Prince Royce talks in depth about his new album 'Llamada Perdida' with Deputy Editor of Billboard Español, Sigal Ratner-Arias. 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,' the album collaborations with Maria Becerra, Ala Jaza, A Boogie Wit da Hoodie, Luis Miguel Del Amargue, Gabito Ballesteros, Nicky Jam, Jay Wheeler and more.
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MusicTranscript
00:00 These are very in-depth questions.
00:02 Look at his happy face.
00:04 My slogan when I was young was "Live Like Smiling"
00:07 and that's still my signature and my emo.
00:09 So I try to remind myself to smile.
00:11 What's up? It's Prince Royce and this is Billboard News.
00:14 [Music]
00:30 Hello, welcome to Billboard News.
00:32 Today we have the superstar of bachata, Prince Royce,
00:35 who brings us his album "Llamada Perdida".
00:37 Welcome Prince Royce.
00:39 Well, last night I listened to, as I told you,
00:41 the 23 songs of your album "Llamada Perdida".
00:44 I loved it. From beginning to end, I loved it.
00:46 I congratulate you.
00:47 Somehow I feel that I got to know you a little better.
00:51 I think it's a very personal album,
00:53 perhaps the most personal I've heard from you.
00:55 Do you think this is more personal?
00:57 Yes, I think that at the level of composition,
01:00 very personal, it was like I tried not to overthink the album.
01:04 Like not to have fun, like adding personality.
01:08 There are very serious concepts and at the same time
01:11 I find ways to add a joke or to find the writer's things.
01:17 This album comes after an album that came out during COVID.
01:20 My last album "Alto Ego" came out in 2020.
01:23 I sang four shows, a tour was canceled.
01:25 It was a weird moment because normally you release an album
01:28 and you have your plan of "okay, record the album, tour, whatever,
01:33 this happens, I'm not recording a lot, I'm not writing."
01:37 It's like so many weird things happen in my life, in my personal life.
01:40 It was definitely a weird time, the recording of this new album.
01:45 Why the title "Llamada Perdida"?
01:47 I already have a song called "Llamada Perdida".
01:49 Which is on the album.
01:50 Which is on the album.
01:51 Then I get a call and I don't take the call.
01:56 I don't think about anything, etc.
01:58 I've been thinking about the title of the album for months.
02:03 Suddenly I wake up at like 5 in the morning like,
02:05 "Llamada Perdida, that's the name, that's the title."
02:08 I think the overall concept of the album is the way of communication.
02:12 Obviously nowadays we call, we text.
02:15 It's also like in life, the different ways.
02:18 If you take the call, that decision, that something can happen,
02:22 if you don't take it, if you say something, if you don't say it.
02:24 If you send a drunk text, if you don't send it.
02:27 Like things that were left unsaid, or things you wanted to say,
02:30 that you didn't say.
02:31 So I think that's where that concept of "Llamada Perdida" came from.
02:34 The album talks a lot about your love and heartbreak story,
02:37 after many years of relationship.
02:39 And obviously with 23 songs, which are actually 22 plus a...
02:43 - How do you call it? - A skit.
02:45 Like a skit, yes.
02:46 You had a lot to say.
02:48 What was the hardest thing for you in this process?
02:50 I've been singing love songs for a long time,
02:54 writing love songs.
02:55 And I think this was the first time I felt like I was living
03:01 my songs from the present and my songs from the past.
03:05 The hard part wasn't writing them, the hard part wasn't telling them.
03:09 It was like, if I want to tell them and people listen to them.
03:13 I'm a person who's kind of shy.
03:15 I don't like it when people know that I'm suffering, that I'm crying.
03:20 I like to paint everything nice on the outside.
03:23 Not to be fake, but no one wants to see you vulnerable.
03:27 So the decision was, should I say this?
03:31 Or should I put this song?
03:32 This song is very personal, people will think this.
03:35 But I think music is a way for me, or for many people, to vent.
03:40 The beautiful thing about music is that in the end,
03:43 the audience doesn't know if it's fiction or non-fiction.
03:46 It can be a little bit of truth, a little bit of a lie,
03:49 a fusion of many things.
03:51 So I think that gives me the opportunity to vent in some way or another.
03:56 Because when I talk about it in an interview, it's very difficult for me.
04:01 We have to hear the album if we want to know more.
04:04 But the album includes very heartbreaking songs.
04:08 There are things you say there that you can see you were suffering.
04:12 Did you feel like you did catharsis in some way?
04:14 I think it was a way to close a chapter.
04:18 I don't want to be so deep, but yes, I think it definitely helped me close a page.
04:25 Let's talk about the collaborations.
04:27 I see names like María Becerra, Nicky Jam, J. Wheeler, Gavito Ballesteros,
04:31 just to mention a few, but also others less predictable,
04:34 like A Boogie With A Hoodie and Dominican bachateros,
04:38 perhaps more locally known, like Luis Miguel de la Margue or A La Yaza.
04:44 It's a very eclectic group in every way.
04:47 How did you choose to invite these people, these guests?
04:50 Who to invite on this personal trip?
04:52 My last album was half bachata, half pop.
04:55 I wanted to make an album showing love to the Dominican bachata,
05:00 singers like La Yaza.
05:02 Normally he sings more merengue, but he's also an incredible bassist.
05:06 He loves bachata.
05:07 Luis Miguel de la Margue, who is an artist whose song was very traditional bachata.
05:12 Then I was in Chile and I wanted to record with a Chilean,
05:15 I called Paloma Mami.
05:16 I wanted to do collaborations that were not so predictable,
05:20 like A Boogie is from New York, from the Bronx.
05:25 We made that song from scratch.
05:27 I've always been a fan of his for a long time,
05:29 and everything was done at the moment, that night, until 5 in the morning.
05:34 So I think that on that album I did things,
05:37 like artists and songs that I'm a fan of.
05:39 Like I recorded a typical merengue, I had time, I wanted to do that.
05:46 The song with Gavito, Cosas de la Fea, which is the last single.
05:51 I had wanted to merge Mexican reggae with bachata for a long time.
05:55 For example, when I did Incondicional with Mariachi,
05:59 or I recorded Moneda with Randall Ortiz,
06:02 or with Maná, which was like a rock pop.
06:05 So I had time, I wanted to do something that made a fusion
06:09 a little more intense within bachata,
06:12 and it happened with Gavito, who is a young man with a lot of talent,
06:15 and I think he really wanted to work.
06:19 The goal was to collaborate with people from different countries,
06:22 different colors, and I really enjoyed it.
06:25 You had already worked with Mexican regional artists before.
06:28 There is a boom at this moment,
06:30 but you were one of the first international artists
06:33 to collaborate with a Mexican regional artist
06:36 when you recorded Moneda with Gerardo Ortiz,
06:38 more than 7 years ago.
06:43 Did you imagine that there would be this boom in Mexican regional music?
06:46 Yes, it's interesting.
06:49 I feel proud that the Mexican regional,
06:54 and I'm not saying that I was there,
06:56 like, "Ah, in the front face!"
06:58 But I like that the Mexican regional is getting the love,
07:02 because it's a genre that has been working for years
07:06 in the United States, on the West Coast, in Texas.
07:09 But what I love about the Mexican regional is that
07:11 it reminds me a lot of Bachata,
07:13 in the sense that it's lyrics with a lot of feeling,
07:16 with the same intensity as Bachata.
07:19 It's a genre that requires live instruments,
07:23 they go up to the full band, to the stage,
07:25 just like Bachata, merengue, salsa, vallenato.
07:28 To see that they have received international support,
07:30 that they are in Colombia, in the Dominican Republic,
07:32 it's something very nice to see, because, as I said,
07:34 it's a genre that I've been paying attention to for a long time,
07:38 and the youth, like that new wave of Mexican regional artists,
07:43 have given it a different twist, a fresh twist,
07:45 which I think, as I said...
07:47 Tell me a little bit about the collaboration with "Evictin".
07:49 We did that song a long time ago,
07:56 with Ericka Barrera, who has also been writing and producing
07:59 in the Mexican regional for a long time.
08:01 I've known Ericka for many years.
08:04 This song, for me, always lacked something,
08:06 it lacked something.
08:08 Many people in the label, managers, loved this song,
08:10 and I said, "It lacks something, it lacks something."
08:12 Then the idea of merging the genres came up,
08:15 and since I heard that verse by Gabito,
08:17 I was like, "This is what I needed."
08:20 I think it gives it a fresh touch,
08:23 and definitely, I think, as you say,
08:25 the music, it wasn't difficult to merge it,
08:28 because it's a very similar rhythm.
08:34 "La Bachata Te Espero" with Maria Becerra
08:36 surprised me because it opens and closes
08:39 with a sample of "I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight"
08:41 by The Cutting Crew.
08:42 What impact did this rock classic have
08:48 in this process for you?
08:50 How did you decide to put it there?
08:51 There's something about that music from before the 80s, 90s,
08:55 that is something like, for example, with "Stand By Me".
08:59 There are people who maybe didn't even hear it,
09:01 or don't even know it, but something like that
09:04 attracts you, takes you to a moment,
09:06 takes you to the past, that feeling.
09:09 I felt that feeling, we tried three different scenes
09:12 at the beginning, and it didn't give me the same note
09:15 it gave me, and it was like a little rock, rock-pop touch.
09:19 Argentines are fans of rock too,
09:21 and everything was like, "I don't think we've heard"
09:25 something like that inside the bachata.
09:27 And that's where that idea came from.
09:29 Explain a little, talk to me a little about the song itself,
09:32 because you present it as a kind of voice message.
09:34 Yes, yes, yes, yes.
09:35 There are different voice messages throughout the album.
09:39 "Llamada Perdida", the song as such,
09:42 is like something, is something mysterious,
09:46 it was like a darker touch, there's not as much guitar
09:50 as normally the bachata has so much guitar.
09:52 It's a darker rhythm, I don't know,
09:56 I wanted to transport that mystery inside the song.
10:00 And the song says, after it was like your love,
10:05 whatever, a relationship, now I'm like a lost call.
10:09 And I think it says...
10:11 And I'm only for you, that forgotten story,
10:17 a dusty memory, a deleted message.
10:22 Your toy I've already kept, I've given so much and nothing has changed.
10:27 It was the love of your life, and now I'm a lost call.
10:33 I love that song.
10:35 The lyrics are... different.
10:37 In "Champagne" you talk about overcoming pain,
10:40 and you say, "Time mixed with alcohol is my best medicine."
10:44 Was it more or less like that in real life?
10:46 I'm not promoting drinking or anything like that, my people.
10:50 No, because now, what alcohol? What's not worth it?
10:53 How drunk?
10:55 How much alcohol in this album?
10:57 I do recognize a little bit that like, culturally,
11:01 in my family, we always look for an excuse,
11:03 like for a party, for a barbecue, for a drink.
11:06 So, it's not that we're alcoholics,
11:09 but definitely, I think that like a lot of people,
11:13 you drink sometimes for...
11:16 when you're happy and when you're sad.
11:18 And I think that, like I said, it's not something I'm proud of.
11:22 I'm not saying that... I recommend to everyone,
11:24 if you're sad, you should take five shots.
11:27 Alcohol can relax you, alcohol can let you go.
11:30 When you're nervous, it gets you...
11:32 You know, it's something unfortunate,
11:34 because I tell a lot of people,
11:36 when you're at a party and you want to have fun,
11:39 you drink to have fun.
11:40 And sometimes, you're shy and you need to drink.
11:43 So, I think that it's something that, unfortunately,
11:46 has been a part of our lives.
11:48 It's been a New Year's resolution for a while, but...
11:50 To drink more or less?
11:52 To drink less, to drink less.
11:54 Because I think that, culturally, like I said,
11:56 we made it something normal to drink.
11:59 And in this industry, I'm sorry,
12:01 but this industry, alcohol is everywhere.
12:03 You go to a release party,
12:05 you're on the plane,
12:07 there's an open bar everywhere.
12:09 You need to have self-control.
12:11 Yes, you need to have self-control.
12:12 The ballad "Frio en el Infierno",
12:14 in which you talk in a beautiful way
12:16 about letting go of being loved,
12:18 is, for me, one of the most heartbreaking songs on the album.
12:20 And in one of the papers, you talk directly
12:22 about the pain of your separation.
12:24 What was the song on the album
12:26 that you suffered the most, writing or performing?
12:29 "Frio en el Infierno", by the way,
12:32 I like that contrast,
12:34 that yin and yang, that black and white,
12:36 of having the cold in hell.
12:38 And I try with each album
12:40 to always add something a little more raw.
12:43 That song, for example, was simply
12:45 the demo we recorded when we wrote the song.
12:48 We wrote it in the Dominican Republic.
12:50 We had already produced it,
12:52 recorded the guitar again,
12:54 and I did the vocals again, everything.
12:56 But I decided to leave it as it was, as we recorded it.
12:58 The only new thing it has are the violins, the strings.
13:01 But the rest was literally
13:03 what came out in the studio,
13:05 in a room, with a microphone.
13:07 There was no booth or anything like that.
13:09 And I decided to make it more organic, more raw.
13:11 For me, I don't know if it's difficult,
13:13 because, as I told you,
13:15 when I record a song,
13:17 it's not that I'm crying recording the song.
13:19 But when you wrote it, maybe.
13:21 I think that beyond that,
13:23 like, "Do I really want to put this out there?"
13:25 "I want people to really listen to it."
13:27 I don't know. Writing it wasn't the problem.
13:29 For me it was like...
13:31 I say it so people can listen to it,
13:33 because it talks about how bad luck
13:35 left us with a ring and a signature on a piece of paper.
13:39 I think those lines are pretty strong.
13:41 -Decisive.
13:43 -So, yes.
13:45 That one, of all of them, is maybe the most...
13:47 Supposedly the most direct.
13:49 You don't know if it's true or not.
13:51 -The most healing one?
13:53 -I think the whole album.
13:55 I'm a fan of albums.
13:57 For me, a song isn't enough to say something.
13:59 -It's a double album.
14:01 -All albums are double albums.
14:03 I get to 17 songs on each album,
14:05 and I say, "No, no, the next one, 10 songs."
14:07 And it always happens to me.
14:09 I don't know why.
14:11 -Your favorite?
14:13 -My favorite...
14:15 One called "Corriente,"
14:17 I started the album with that one.
14:19 I love "No te vayas," I love "Sufro."
14:21 -What do you like about "Corriente"?
14:23 -"Corriente" is a more moved, romantic rhythm.
14:27 Sometimes I go really short on a lot of songs,
14:31 so I appreciate that it's more romantic.
14:33 In the music, I tell my producer, "It's 4K."
14:37 I put on headphones and listen to a lot of things
14:39 in the background that we did
14:41 that are very tucked in, down.
14:43 And for me, there are a lot of elements
14:45 that I would like to, like, one day,
14:49 open the Pro Tools session and show the fans
14:51 what's going on in the back,
14:53 because I don't know if they can appreciate
14:55 what we did in the music.
14:57 "Sufro" with the Azahs is a beautiful song.
14:59 -Yes.
15:01 -Another one of my favorites is with 8 Boogie.
15:03 -It's very fun.
15:05 -Yes, it's fun, it's a different flow.
15:07 His verse, he did it all in front of me.
15:09 I think he's super talented.
15:11 It's a very different fusion, a different approach
15:13 to bachata.
15:15 I'm a very big fan of hip-hop, R&B,
15:17 and I think that brought the two worlds together.
15:19 "El Merengue" for me was very fun.
15:21 Even, for example, that voice at the end.
15:23 -El Merengue made me dance.
15:25 -Yes, me too.
15:27 That song was a bachata before,
15:29 and we did it to change the flow.
15:31 The voice note that comes out at the end
15:33 is a video, literally, of my uncle.
15:35 When my uncle says,
15:37 "Let's move, I want to party!"
15:39 And it was like, there's a video of my uncle,
15:41 like, recorded candid,
15:43 at that moment, like, you know,
15:45 with that moment, like, those little things
15:47 gave it a little more, like,
15:49 personality, to the song.
15:51 -Which song do you identify yourself with the most today?
15:53 -There's one called "La Vida Te Hace Fuerte."
15:55 All of my songs, like,
15:57 touch on love, but beyond love,
15:59 that song is about overcoming,
16:01 we all have problems,
16:03 if something happens, it's okay,
16:05 get up, get back on your feet.
16:07 Outside of love, outside of relationships,
16:09 in general, life is a subject
16:11 that I think applies to life in general.
16:13 -And the one you can't wait to sing live?
16:15 -When I record a song, I have no idea
16:17 if it's going to be a hit,
16:19 if I'm going to like it live,
16:21 if not, there are songs that
16:23 I find super hard to sing live,
16:25 in general, because of the tones,
16:27 or whatever, there are others that
16:29 I find very easy, there are others
16:31 that I'm like, "You're not going to sing it."
16:33 There are others that I sing easily,
16:35 for example, "Te Espero" with Maria Becerra.
16:37 When I sing a song live, I try not to sing it
16:39 until the audience kind of gets used to it a little,
16:41 and then I sing it. "Te Espero" I sang it,
16:43 like, "Let me try singing this song."
16:45 And since I sang it, the first day,
16:47 the beginning, so that's one that I really enjoy singing,
16:50 and it's not that I knew I was going to enjoy it
16:53 when I recorded it.
16:55 The audience determines
16:59 the song that I like to sing live, you know?
17:01 There are songs that I feel,
17:03 "The audience is going to love it, I'm going to sing it."
17:05 And it's nothing to do with the audience not liking it,
17:07 so I stop liking it too.
17:09 -That's why you don't want Jameson
17:11 to say, "I'm going to sing it."
17:13 Well, each love and disloyalty leave us a learning experience,
17:15 and when you hear the title of the song you mentioned,
17:17 life makes you stronger.
17:19 What is the most important thing you learned
17:21 about yourself in the last few years,
17:23 where you went through
17:25 your separation process?
17:27 -I wrote my first song
17:29 in high school at 14.
17:31 I signed my first contract at 18.
17:33 Without too much parental supervision.
17:35 [laughs]
17:37 So I learned, or I've learned,
17:39 or I try to do
17:41 the things that make me happy.
17:43 I think that something I've tried to do now
17:45 is not take things too seriously.
17:47 It's very difficult for me to do that.
17:49 I take everything seriously.
17:51 I jump the gun right away.
17:53 I get stressed about anything.
17:55 So I'm trying to take it easy,
17:57 calm down,
17:59 do what I like, not take it too seriously,
18:01 do what makes me happy,
18:03 give time to my personal life,
18:05 to my family.
18:07 Many times I've traveled
18:09 for the music, but
18:11 I've never traveled for myself.
18:13 So I've tried to
18:15 enjoy the process.
18:17 I've always focused on
18:19 working, working, working,
18:21 working, everything serious.
18:23 Like I always get lost in the sauce.
18:25 So after I matured a little bit,
18:27 I've tried to separate
18:29 music from my personal life,
18:31 enjoy what I've achieved,
18:33 see that it's a blessing,
18:35 that of music,
18:37 being able to live from music.
18:39 [Music]
18:41 [Music]
18:43 [Music]
18:45 I was pretty young,
18:47 pretty fast, so at first
18:49 I was very awkward, weird.
18:51 But I feel like I've matured now,
18:53 happy.
18:55 What did you learn from this album?
18:57 From this album?
18:59 I don't think about myself
19:01 as much as people think I do.
19:03 I think about the other person,
19:05 and sometimes I feel
19:07 selfish to start
19:09 with myself first.
19:11 So I think with this album,
19:13 I've tried to think about
19:15 what do I want to do,
19:17 what makes me happy first,
19:19 and then once I do that,
19:21 I can make other people happy.
19:23 Any message for your followers
19:25 who are eager to hear you,
19:27 Mala Perdida?
19:29 A message for my followers,
19:31 first of all, I thank you very much,
19:33 for the fact that you've supported
19:35 me, for the fact that I can
19:37 still do what I love,
19:39 for the confidence to let
19:41 the artist, or me,
19:43 grow as an artist, grow in front
19:45 of the cameras. I've seen my fans
19:47 grow with me too. I wish them
19:49 a lot of love, a lot of peace,
19:51 that they fulfill their dreams,
19:53 that they work hard,
19:55 that they take advantage of the time.
19:57 I always try to take advantage of the time.
19:59 And yeah,
20:01 we're active, Mala Perdida.
20:03 Look for it. February 16th.
20:05 February 16th, right there,
20:07 Valentine's Day. Dance it,
20:09 dedicate it. I hope you identify
20:11 with it. So yeah,
20:13 identify with how I identified.
20:15 Thank you Prince Royzson, thank you for joining us.
20:17 This is like an in-depth Don Francisco
20:19 interview from back in the day.
20:21 (upbeat music)
20:23 (upbeat music)