After breaking records with his debut album Odisea, the Puerto Rican superstar drops Aura Aug. 24
Exactly one year ago, Ozuna released his debut album, Odisea (Dimelo VI/Sony Music Latin). The set has broken the record by a male artist for weeks a No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart; only Gloria Estefan has spent more time on the top spot, with her seminal “Mi Tierra.”
Now, Ozuna is set to release his follow up, Aura, on Aug. 24. He’ll also launch his new U.S. tour Sept. 8 and has a new collaboration with Cardi B in the works. In between myriad projects, he uses what little rest time he has to “get on my jet ski, stay home with the kids. I don’t drink.”
We caught up with Ozuna to speak about his newfound fame, his friend Anuel, reggaeton’s raunchy themes, and those collabs with Akon, Cardi B and Romeo Santos.
It wasn’t about doing something bigger or better. I don’t like to proclaim things. But people ask for a lot of music; it’s different from what it was. I study this genre, and it’s like the university for me. Now, artists grow weekly, there’s new sounds, new rhythms, new technology, new people, and you have to evolve.
I like that. It’s like being in a group. When you work with people like Drake, Anuel, Wisin, J Balvin, all those artists we collaborate and film videos with, that’s where we can be free, talk, create. I can’t walk down the streets of Miami, for example, but I can be on set with J Balvin and feel comfortable.
I didn’t understand how important it was until a few months go. I realized, ‘Wow, that’s THE award.’ It was one of the most emotional days in my career. Everybody was watching. In Puerto Rico, it was like a boxing match in the time of Tito Trinidad. People bought TVs, they bought boxes to see it!
It was actually easy to do. It’s easy to work with someone who shares your same work ethic, who likes to create like you do. When we got together, we did four songs: There’s one for his album and two for the future. He sang in English, he sang in Spanish, I sang in English. He doesn’t speak it perfectly, just as I don’t speak perfect English, but we understand each other.
He’s on a track titled “Ibiza.” He came in at the very last minute. Can you imagine, going to Romeo and saying, “You have two days to record this.” My brother Romeo. He’s a great artist and a great person. He doesn’t fail you. When we recorded “Sobredosis,” we spent 12 hours in the studio. He’s very demanding. And that’s how it was with “Ibiza.” I didn’t send it to him so he’d record it; I just wanted him to listen to it. And he said, “Wow, papá!” I told him, “I didn’t send it for you to record, but go ahead! But, you have two days to do it. If not, we’ll leave it for the next album.” But he did it, and it’s one of my favorite songs.
