Randy Ortiz, the singer and reggaeton star known as part of the duo Jowell & Randy, always had a feeling that something big was coming in 2021. He can’t really explain it, but he started to anticipate a change. seismic a long time ago – he even called number 2021 on a few of his songs, including at the start of his Cultura Profética 2011 collaboration “Solo Por Ti.” “I don’t know why, but I would always say ‘Randy, 2021!’ in my music, ”he says in Spanish on a call from Miami, where he rehearses before the launch of his solo album Romances De Una Nota 2021, Vol 2.

In the end, this year ended up being huge – overwhelming even. After months of work he finished Romances De Una Nota 2021, Vol 2, an eclectic project that draws deeply on his vocal talent and his love of R&B, funk and soul. It’s a creative leap that he says represents everything he wanted to do as an artist. “This is the year I took the bull by the horns,” he told me. “I do what I said I will do. I own my career, my art and my future. It is as if a prophecy has come true.

The timing is also good. When it comes to R&B in Spanish, Randy is always one step ahead. He pushed for sound on his first solo projects, like on the 2015 smooth Roses & Wine, but he remembers feeling lonely in his efforts. “The radio stations were bored, they got tired and they were like, ‘It’s not going to hit,’ he recalls. However, a new generation of newcomers interested in R&B – including Rauw Alejandro and Dalex, who both appear on the album – ignited the spark that Randy always knew was there. “It’s something magical now,” he said. “And I’ve had the vision for it for years. I prepared for it.

He spoke more about this vision and shared what he learned from this experience, why he chose his collaborators on this project and the future he sees for Jowell & Randy.

There are a lot of different influences on this album – R&B and soul and house – but it’s consistent. How did you achieve this balance?
It is an ambitious project on which we have spent hours and hours. Each song had to have its own unique identity and richness for people to say “Wow. What a song. “We didn’t do this for money or to keep pace with anything in the industry – it was more important to me than that. It was about making the art, and this album feels like an exhibition to me.

It’s my first album with OneRPM, but it’s my third solo. The first albums that I did, I released them on my own and I didn’t have a lot of support, but the concept has always been there. I had no idea what I was doing at the start, how much work it took to make a good album like this. But these albums were like preparation for what I’m doing now. I wanted to do something big and put people on the same page, get them behind who I am as an artist, and now that’s what’s happening.

You worked for decades with the reggaeton duo Jowell & Randy. How did the duo experiences prepare you for your solo work?
I have learned so much. It’s been 21 years as a duo, with so many hours of really hard work, but I’ve always said, “Let me prepare myself little by little for my own art. It won’t happen yet, but I know it will. Since “Sensacion Del Bloque”, “Small” all these songs from 2007, i knew i had to go my way and shake things up. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, especially because the qualities that make Jowell & Randy are so strong. Doing things outside of the duo and doing things I had in mind for myself, I knew that was not going to be so easy for some to understand…

[The duo has] Taught me a lot, in terms of keeping my thoughts fresh, to make decisions for myself. I didn’t have anyone making decisions with me here. What you see [on Romances De Una Nota 2021, Vol 2] are my own choices, my own ideas, my own tastes in terms of music, writing and visuals. So now I’ve learned to see both sides of the coin and respect both things: what I do as Jowell & Randy and then the things I do as a solo actor. I had to work a little harder on this because it’s completely me – I didn’t have two or three different minds coming together and different people talking about what we were going to do, what colors we were going to. carry. It’s all me.

You always wanted to do R&B and make more use of your skills as a singer. What were your first experiences with R&B, and how did you find your way into this kind of music?
When I was five, I started listening to Motown Records artists. I lived with my aunt and she had a complete collection of the best Motown, the best R&B artists from the 70s, 80s and 90s. And then when the Barrio Boys, which had such a big impact on Spanish R&B, came out , I was 11 or 10 years old, and I said, “What a sound in Spanish. We can listen to the kind of style that Motown does in our language. I was a big fan of those first albums, and I was also a big fan of Cultura Profética, by Luis Fonsi. I started to learn harmonies, how to sing in a soft way without screaming, to make music to charm people’s ears. From there, you can incorporate it into anything – reggaeton, internally. So when I was young, that’s all I did: listen. And it helped make me who I am today. I needed to clear the way so that I could sing what I want to sing. Since I was young I’ve been saying, “I’m going to do house, I’m going to do funk, but I need to practice. And there, as there is only me on this album, I had to do 200% of the work: I sang the refrains, the intros, the verses, to be in charge of all the songs, so I am committed to doing what I love. I love house and techno and mixing it with soul and R&B makes for a really exquisite sound. I had a vision for it and it didn’t happen overnight. I knew what was going on in the genre now was going to be huge and that my generation was going to love it.

The album features many young artists who have experienced R&B themselves. Tell us how you embraced this rising generation.
Yes, Rauw, Dalex, Wheeler. I’ve never been one of those guys who are intimidated by a new generation. I’ve known them for a long time, like for four, five years, and I watched all the work they were doing, even before they were on labels. I’ve been interested in what they’ve been doing since, around 2014, around the time, and I was listening intently – Alvaro Diaz, Rafa Pabön, all of them. There were a ton of them working and doing R&B and I said, “I have to get to know their music.” And now these people that I got interested in are the ones here. I said, “I need Dalex, I need Justin Quiles, I need Jay Wheeler.” Anyone I’ve watched for a while. They wanted to do this with me because I have always been interested in their work. You can’t be blind to what’s going on around you, you have to be tolerant of what’s going on, and you can’t be an enemy… We can’t do it alone. If there are 10 of us doing R&B, then 10 of us are doing R&B. It’s a team in terms of gender.

And more precisely with Jay Wheeler, you recreated your hit “Loquita” from 2011. Why did you choose to do this song again with him?
The video for this is amazing. The song is fancy, it’s sexy. People will see us at our best. And Jay Wheeler deserved this song – because of the job he does, because of his discipline, because of his composure, because of his respect. When I met this kid, I was like, “Come on Wheeler, we’re gonna do ‘Loquita’, and you deserve it.” In fact, Anuel AA asked me for “Loquita”, and Bryant Myers wanted him too – both. They said, “Don’t let go of ‘Loquita!’ ‘Loquita’ is mine, you have to do it with me! But I wanted to have someone super dedicated and someone who would make him different and rich. With Wheeler, he came to see me in Orlando, while I was recording the song. He said, “I love this song1” I was like “Grandpa, be patient, I’ll put you on it.” But I was recording my part and then I was like, “Let me close the album and then I’ll call you.” He will tell you this, but he didn’t think I was going to call him again… But as soon as I was ready I called him and said, “This song that I was recording, get ready because we are going to do it and make the video. In two days he had it. And that meant a lot to me. I have a concept, and this guy trusts me with his eyes closed.

For fans who love Jowell & Randy, what does this mean for the band? Do you think your duet time is coming to an end?
Never! Jowell & Randy is a project that looks like my baby. This is the perreo concept. Right now we’re working on the next Jowell & Randy record. Our last album was Viva El Perreo and uff, this one hit it hard: Bad Bunny wrote with us and people loved it. So now we’re getting ready for Long live music, which is going to be awesome. But I also always wanted to show this side of me in R&B. My dream has been to do both and be awesome at both: R&B and Perreo. We will continue to make hits.