements, what is going to be presented, the staging, the narrative that accompanies the songs — because it is not just getting up and singing them, but being able to tell people a little about them and how one comes to make all this music and all these songs. So there is a part, let’s say, of writing and narrating that narrative — and then along the way, for me it is vital to have a good few hours of sleep and a good diet. It gives you the possibility of facing a series of consecutive dates that are still demanding.
4. What can you tell us about the show itself compared to the previous one?
The previous show was focused on the acoustic aspect of my career, with boleros and other Latin rhythms even flirting a little with jazz, in a format that was composed of acoustic piano, double bass, winds and guitar. This time I present the other side of the coin, so to speak, which has to do with my influence, which is pop and rock. Although they have in common the romantic nature of my stories and my music, they are two different sounds that have accompanied me throughout my career.
5. What will be Alejandro Santamaría’s role on the tour? Will you be sharing the stage or will he serve as an opening act?
Both. He is going to be the opening act at the shows, and he is also going to be invited in the section that I sing because we have recorded music together, so we will be singing a couple of the songs that we have done and he will be accompanying me throughout the journey of this tour.
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6. For many, the Carnegie Hall is just an unattainable dream. You already performed there in October 2022 with a sold-out show and you are returning on May 1. How did you get to play on this venue and what does it represent for you?
We were very fortunate to present our proposal to the Carnegie Hall curatorial committee two years ago. We explained what we wanted to do, we presented our resume, and they thought it was interesting and that it was worth having us there. And it went so well last year — it was sold-out and they liked it a lot — so they told us that if we wanted to come back the doors were open. For us it is a great honor. It is an iconic venue, a dream, a goal. I would have really liked it if my parents, who are no longer with me, had seen me get there, because they also dreamed of stages like that.
7. Last November, you won your fourth Latin Grammy. Do these types of recognitions continue to surprise or excite you?
It’s not something you get used to. I thought at some point that it could be like that, but no. It is becoming more and more exciting because it is the sum of several prizes, so you receive them with great joy, great emotion, great expectation. I have to confess that the days before an award ceremony, and on the day of the award ceremony, my hands sweat, the anxiety is incredible. In some way you suffer a lot waiting to see what happens … and when you receive it you celebrate with great joy. Especially when it’s an award for an album, which honors the entire team.
8. Let’s talk a little about your songwriting process. Each song has its own story, but in general, what is the common denominator?
Perhaps the common denominator is that I always look for a space of disconnection, a lot of peace, a lot of silence, where I can isolate myself from the everyday life and the rest of the world. But it is always different in the sense that sometimes I write with others, sometimes the lyrics emerge first or sometimes the musical idea emerges first. Normally in my case, when I work alone, the musical idea comes first, and then I find the path to what I want to say.
9. What was the song that came out the fastest, the one that sort of wrote itself?
[Laughs.] Some of them write themselves and it is surprising, because you feel like they are moving your hand, yes. There is one song in particular that I love very much that I wrote in one pass, and when that happens it is something exceptional. It’s a song called “Ciertas Cosas.” Another one that came in a single pass, like an instant song, was “Sé Morir.” But there are others that you have to work on for a full day or several days, or you even start writing and let some days or weeks pass before returning to it to complete it.
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10. The most difficult or the one that took the longest to complete?
A song from my last album [Décimo Cuarto] that I sang and wrote with a Colombian artist that I love very much, Greeicy Rendón, [“Le Viene Bien”]. The entire process of writing, producing and making the video took two years. When we went into the studio to record it we were still making corrections and things.
When you write with someone else and you have the possibility of debating and somehow negotiating each of the verses, one would think that it’s a tedious process, but on the contrary, it is very pleasant to sit down and bid for what each one wants the song to say. Those discussions are fantastic.
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11. And does it happen to you in cases like those that you hear the published song later and still go, “Ugh, I should have used this other word”?
That happens and you have to learn to let go, because if you focus so much on making it perfect… And not just with the lyrics! With the music, it happens a lot that you are in the studio and you don’t get over that process and you want to fix it and re-record the piano and voice again because you want this part to be better. You start to go crazy. Sometimes you have to understand that the song is ready and let it go.
12. What achievement, song or album would you say marked a turning point in your career?
There’s a song [from 2014] that did that in my career, and put me in a different place mentally, in the creative process. It’s a song called “Día tras día.”
13. I am going to tell you a series of words and I want you to answer the first thing that comes to your mind. Poligamia.
The cradle! The hatchery, so to speak. The beginning of a career.
14. Bogota’s Movistar Arena.
Five absolutely unforgettable nights in my career and in my life. A week on a honeymoon with my own city.
15. Colombia.
The love of my life, with whom I have great romances but also strong arguments at times.
16. As an artist and as a judge for La Voz Kids, any message or advice for young people who aspire to have a career in music?
First, that it is very much worth it. And second, that it is worth it as long as you commit to it, take it very seriously, study and understand that it is a career. The more prepared you are, the more competitive and deeper you can become. Talent and vocation are just a small part of what is needed to achieve something in this profession; I think dedication, persistency, perseverance and preparation are an even bigger part than the other.
17. You’re going back to the studio to work on a new album in February. How many songs have you already written?
This album should have 10 songs and there are 14 written, so we’ll go into a selection process in which I plan to allow myself to have 12. But the initial project is 10.
18. How do you expect this album to be different from the previous ones?
On the artistic side, I think that each album has to reflect a different moment in life and also a maturity, because there has to be an evolution. And on the show business side, I think that working with a new team, which in this case is Warner Music, is going to bring very nice things and is going to project me even more. I have a lot of faith in the team that is helping me make this album and promote it.
19. Speaking of maturity, last summer you turned 50. What have you learned about yourself in this half century?
[Laughs.] That although I have acquired some maturity, one of the most beautiful things about that maturity is understanding that I am still a child facing my job and facing many aspects of the world, which, thank God, continue to amaze me. And I think maintaining that wonder, ironically, is a sign of maturity.
20. What is Andrés Cepeda still looking forward to?
To live. And to make music.
In mid-November, Juan Luis Guerra shared on his social media a sneak peek of a new project that has him very excited: An animated movie called Capitán Avispa. The film, scheduled to hit theaters in the United States and Latin America sometime in 2024, according to Guerra, will feature old and new songs by the Dominican music master.
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“In addition to the fact that I am going to write songs specifically for the character, you will hear everything from ‘Rosalía’ to ‘La Bilirrubina’,” Guerra told Billboard Español in a recent interview in New York, in which he revealed details of the movie for the first time. “He is a very beautiful character,” he added enthusiastically about Capitán Avispa (Captain Wasp in English). “He is a Latin hero, we could say, and everyone will like him.”
“Strong and brave, he never lies!” the insect declares in the teaser that Guerra published last month on his Instagram account, without identifying the voice behind the courageous and sweet character.
“The main voice of the Captain is done by my dear [Luis] Fonsi,” Guerra told Billboard Español in the interview recorded for Billboard News, adding that “Joy [Huerta, from Jesse & Joy] does the voice of Honey Bee, who is Capitán Avispa’s companion.” He also excitedly announced that they both sing a “beautiful song together — they are the most beautiful voices you can ever hear.”
Helmed by his son Jean Gabriel Guerra (who has directed many of his father’s music videos) along with animation director Jonathan Meléndez, Capitán Avispa was created by Juan Luis, who has recruited other friends and colleagues to give life to the different characters: Juanes provides the voice of Sargento Picadura, he revealed, and the Colombian rocker’s wife, actress Karen Martínez (also known as Chechi) plays Jimena. Additionally, Dominican actor José Guillermo Cortinez provides the voice of a character named Jacques Puasón, and Dominican actress Amelia Vega — Miss Universe 2003, as well as Guerra’s niece — voices Bolivia.
A four-time-Grammy and 24-time-Latin Grammy winner, Guerra has had a fruitful four-decade career, in which he’s placed dozens of songs and albums on the Billboard charts — from “Ojala Que Llueve Café,” his first entry on Hot Latin Songs, which reached No. 21 in Nov. 1989, and his iconic Bachata Rosa, which topped the Tropical Albums chart for 12 weeks in 1991; to “Mambo 23,” which reached No. 1 on the Tropical Airplay just last week (Nov. 25).
The latter song is part of his most recent production with his group 4.40, Radio Güira, a six-track EP full of humor, love and poetry, over mambo, bachata and merengue rhythms, very much in the style of Juan Luis Guerra. Each of the songs is presented as if it’s being played on the radio, with supposed calls from listeners and even a special cooking recipe.
“We wanted to put a smile on the faces of people who listened to Radio Güira,” Guerra said. “It was part of what Radio Güira is, bringing joy, bringing a message of peace, of love.”
Watch more of the interview above in the Billboard News video.