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S1: Hey there. I'm Osman Farooqui and this is The Drop,

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S1: a culture show from the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age,

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S1: where we dive into the latest in the world of

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S1: pop culture and entertainment. It's another special week on the drop.

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S1: We've got two episodes coming out on Thursday. I'll be back,

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S1: as usual, with Thomas and Mel to break down the

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S1: new season of The Bear and talk a bit more

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S1: about the enormous reaction to Bobby and Oppenheimer. But today

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S1: I'm really excited to bring you an interview with one

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S1: of the biggest musicians on the planet, Colombian pop superstar J. Balvin.

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S2: La cabeza Como es mi musica. No, this give me

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S2: some wherever I go.

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S1: Music Balvin has sold more than 35 million albums. He's

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S1: collaborated with Beyonce, gone to number one with Cardi B

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S1: and is currently working on a new album with Ed Sheeran,

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S1: plus a new solo record. He's known as the Prince

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S1: of Reggaeton for the influence he's had on bringing Spanish

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S1: language music to the West. And he was in Australia

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S1: this week for his first local tour. He very generously

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S1: found the time to come hang out with me in

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S1: the studio. J. Balvin, Welcome to the show. Thank you

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S1: so much.

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S3: Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it, man. Happy to

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S3: be here. And super grateful.

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S1: Right now in 2023, reggaeton and Latin music generally, it's

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S1: one of the biggest genres in the world. And you

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S1: yourself have sold tens of millions of records. You've got

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S1: billions of streams on YouTube and Spotify, but it wasn't

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S1: always like that, right? I want to ask you a

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S1: bit about the start of your career and what the

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S1: the landscape was like for an artist, you know, from

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S1: South America making Latin music.

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S3: Yeah. I mean, you know, the, you know, reggaeton basically

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S3: started in Puerto Rico, you know, and let's say I

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S3: was the outsider because I'm from Colombia. So I kind

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S3: of like I went against all the odds because it

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S3: was like, why this guy is doing reggaeton? You know

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S3: why he's doing reggaeton? Like you got to be from

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S3: Puerto Rico to to do reggaeton. And I was like, well,

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S3: you know, it seems like football was born in, in,

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S3: you know, in UK. And we got amazing players from Colombia, Brazil, Argentina,

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S3: you know, not, you know, who's the who's the winners

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S3: of the World Cup Argentina's now, you know, so it's

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S3: like I saw a big opportunity instead of being like, oh,

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S3: it's going to be hard for me, I was like, Well,

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S3: I'm going to be the only one. But it took

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S3: the time. It took time, of course, you know, through

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S3: the different platforms. But, you know, YouTube was the the

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S3: big thing at that time. But we also had like

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S3: Myspace right before and all this to, you know, to

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S3: share our music. But it was definitely tough, you know,

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S3: because like, people thought that it was just going to

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S3: be like a movement or a jam. I just want

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S3: to be just like from one day to another and

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S3: just like gone, right? And it's the opposite, you know,

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S3: It just kept growing and growing and growing more. So yeah,

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S3: of course, the fact that I was the outsider wasn't easier.

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S3: But it makes me special, you know, in comparison to

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S3: the rest. And then I think we opened the market

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S3: for the new artists from our country. And also I

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S3: think we, you know, we give a lot of hope

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S3: from to the artists, from another countries to be like, okay,

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S3: they can do it from Colombia now. We can do

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S3: it in Argentina, we can do it in Spain, we

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S3: can do it from different parts of the world. So

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S3: it's beautiful, man, because, you know, but I can just

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S3: I just can say that it was us because there's

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S3: a lot of already paved the way for us maybe before.

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S1: Who are the kind of artists you were listening to

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S1: or being influenced by when you were starting to make music?

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S3: Oh, well, it depends, you know, if it's in Spanish

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S3: or it's in English, you know, if it was in

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S3: English when I started was just like Nirvana, Metallica, offspring,

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S3: you know, you were.

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S1: Covering Smells Like Teen Spirit. I remember.

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S3: Yeah, absolutely. That's that's, that's my thing. Yeah. I used

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S3: to do that that song on my, on my shows

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S3: doing a cover. So I get inspired by a lot

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S3: of rock music, you know, some heavy metals. But then

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S3: hip hop, you know, Jay-Z, Nas, 50 Cent, Eminem, all

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S3: these ideas, you know, inspired me a lot. But when

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S3: it comes to Latin music, well, we have like from

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S3: Juan Luis Guerra to, you know, Daddy Yankee.

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UU: Sony come in my family. Now we come to us

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UU: solely call me by your name.

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S3: Which is the The Godfather of, you know, he's the

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S3: one who created. So he also was the one who

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S3: put the name like a ton. Yeah. So it's beautiful. So, yeah,

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S3: they all inspired me a lot. And that's where I'm

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S3: at right now. But they paved the way for us.

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S3: You know, I think the timing was perfect for us.

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S3: You know, now on this global, you know, scene that

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S3: we have now.

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S1: I want to ask you about that moment when you

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S1: mentioned these artists that have been making amazing music for

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S1: a long time, but the only time that artists singing

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S1: in Spanish really crossed over into the US, into Western

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S1: audiences was when they did have English language hits. But

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S1: I think that changed a lot in the 20 tens.

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S3: It changed because, you know, I was I was like,

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S3: you know, I'm not going. I say, I'm not going

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S3: to do my my songs two times like one in

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S3: English and and another in French and another in Portuguese

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S3: and another one, I don't know, you know, in aerobic.

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S3: If if one just like to cross over, I'll drive

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S3: me crazy, you know, And it's not going to be

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S3: the same feeling because like, it's not the same one.

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S3: You recorded it in your own language. The language that

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S3: you know, like, what are you saying and how are

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S3: you saying it? And also you have the right slang. Well,

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S3: I wasn't like, I'm not going to do nothing else.

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S3: Just like that. I'm going to keep it real to myself.

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S3: And I want to do just Spanish. Yeah. And you're crazy.

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S3: How are you going to cross over? Like you guys

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S3: never going to have, like, a hard number one song

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S3: in Billboard? And I was like, Well, let's see, you know?

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S3: And we did it with Cardi B and Bad Bunny

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S3: like a couple of years ago. Jumble, jumble. I'm bad.

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S4: On no. How long do.

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UU: Your Lambo I mean go long I spent in the club.

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UU: Well you have been to back.

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S3: And I was like you see what you see guys.

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S3: It was possible. You know it takes the time seeing

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S3: happen with me and you know that we reached the song,

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S3: you know, number one song, World.

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S1: Streams on YouTube so quickly.

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S3: Yes. And then, you know, and then we then, you know,

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S3: we we also did the most listened artists in the world.

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S3: And and that's past. That's something that we have done.

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S3: But I'm focusing on what's next, you know. But that's

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S3: how we prove that is the time. You know, I

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S3: was like, I'm not going to do nothing in English.

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S3: There's nothing I have nothing against on it. It just

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S3: that I wanted to keep real what I said since

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S3: I started. Yeah. And it's happening.

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S1: I want to ask you about what's coming because I

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S1: know you're working on a very exciting record, but just

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S1: just before we get to that kind of the era

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S1: that you're in at the moment, I'm really interested on

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S1: your perspective as to what was happening then in the

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S1: 20 tens that made music that was in Spanish received

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S1: such a more receptive audience in the US, which traditionally hadn't.

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S3: I think also the new generations are way more open minded,

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S3: you know, and they're like more curious. And also they

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S3: have new platforms that let them find new artists and

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S3: they need.

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S1: To discover new.

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S3: Sounds exactly. Which make it easy, but also make it harder.

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S3: It's like a duality right there because it's like, yeah,

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S3: you can you can listen to different artists. But now

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S3: every day, 110,000 songs per day. So to stand out,

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S3: it's hard, you know, even for artists that are already famous,

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S3: quote marks, you know, because it's a lot out there.

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S3: So let's say the 2010, we were so blessed that,

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S3: you know, we had the opportunity to understand how it works,

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S3: the streams and how, you know, try to marketing ourselves

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S3: and at that time is really special because like, not

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S3: all the artists in Latin Market has like a brand,

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S3: you know, like and I'm talking about a brand. It's like,

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S3: you know, people can really recognize what we do and

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S3: we can touch different bases in culture like fashion, like art,

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S3: like sports, you know, trying to, you know, reach a

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S3: little bit of everything. So I think in 2010 is

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S3: when when people were more like open to listen to

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S3: what was going on in Spanish. And I guess in

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S3: another of course, in another languages. It's just that we

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S3: were so blessed because we're too many that we were,

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S3: you know, try and try and deal until we broke

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S3: that the law.

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S1: And now there is an audience not just for the genre,

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S1: but for your music in particular. You're working on your

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S1: first record since Jose came out a couple of years ago. Yes.

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S1: Can you tell me a bit about it? Like, is

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S1: it how different or similar are the other songs you're

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S1: working on right now?

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S3: Oh no, it's totally different. You know, to me, an

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S3: album is always a way of express how you you

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S3: see how you want to like you're the one who

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S3: is in charge of what you want to express to

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S3: the world, right? The same as you do when you

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S3: do a show. You know, like what's what's the purpose?

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S3: What you want to do, You know what what you

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S3: want people to feel. So in this album, like normally

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S3: when I do music, it's always more like romantic and

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S3: and party. But this album is definitely a party album,

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S3: you know? Yeah. It's just like I just want people

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S3: to be smiling all the time and forget about whatever

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S3: is going on out there and just feel happy and

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S3: smile when they're when they listen to the album. So

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S3: this album is really special because it's definitely super happy.

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S3: It's definitely to dance a lot. It has like 2

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S3: or 3 songs that, you know, they're like kind of sad,

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S3: you know, like heartbroken feelings, but you also can dance

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S3: to it. And and we also, you know, I love

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S3: we still experiment new sounds. And when everybody's going to Iraq,

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S3: I like to go to the left. You know, like

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S3: if you have, you know, I'm on a on a

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S3: beautiful position that I don't want to be a follower.

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S3: You know, I want to keep doing, you know, making

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S3: my own trends. And and it's not that I want

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S3: to be different. It's just like that's just my nature

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S3: to do different things.

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S1: One of the things that I think I love the

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S1: most about your music is the amazing collaborations you pull off,

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S1: both with other reggaeton artists and others. You mentioned Magenta

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S1: with Beyonce as she jumped on the remix. I like it.

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S5: I like diamonds. I like stunning. I like shining. I

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S5: like million dollar deals with my pen, with some sun.

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S5: I like those bananas.

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S1: Probably my favorite song of the past decade. That album

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S1: is Great Invasion of Privacy. But that track just like

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S1: goes so hard.

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S3: It's funny because, you know, when when we did that song,

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S3: they call us to to Cardi B label and and

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S3: they ask like, why should be the single? And I

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S3: was like. It's not even a question. Does the single. Yeah.

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S3: And they were like, No, you know, I think we're

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S3: going to do this. I'm like, okay. Anyway, don't worry.

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S3: People are going to let you know what's the real thing.

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S1: Right?

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S3: Exactly. So I remember they dropped the album and the

222
00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:14,990
S3: same day at the other day when they check the numbers,

223
00:11:14,990 --> 00:11:18,350
S3: it's like, Oh, you were right. This is the single now.

224
00:11:18,350 --> 00:11:20,960
S3: I'm like, I told you guys, you know, because we

225
00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:23,449
S3: knew the time was perfect. You know, we were blessed

226
00:11:23,450 --> 00:11:25,819
S3: that that was the special moment.

227
00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:29,390
S1: Are there any collaborations on this album that you're particularly

228
00:11:29,390 --> 00:11:30,880
S1: excited to share with listeners?

229
00:11:30,890 --> 00:11:33,140
S3: There's a lot. I just, you know, there's a big

230
00:11:33,140 --> 00:11:36,950
S3: surprises there, you know, because I super unexpected and also

231
00:11:36,950 --> 00:11:40,160
S3: the not just in my album, the new songs like

232
00:11:40,160 --> 00:11:44,570
S3: maybe like next year from singles from different artists, you're

233
00:11:44,570 --> 00:11:49,040
S3: going to be like, What is she doing there? Any clues? No,

234
00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:53,360
S3: I can. I can. But just imagine. You can imagine whatever.

235
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S1: I read in another interview, I think from from the

236
00:11:57,410 --> 00:12:00,320
S1: last couple of days that Usher's classic. Yeah.

237
00:12:00,559 --> 00:12:06,780
UU: You're gonna be screaming. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

238
00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:10,190
S1: This is like a interpolation or a sample of that

239
00:12:10,190 --> 00:12:11,020
S1: on this new work.

240
00:12:11,030 --> 00:12:15,680
S3: Yes, it's. But this is really special because, you know,

241
00:12:15,679 --> 00:12:18,800
S3: I wanted to sample this song, which I always need,

242
00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:22,040
S3: and understand why no one can sample this special song

243
00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:25,120
S3: because it's such a party vibe. And one day I

244
00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:28,240
S3: was in Paris Fashion Week. He was just, you know,

245
00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:30,429
S3: he was just from my right. I was like, Hey,

246
00:12:30,429 --> 00:12:32,020
S3: I should what up? You know, like, we got to

247
00:12:32,020 --> 00:12:35,950
S3: know like I met him way before. Great guy. And

248
00:12:35,950 --> 00:12:37,569
S3: I asked him like, you know, do you think I

249
00:12:37,570 --> 00:12:40,270
S3: can use, you know, sample for one of my singles?

250
00:12:40,270 --> 00:12:43,030
S3: And he's like, of course I Oh, wow. Awesome. I

251
00:12:43,030 --> 00:12:44,890
S3: was going to say no because no one has done

252
00:12:44,890 --> 00:12:48,700
S3: it before. Yeah, maybe he everybody maybe they were rejected

253
00:12:48,700 --> 00:12:51,699
S3: so many times. And then when I was in the studio,

254
00:12:51,700 --> 00:12:54,580
S3: I was like, Well, let's make it more legit. You know,

255
00:12:54,580 --> 00:12:57,609
S3: we have to have usher in the song. So then

256
00:12:57,610 --> 00:12:59,349
S3: I call him and he was like, You know, I

257
00:12:59,350 --> 00:13:00,370
S3: don't know if you want to be in the song

258
00:13:00,370 --> 00:13:03,160
S3: with like he said, I, of course. So awesome. I

259
00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:05,500
S3: think it's going to it's going to give a lot

260
00:13:05,500 --> 00:13:09,040
S3: of credibility because, you know, besides we're using the sample

261
00:13:09,670 --> 00:13:12,760
S3: and we took it to the to to the year 3000,

262
00:13:13,030 --> 00:13:16,810
S3: you know, just like definitely another you can even compare

263
00:13:16,809 --> 00:13:19,569
S3: you know, we're just like, this is basically another song

264
00:13:19,570 --> 00:13:20,260
S3: that's exciting.

265
00:13:20,260 --> 00:13:21,219
S1: I'm very excited for this.

266
00:13:21,220 --> 00:13:24,760
S3: Yeah, I'm super happy and I've been dropping the song

267
00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:28,030
S3: in this tour that we're doing now, you know, teasing it.

268
00:13:28,510 --> 00:13:31,270
S3: And the feedback is been amazing. You know, people are

269
00:13:31,270 --> 00:13:33,490
S3: just like without even knowing. But when they listen to

270
00:13:33,490 --> 00:13:36,370
S3: the sample when it started, they just go crazy. And

271
00:13:36,370 --> 00:13:38,290
S3: then I'm like, okay, so iconic.

272
00:13:38,290 --> 00:13:39,370
S1: When you hear that straight away.

273
00:13:39,970 --> 00:13:42,700
S3: You know, And for the new kids that they might

274
00:13:42,700 --> 00:13:47,800
S3: never heard about the bit before, the melody still, you know,

275
00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:51,010
S3: it's still so catchy and so powerful that that's what

276
00:13:51,010 --> 00:13:53,050
S3: I love. You know, the people that already know the song,

277
00:13:53,050 --> 00:13:55,660
S3: they have a lot of nostalgia. And also it's going

278
00:13:55,660 --> 00:13:57,219
S3: to be a lot, of course, like love and hey,

279
00:13:57,700 --> 00:14:00,340
S3: which makes all sense because people are going to be like, Okay,

280
00:14:00,340 --> 00:14:02,859
S3: this was my favorite song. Yeah. And why you flip

281
00:14:02,860 --> 00:14:06,760
S3: like this. But you know, I'm I'm really confident about

282
00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:08,650
S3: what we're doing. And I think also Usher, if you

283
00:14:08,650 --> 00:14:11,290
S3: jump on it because he's also confident of. Yeah yeah.

284
00:14:11,290 --> 00:14:12,580
S1: It's good to have his kind of.

285
00:14:12,700 --> 00:14:14,770
S3: People. He'll be like, No, you know, just like, do

286
00:14:14,770 --> 00:14:18,010
S3: yourself tell me what's going on. But then the fact

287
00:14:18,010 --> 00:14:20,050
S3: that he jumped with me in the song is like,

288
00:14:20,050 --> 00:14:22,570
S3: he really definitely believes on it. And yeah, so we

289
00:14:22,570 --> 00:14:23,650
S3: have everything set up for that.

290
00:14:23,650 --> 00:14:26,590
S1: I think it's great hearing how organic these kinds of

291
00:14:26,590 --> 00:14:29,470
S1: interactions are with some of our favorite artists. Oh yeah.

292
00:14:29,470 --> 00:14:34,390
S3: It's really weird when it's sometimes happened with label. Try

293
00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:36,850
S3: to make this connection. It's sometimes like they send you

294
00:14:36,850 --> 00:14:39,010
S3: just some beautiful, amazing song that you just can't say no.

295
00:14:39,010 --> 00:14:42,170
S3: But I but I also mostly all of my all

296
00:14:42,170 --> 00:14:44,740
S3: of my collaborations are being really organic. It's like I

297
00:14:44,740 --> 00:14:46,240
S3: just met the artist.

298
00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:48,880
S1: What was the story with Beyonce jumping on me and

299
00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:50,530
S1: was that her listening to the song and being like,

300
00:14:50,530 --> 00:14:51,280
S1: I got to do this?

301
00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:56,020
S3: The thing was like her daughter Blue, that was her

302
00:14:56,020 --> 00:14:59,170
S3: favorite song. So she was like, Listen to me over

303
00:14:59,170 --> 00:15:01,300
S3: and over again. Over and over again. Over and over again.

304
00:15:01,300 --> 00:15:04,480
S3: I think, you know. So I think she you know,

305
00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:08,480
S3: Beyonce wanted to like. Till I give her a present. So, like,

306
00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:10,729
S3: you know, like I'm here with your favorite artist right

307
00:15:10,730 --> 00:15:13,130
S3: now with the music. And I was in the studio

308
00:15:13,790 --> 00:15:16,100
S3: one day and it was a girl called. Her name

309
00:15:16,100 --> 00:15:19,340
S3: is Melissa. She. She works with Beyonce. I think she

310
00:15:19,340 --> 00:15:22,130
S3: still work with Beyonce, I think. And they just like

311
00:15:22,130 --> 00:15:25,250
S3: randomly asked her like she told me about the story

312
00:15:25,250 --> 00:15:27,110
S3: that she was listening on. The time with the song

313
00:15:27,110 --> 00:15:28,880
S3: was like, well, why don't you ask her if you

314
00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:31,370
S3: want to jump on the song? You know, as Latino,

315
00:15:31,370 --> 00:15:33,290
S3: we love to hustle all the time. So I'm like,

316
00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:36,530
S3: So I made the question and then at the other girl, like,

317
00:15:36,620 --> 00:15:38,840
S3: she's down, like, send her the bid. And I'm like, What?

318
00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:43,130
S3: And then she invited me to Coachella. So it was

319
00:15:43,130 --> 00:15:45,890
S3: like we was beautiful because it wasn't a label thing.

320
00:15:45,890 --> 00:15:48,290
S3: It was it was life, you know? It was like

321
00:15:48,290 --> 00:15:50,210
S3: her daughter listening to the song over and over.

322
00:15:50,210 --> 00:15:52,940
S1: And part of one of the most iconic live performances.

323
00:15:52,940 --> 00:15:54,710
S3: In the history of history. You know, it was the

324
00:15:54,710 --> 00:15:56,390
S3: first time that I, you know, that a black women

325
00:15:56,390 --> 00:15:58,790
S3: have the opportunity to perform.

326
00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:04,340
S6: Are y'all ready, Coachella? I want to see everybody from

327
00:16:04,340 --> 00:16:05,330
S6: the front to the back.

328
00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:15,580
UU: Put your hand up singing now! Hey, hey, Jump. Yeah.

329
00:16:16,420 --> 00:16:18,190
S3: I think was a huge statement. The fact that she

330
00:16:18,190 --> 00:16:20,680
S3: was there, you know, and also there had been a

331
00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:24,220
S3: Latino there. And, you know, to me, it was a

332
00:16:24,220 --> 00:16:26,710
S3: huge blessing to be with her on stage. And that's

333
00:16:26,710 --> 00:16:30,340
S3: such an iconic moment for culture in general.

334
00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:33,610
S1: And Jose, I've heard that maybe there's an Ed Sheeran

335
00:16:33,610 --> 00:16:35,010
S1: collaboration in the works as well.

336
00:16:35,020 --> 00:16:36,730
S3: It is. It is. We have a new album coming

337
00:16:36,730 --> 00:16:38,980
S3: up next year. The album club. Album. Yeah, Hope Album.

338
00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:43,210
S3: That's amazing. Whole album we recorded in France, in Paris

339
00:16:43,540 --> 00:16:45,730
S3: and is really something that I super unexpected in the

340
00:16:45,730 --> 00:16:47,860
S3: fact like we did a whole album, you know, like

341
00:16:47,860 --> 00:16:51,880
S3: we started doing two songs. We met on a hotel.

342
00:16:52,030 --> 00:16:53,950
S3: I was in the gym, he was in the gym.

343
00:16:54,490 --> 00:16:55,390
S3: I was. So you.

344
00:16:55,390 --> 00:16:56,330
S1: Guys met at the.

345
00:16:56,470 --> 00:16:59,410
S3: Gym? So I was like, I saw a guy, a

346
00:16:59,410 --> 00:17:02,320
S3: guy on the treadmill. I was like, that I saw

347
00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:05,439
S3: I saw his left arm. So I googled. I Googled

348
00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:08,740
S3: his left arm. Yeah. Like you see. And he also

349
00:17:08,740 --> 00:17:12,700
S3: was Google on me, my tattoos. So then he, like,

350
00:17:12,700 --> 00:17:14,320
S3: he just got out of the treadmill and I was

351
00:17:14,500 --> 00:17:18,459
S3: in the spinning and the bicycle, you know, and he's like, J.

352
00:17:18,460 --> 00:17:22,960
S3: And I'm like, Ed? And he was like, so cool,

353
00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:26,410
S3: you know, because we we have this immediately connection. Then

354
00:17:26,410 --> 00:17:29,800
S3: we have coffee, we talk. You know, we started having

355
00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:33,369
S3: a really like a cool relationship. And and after that

356
00:17:33,369 --> 00:17:35,109
S3: we said like, well, we're going to do when we're

357
00:17:35,109 --> 00:17:38,139
S3: going to do music, you know, and, and it happened

358
00:17:38,140 --> 00:17:40,720
S3: so organically. And then I call him one day I

359
00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:43,390
S3: was like, okay, we have these two songs. Why don't

360
00:17:43,390 --> 00:17:45,550
S3: we do at least like three and we make an AP?

361
00:17:45,550 --> 00:17:47,860
S3: And he was like, Well, why don't we make an album? Then?

362
00:17:47,859 --> 00:17:50,440
S3: I'm like, Of course I make an album. So it

363
00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:52,780
S3: was that organic, you know? So yeah, we have this,

364
00:17:52,780 --> 00:17:55,810
S3: this amazing album for next year, God willing. And I

365
00:17:55,810 --> 00:17:58,060
S3: think it's going to be such a huge statement. I'm excited.

366
00:17:58,060 --> 00:17:59,920
S1: I mean, that trek south of the border with a

367
00:17:59,920 --> 00:18:03,399
S1: Camilla Cabello and kind of be That's great. It sounds good.

368
00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:04,540
S1: You know, that sort of thing.

369
00:18:04,540 --> 00:18:06,490
S3: You can't you know, you got to be ready for

370
00:18:06,490 --> 00:18:08,590
S3: what we what we did together with the new album.

371
00:18:08,590 --> 00:18:11,710
S3: It's going to be mind blowing, you know, production out

372
00:18:11,710 --> 00:18:14,830
S3: of this world. We have Fred again, which is amazing.

373
00:18:15,100 --> 00:18:18,040
S3: The album is really special. Like you don't see that coming.

374
00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:19,780
S3: And when you listen to him, you're like, Oh wow,

375
00:18:20,020 --> 00:18:20,800
S3: they did this.

376
00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:23,320
S1: That's really exciting. I mean, it's hard to think of

377
00:18:23,530 --> 00:18:26,649
S1: an artist that you haven't collaborated with, but is there

378
00:18:26,650 --> 00:18:29,080
S1: someone in your list or someone who you would love

379
00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:31,300
S1: to do something, whether it's just to jump on a

380
00:18:31,300 --> 00:18:33,580
S1: track with them or do something more? Of course, you.

381
00:18:33,580 --> 00:18:37,360
S3: Know, Drake has always been one of my my favorite artists. Also,

382
00:18:37,359 --> 00:18:39,340
S3: Rihanna is super dope.

383
00:18:39,340 --> 00:18:40,840
S1: If you can get her back in the studio, man,

384
00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:42,190
S1: I think everyone would be very excited.

385
00:18:42,369 --> 00:18:44,380
S3: You know, everybody's been waiting for that for years. But

386
00:18:44,410 --> 00:18:46,390
S3: of course, you know, she just did the Super Bowl.

387
00:18:46,390 --> 00:18:50,830
S3: I think she's okay this year. More than great. I

388
00:18:50,830 --> 00:18:54,670
S3: think you are Rihanna Drake. I haven't worked with the weekend.

389
00:18:54,820 --> 00:18:57,040
S3: I think it's really dope also. I mean, I talked

390
00:18:57,040 --> 00:19:00,879
S3: to him I think not a year ago or something

391
00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:04,359
S3: like that. But I think, you know, this is just

392
00:19:04,359 --> 00:19:07,090
S3: part of the time. You know, it's just like timing.

393
00:19:07,090 --> 00:19:09,970
S3: And I mean, they're like me and you talking vibing.

394
00:19:09,970 --> 00:19:12,909
S3: You know, I think the music has changed a lot.

395
00:19:12,910 --> 00:19:14,209
S3: It's not like it used to be like, you know,

396
00:19:14,260 --> 00:19:16,500
S3: labels send you the song and that. I'm much more like, No,

397
00:19:16,540 --> 00:19:18,100
S3: let me get to know the person or let me

398
00:19:18,100 --> 00:19:20,230
S3: vibe with it. And that's what's going on.

399
00:19:20,710 --> 00:19:22,899
S1: The last thing I wanted to touch on was we

400
00:19:22,900 --> 00:19:26,080
S1: were talking about the kind of crossover success you had,

401
00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:30,369
S1: the 2016, 2017, 2018, particularly with some of those bigger tracks.

402
00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:34,659
S1: That was a pretty complicated time for America as well.

403
00:19:34,660 --> 00:19:38,710
S1: It sort of felt interesting to see audiences really lap

404
00:19:38,710 --> 00:19:43,300
S1: up and enjoy and listen to music from Spanish speaking countries. Yeah, we.

405
00:19:43,300 --> 00:19:47,230
S3: Also were celebrating because at that time, if I'm not mistaken,

406
00:19:47,230 --> 00:19:48,429
S3: Trump was a president.

407
00:19:48,430 --> 00:19:49,810
S1: That's right. That's kind of what I'm thinking. It's like

408
00:19:50,020 --> 00:19:51,250
S1: on one hand, they're backing again.

409
00:19:51,290 --> 00:19:55,570
S3: So it was it was like totally anti-immigration and, you know,

410
00:19:55,570 --> 00:20:00,610
S3: like he said crazy things about Mexico. And I was like,

411
00:20:00,609 --> 00:20:03,520
S3: this kind of happened, you know, like, I think we

412
00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:06,010
S3: got to at least when it comes from music to music,

413
00:20:06,070 --> 00:20:08,530
S3: we got to approve of these people that are worthy. True.

414
00:20:09,130 --> 00:20:13,960
S3: You know, so that showed them that our power is

415
00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:17,169
S3: it's way beyond because like if all the immigrants in

416
00:20:17,170 --> 00:20:20,620
S3: United States stopped for a day, I don't know what's

417
00:20:20,619 --> 00:20:21,790
S3: going to happen with the economy.

418
00:20:22,119 --> 00:20:23,260
S1: Oh, even the radio man.

419
00:20:23,260 --> 00:20:24,369
S7: Imagine, imagine.

420
00:20:25,090 --> 00:20:28,750
S3: You know, we shut down the whole country. Yeah. So,

421
00:20:28,750 --> 00:20:31,990
S3: you know, it's just like we were so proud to

422
00:20:31,990 --> 00:20:34,600
S3: be like, okay, you guys want us out, but we

423
00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:38,290
S3: got to get in more than than we used to

424
00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:40,270
S3: and a lot more powerful than music.

425
00:20:40,270 --> 00:20:42,400
S1: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's you saw it as, like,

426
00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:44,200
S1: a way to kind of strike back again.

427
00:20:44,220 --> 00:20:46,810
S3: Yes, absolutely. I was like, you know, like, let's prove

428
00:20:46,810 --> 00:20:48,580
S3: them wrong, You know, let's prove them that we're the

429
00:20:48,580 --> 00:20:49,570
S3: real deal.

430
00:20:49,630 --> 00:20:51,700
S1: Amazing. Jose, thank you so much for your time today.

431
00:20:51,700 --> 00:20:53,080
S8: Really appreciate you for the time.

432
00:20:58,170 --> 00:21:01,199
S1: This episode of The Drop was produced by Che Wong.

433
00:21:01,500 --> 00:21:04,200
S1: If you enjoyed listening to today's episode of The Drop,

434
00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:07,330
S1: make sure to follow us in your favorite podcast app.

435
00:21:07,350 --> 00:21:10,320
S1: Leave us a review or better yet, share it with

436
00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:12,419
S1: a friend. I'm Osman Farooqui.

437
00:21:12,450 --> 00:21:13,290
UU: See you soon.