7 Question With Romeo Santos: New Album And Yankee Stadium Concert

This week during a special album release press conference for “Formula Vol. 2” at Yankee Stadium, the King of Bachata, Romeo Santos, and his team delighted us with a surprise.

Santos along with Felix Cabrera from Latin Events, New York Yankees President Randy Levine and Chief Operating Officer Lonn Trost officially announced that the bachatero will be headlining a concert at the Yankee Stadium on July 12, 2014.

“On behalf of the Yankees and our partner Felix Cabrera from Latin Events we are very proud to announce the first Latin headline concert at Yankee Stadium’s new building,” said Levine. “Bronx born, it only makes sense at Yankee stadium because not only is he a great artist, but he’s a Bronx kid.”

Romeo is not only the first Latino to perform at the new stadium, but the only Latin artist to perform at the Yankee field since La Fania All Stars 40 years go. The press had the opportunity to speak with Santos about his new album (out in stores today) and concert event.  Here is what he had to say:

Romeo, when they first told you that you had the responsibility of filling up the Yankee Stadium, what did you feel?

Well at first really nervous, I think it is very human to feel a little bit of fear especially when you are challenging yourself. Felix Cabrera is all about thinking big and I am also a bit crazy in that sense. I say crazy in a positive sense because I always want to push myself and keep going forward to reach the next level.

Will you be bringing any surprise guest to the show?

I am one of those artists that still believes in the element of surprise, so maybe. I think the most important thing is that I will offer a great show with the biggest hits of Formula Vol. 1, the hits of this [new] album and also the Aventura classics. So the special guests that drop by will be a bonus.

Tell us about your salsa duet with Marc Anthony and how was it working with him?

This is not the first time that I do salsa, I did one in 2009 with Aventura titled “La Curita,” but at that time it was the fifth single and the album was already saturated so people didn’t really get to appreciate what that song really was. I have great faith in the song that I’m collaborating with Marc Anthony on, I think it will give a lot to talk about and I’m very excited. In the future I would love to keep recording salsa, I’m also a salsero at heart, my mom is from Puerto Rico and I grew up listening to salsa.

Word in the industry is that no one directs Marc and so I was a little nervous because this song is of my authorship and the music was my concept, and I thought: “How do I tell him this or that, maybe he’ll get offended,” but nothing, not even a little bit. He was a true professional and trusted me, and that was very beautiful for me because I admire Marc a lot, it was an incredible experience.

Tell us about collaborations with Drake and Nicky Minaj.

It was truly an honor. It’s easier to collaborate with artists that you idolize, that you are really a fan of because you kind of understand their style musically speaking. The Drake project probably took about 11 to 12 months, he was very busy in the studio recording his album and then he went on tour, so did I, so it was kind of really hectic, but we finally made it happen. I’ll never forget, it was the 23^rd of December, I went to Toronto and we laid down his parts, and he had this thing that he really wanted to sign in Spanish. I think that was very organic and it was really cool because he has Latinos that also support him, so that was really a great project.

With Nicky, she’s a professional. I think she deserves to be in the list of not only the top female MCs, but just the top MCs in general. She’s great, she’s amazing I had a blast.

Talk about the crossover potential of this album. Working with huge names in the industry, do you think that bachata will crossover into the mainstream?

There is always room for more, but I think it already has. I’m a Latino headlining alone – a bachata artist – in Yankee Stadium. So I think if we don’t consider that a crossover of the genre I don’t what will be. I’ve never visualized myself [as] a crossover artist, what I want is the Anglo market to crossover into my genre, I always say that. Every time I have the opportunity to work with artists like Usher, Drake and Nicky, I always do something Latino because I feel proud of my race, my culture and my genre. This allows the genre to experience a bigger growth. I have no concerns with being an artist in the Anglo market.

What topics will you be touching upon in “Formula Vol. 2”?

In this particular album I’m writing about stuff that I’ve never written before. I have a song called “No Tiene La Culpa” a song in which I’m narrating the story of a young homosexual guy who feels trapped in the wrong body and his dad is very severe. This is not necessarily my opinion on homosexuality, but just a story because I know that there are many people that go through this, plus I know that I have gay fan base. There is also a song called “Si Yo Muero,” It is probably the most personal song that I’ve composed in my life … The media has asked me so many personal questions that perhaps I don’t want to go into. With this song, I talk about everything, my frustrations, it is a chance for me to vent.

Would you ever do a song with Prince Royce or Leslie Grace?

Absolutely, in fact Royce and I have actually spoken about that. I think it would be very interesting, I think that the fans of modern bachata deserve that. There is no ego, we are very good friends and are always talking … it will definitely happen in the future.

El cantante de bachata Romeo Santos llega a los premios ASCAP a la música latina en el Hotel Beverly Hilton en Beverly Hills, California donde fue reconocido como compositor del año en una fotografía de archivo del 19 de marzo de 2013. El segundo álbum solista de Romeo Santos, “Formula Vol. 2”, se lanzará el 25 de febrero de 2014 e incluye colaboraciones con Marc Anthony, Carlos Santana y Nicki Minaj. (Foto Dan Steinberg/Invision/AP, archivo)