Just when you think we're living in a little bit of a divided world, music brings us together.
Luis Fonsi
The beautiful thing about it is that 'Despacito' is not really an English crossover. It was just another song that the world made a crossover. I didn't really push it; it just kinda went there.
It's crazy how the world evolves and the audience gives you an opportunity to really grow and live out your dreams.
I am very optimistic, and I always think positive, but within reason and never getting too far ahead of the game.
I've always said that inside of me there is a rocker that wants to come out, but I'm a romantic rocker.
I've worked my butt off. That keeps my feet on the ground - I'm the same Luis Fonsi onstage and at home cooking an omelette in basketball shorts.
My daughter is my number one fan. She has always been incredibly supportive, and she tells like it is and how it is.
It's crazy because I was 10 years old when 'Macarena' was all over the place, and I remember looking at it from a different point of view. I remember culturally how important that song was, even though people didn't really know what they were saying. It was more about the dance and the movement of it and the cultural side of it.
I don't know what happens at radio as far as what is that X factor that makes a song click and have people get connected to it when it's in another language.
I'm not a social singer. But if one can take a social message via the romantic, that's a strong statement.
That is the most important thing to me, what happens behind the closed doors in the studio and makes me an artist.
It's important to stay current and fresh.
Part of our job as quote-unquote 'celebrities' is that we can gather people around things that are important. I think it should be a requisite - there should be a clause in the contract that you have to give back.
I'm still the same guy who gets in front of the mic and just sings.
As a songwriter, I go into the studio, and I just try to write a great song.
Performing on Broadway is an honor and a challenge for any artist.
My family is the engine of everything, and on a personal level, I feel peace, stability, and they give me force, which is reflected on my work, my recordings, and every time that I go out on tour. They are my base, my everything.
Each album always has its own sound.
'Despacito' started with a melody hook that I had with my guitar only. The beat for this track came after I wrote the lyrics, which I wrote as if I was writing a ballad.
Everybody lives their lives differently. They have a different perspective. They've been through different things in love. They've cried about different things.
Everybody has their cliques, and I was very shy. I'm still very shy. Music opened up doors. I would get to my choir class, and I was sort of one of the better kids... I could read music. That's when I realized how good El Coro de San Juan was. I felt, for once, like, hey, I can fit in.
I am 100% proud Puerto Rican but have lived two-thirds of my life in the United States. So, there will be some things I write in English, but my main way of conversing with my audience is in Spanish because, at the end of the day, I'm a Latino.
When you're singing about love stories, which is most of my songs, it's good to have a lot of information and to have a different point of view.
I definitely try to be myself and not try to imitate other performers. That's why I got my music degree. I wanted to be prepared and not be a 'product.' I want people to know that I'm not only a singer but a musician as well. I studied guitar, piano, and composition. I believe that it's just about being myself on and off stage.
Whenever I get a little chance to get to Orlando, I like to take a couple days' break with the family, just hang out, go clubbing around town.
I'm going through a beautiful stage in my life. I've learned about love, about life, about everything.
My style has a lot to do with where I've been brought up. I've lived half my life in Puerto Rico and the other half in Florida, so I listen to music in English as well as Spanish.
It's always morning for me until 4 in the afternoon.
I like to listen to other songs to get a different point of view and to learn.
As an artist, you keep learning. You draw out different parts of you.
I won't lie, I didn't know there was a concert. I've always known about the Nobel Peace Prize and the different prizes given out for science and this and that, but I didn't know there was a concert the day after. When they said, 'You're going to perform in Norway for the Nobel Peace Prize concert,' I was like, 'All right, I'm there.'
The transition to the United States was very interesting. I learned the language. I kind of got into the R&B. I'm a huge fan of the '80s, Journey and all that fun stuff. But when I moved to Orlando, it was more like Boyz II Men.
I wrote 'Despacito' with my guitar, but where you can tweak a lot is in the production.
I sang in a group for four years, and you just kind of get used to it. You don't really think about being by yourself.
My genre is the pop ballad with a touch of R&B.
It's a beautiful thing to be involved with the Special Olympics.
I block out a good amount of time - could be 6 or 8 months - and I just write. I do a lot of traveling, and I do a lot of co-writing with different writers just to start getting ideas out and kind of get a little bit of direction as far as where I'm going to go with the album.
Pushing the envelope, musically speaking, is what needs to be done to rise to the top.
I talk bilingual.
I've learned and grown as a songwriter.
Ricky Martin just kind of opened a big door, but it's always been around. Latin artists have always been there, but some of them were never doing it in the U.S.
You kind of grow up and evolve in everything you do.
In my player, I have a Luis Miguel CD as well as a Brian McKnight CD. I'm known for my very romantic ballads as well as the fun, up-tempo pop songs.
I love and respect theatre, so I am truly honored to have the opportunity to take my voice to the Broadway stage.
Cancer is tough. Even saying it, it's a tough word to say.
To say I was near our president, performing at the Nobel Peace Prize... I think that's an amazing thing.
When I make albums, I do a lot of songwriting but not necessarily a whole album.
It doesn't matter where we're from, we all have to stick together and help each other out as performers and as human beings.
At no time was I trying to write a crossover record.
I've done songs in other languages. I know how hard it is.
