Latin

Luis Fonsi feels “like it was yesterday” when he released his first album, Comenzaré, on September 15, 1998. He was barely 20 years old and hoping that there would be a place for him in the music industry and the mainstream. All he knew, and wanted to do, was music.

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Twenty-five years later, the singer-songwriter behind hits like “Despacito” and “No Me Doy Por Vencido” celebrates a career of which he can be proud — in addition to being still open enough to continue taking risks and trying new music styles.

The Puerto Rican star, who in recent days announced a concert at the WiZink Center in Madrid for February 16 with which he will launch his 25 Años Tour, debuted on the Billboard charts in 1998 with “Dime Como,” which reached No. 23 on both Hot Latin Songs and Latin Airplay, and two years later achieved his first No. 1 with “Imagíname Sin Ti,” which topped Latin Airplay for two weeks.

He holds the record for most weeks at No. 1 on Hot Latin Songs with his Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber assisted mega-hit “Despacito,” which spent 56 weeks at the top of the chart, while his 2008 song “No Me Doy Por Vencido” held the top spot for 19. In addition, he has 13 entries on Top Latin Albums, eight of which reached the top 10 and four No. 1, and eight entries on the Billboard 200 albums chart, with Palabras del Silencio achieving the highest place in the ranking, at No. 15, in 2008.

He will soon release a new studio album, El Viaje, which will include the recent singles “Buenos Aires” and “Pasa la Página ‘Panamá’.”

Billboard Español caught up a few days ago with Fonsi, who spoke enthusiastically about his beginnings, his new music and his thirst to continue experimenting without paying attention to algorithms.

1. Hi Fonsi! You are speaking to me from Madrid, where you have just announced an upcoming concert at the WiZink Center. Why is this venue important to you?

I have never done my own concert at WiZink as part of a tour. I have played on many occasions there at different events, festivals, as a guest, but oddly enough, it is the first time I will perform […] And more than anything, the fact that it has to do with my 25th anniversary, which is going to be kind of celebration — but hey, I’m going to take it everywhere, this is not going to be the only place — it makes it even more magical.

2. You spend an important part of your time in Madrid. Do you feel at home there?

Madrid is a city that I love very much. After my homeland of course, I consider it to be the place where I feel most at home — perhaps even more so than Miami, which is where I reside. And I love Miami! What happens is that my wife [Águeda López] is Spanish and we have made a very nice base here with family and friends. The last four or five years we have spent entire summers here because I have just had to go on long summer tours, and at the same do La Voz [the Spanish version of The Voice], which is a format that I enjoy a lot [as a coach], and that forces me to be here for long stretches. So I feel comfortable here.

3. You just released “Pasa la Página ‘Panama’.” What led you to write that song?

It’s a fun song. Like a relief. Everything obviously revolves around a phrase that I don’t know about everyone, but I use it a lot: “Turn the page, leave that behind, move on, life is too short, forget it, get over it.” That’s how it was born, and I think a lot of people need someone to tell them that. It does not refer to any specific person or moment. I think life is full of cycles, and sometimes we reach one that is difficult for us to close and someone has to tell us, “Get up, get out of that funk.” And it doesn’t necessarily have to do with love. It goes beyond that.

4. Would you say that it is not so much about love but about self-love?

Totally. For me the song it’s a PSA. It’s a meme, it’s a hashtag. In fact, the concept of the new album, which will be released next year, is that all the songs are names of cities. It came out a bit accidentally because several songs from cities emerged and we said: “Hey, it would be cool to celebrate this 25-year anniversary by going on a trip more than anything down memory lane.”

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5. But Fonsi, what happened in Panama? Why is it called “Pasa la Página ‘Panamá’”?

[Laughs.] Because it says: “Now change the channel, you are not Panama.” [Ed. note: “Canal” in Spanish can be translated both as channel and canal.] The song is not dedicated to Panama. And the other songs are not tributes to the countries either, they are not personal experiences. It’s just like the song goes through that place. But “pasa la página” is a phrase with so much weight that I did not want to remove it from the equation, and that is why it is the only song on the album that has two titles.

6. “Pasa la Página ‘Panamá’” is the second single from El Viaje, after “Buenos Aires.” What else can you tell us about the album, perhaps on a musical level?

Musically speaking, it is an album that covers several genres within what pop is for me. At the end of the day, I make ballads and pop music and I make fusions, I mix melodic genres. “Buenos Aires” has a little bit of that Argentine cumbia, “Pasa la Página” has a little more funk. There is a bachata, there is a merengue-pop, there are more traditional pop songs, there are songs that are simply very singer-songwriter, guitar-driven. Within the range of this genre, I always like to play with different colors and flavors, because I am curious, and because musically I see it as a challenge.

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7. You are celebrating 25 years of this “viaje” (journey) since the release of Comenzaré in 1998. You were only 20 back then. Any particular memory from that time?

I honestly don’t feel like 25 years have passed, I feel like that was yesterday. I remember it as jumping into the unknown. I had prepared and studied all my life, or my short life — until 19, I was very studious — and luckily, I always knew what I wanted to do, from a very young age, and that is a privilege because many people realize it later in life and it takes time to get on track. Then it’s album one, let’s see what happens.

I was born in Puerto Rico, moved to Orlando at 11, went to Florida State [University], recorded my album in my last year of college, went straight back to Puerto Rico, moved to a little apartment … It was like a crash course in welcome to the real world. I literally went to promote my album and see if people were going to accept me, to see if the industry was going to save a space for a new artist. So I remember it as the uncertainty of saying “Wow! What is going to happen?” But at the same time, the thrill of seeing my face on the cover of an album — to some extent, that excitement has not gone away.

8. You may be better known internationally for songs like “Despacito” and “No Me Doy Por Vencido,” but what did your first No. 1 on the Billboard charts, “Imagíname Sin Ti,” mean to you?

It was that first taste of wow, having a hit song, having a song nominated for awards, doing the red carpet. It was the first song that crossed the pond, because with that song I got to Europe — specifically to Spain — so when I sing that song or listen to that song, I get flashbacks of feeling that there was a very important stepping stone. And also of assurance to myself — because it was already album No. 2 — that maybe I can dedicate [myself] to this. I say it with a smile now, but at that time it was like that. A record guarantees you absolutely nothing in life. But when you say, “Well, I already have a second album and now I have a No. 1 on Billboard…” I think I’m going to make it!

9. Years ago, when I interviewed you about the release of “Despacito,” you said that you were glad that that level of success came at a point in your career where you were more prepared for it. How do you see it now that some time has passed and you are not in the middle of the “Despacito” madness?

You cannot design a perfect career and say, “I want such a certain thing to happen to me at such a time.” Obviously I would have liked my first single to have been a global success, but the fact that my career has gone, not pun intended, despacito [slowly], has taught me to keep my feet on the ground, to appreciate and celebrate every moment, every triumph. To know how to learn from the blows that life gives you and that this career itself gives you. To not lose focus and to continue going forward with a smile and the desire to learn.

So when it arrives 19 years after having started, well, you are already a little bit bulletproof. And look, I celebrated it and I cried and thanked it as if it were my first hit — but the moment was not bigger than me.

10. In no more than five words, how would you define your career?

It has been a journey of learning, a journey of love. And it has been a gift.

11. What do you feel you still need to do as a singer-songwriter?

I think it’s honestly about continuing to evolve, continuing to take risks. I consider myself still young, but clearly there is a generation or two after me that I am learning from. I think I’m in a place where I can express myself in a different way, and where I have to take risks to make music, and not think so much about trends and what works or what the algorithm says works. I’m in a place right now as a singer-songwriter where I’m like, “I’m going to make music, and — especially in the writing process — I’m not going to think as much about whether it’s going to work or not.”

12. I’m gonna say a series of words, names or titles, and I’d like you to tell me the first thing that comes to mind. Puerto Rico.

My whole life.

13. Águeda López.

Ah! The love of my life.

14. Fatherhood. (Fonsi and López have two children together)

My best song.

15. Fame.

What accompanies success.

16. “Despacito”.

Before and after.

17. How often do you go to Puerto Rico?

About four times a year.

18. Your favorite Puerto Rican dish?

Arroz blanco, habichuelas y tostones. When you have white rice, beans and fried plantain on your plate, whatever is there to accompany it already tastes better.

19. What would you be if you weren’t a singer-songwriter?

I think I would work in the industry in some way. I don’t know how to speak any language other than music.

20. Ballad or urban pop?

Ballad.

21. Each song is created differently, but generally speaking, what is your songwriting process like?

I almost always start with a melodic idea, and there is almost always a word or a phrase that is like the anchor of that melodic idea. I’m not one to pick up the guitar and write a verse in one sitting from beginning to end, but I can write a melody in one sitting from beginning to end. The melodic part comes very easily to me, and the fill-in-the-blanks of the lyrics is the second step.

22. What is the song you wrote the fastest?

“No Me Doy Por Vencido” with Claudia Brant.

23. The most difficult?

“Aquí Estoy Yo” took us a long time. It wasn’t difficult, but just like a good wine, we needed the idea and concept to age. It was my fault, because I insisted on the song being a quartet. I wrote it with Claudia in around 2003, and it was completely shelved because I didn’t know what to do with it. Years passed until the first person I played the demo to was David Bisbal and he told me: “Vamos, Fonsi, count me in!” At the time I was writing songs with Noel Schajris and I called him. And well, that’s where the concept of “Aquí Estoy Yo” was put together. [The song, also featuring Aleks Syntek, finally came out as a quartet in 2008.]

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24. What song by another artist, in any language, do you wish was yours?

Any [song by] Juan Luis Guerra — but they would never be what they are if they were not his.

25. Where do you see yourself in 25 years?

Wow, by then I’m going to be old already! [Laughs.] I can’t say for sure, but I hope I still have this desire to continue communicating through songs.