Luis Fonsi Will Celebrate the Year of “Despacito” at Tonight’s Grammys
Luis Fonsi doesn’t even remember where he was during last year’s Grammys. “I was probably out doing promo somewhere,” says the singer who transformed the landscape of global pop music in 2017 with his multi-platinum blockbuster “Despacito,” released exactly one month before the Grammys. “The song picked up steam quite quickly, so I was probably already in my ‘Despacito’ mode.”
To celebrate his history-making year, Fonsi will be performing for the first time tonight at the 2017 Grammys, where “Despacito” is nominated for three awards, including Song and Record of the Year.
GQ caught up with Fonsi at yesterday’s Universal Grammy showcase, where the singer took a few minutes from his nonstop-packed Grammy week schedule to reflect on his monumental year, his dream collaborations, and what lies ahead for his native Puerto Rico.
GQ: What was the most surreal moment of last year?
Luis Fonsi: It’s so hard to just name one, but I think tying the all-time record for number one on the Hot 100, tying it with Mariah Carey, with a song mainly in Spanish, that was definitely a huge accomplishment. Now that we were there for 16 weeks, I rewind a little bit and I remember when we broke the Top 100 and the Top Ten, where every week you’re like, “Wow, we’ve gotten this far.” And then you look back in history and you’re like, “Whoa, no Spanish song has done that except for ‘La Bamba,’ but it’s not going to go Top 5.” Then, “It’s not going to go number one, that’s impossible.” And then we get to number one, and it’s like, “It’s not going to be there for two weeks, and then it’s there for three, four five, then sixteen weeks.” We’re like, “what?”
The landscape of pop music in 2018 looks completely different because of that one song.
I look at it from a Latin music point of view because that’s what I do and that’s what I’ve been doing for 20 years. It’s definitely more global. The language barrier has somewhat been broken, or it’s breaking, in the good sense of the word. People are now more open to listen to new things because of the new generations and maybe also because of the new way we listen to music and because of digital platforms that let us listen to other things that maybe our local radio back in the day wouldn’t play. Obviously I credit a lot of this too, for a song like “Despacito,” to my collaboration with Daddy Yankee and my collaboration with Justin Bieber, who made the song a little bit more friendly to people here in the States that maybe would not normally listen to an all-Spanish song.
What’s next for you?
I just released a song two months ago with Demi Lovato. It’s called “Échame la Culpa.” We’re coming out with the English version now called “Not on You.” The song is blowing up, and the video is actually outdoing “Despacito,” which is ridiculous. So I’m just trying to keep it strong, keep delivering good songs and quality music. I love the fact that I’ve been able to collaborate with amazing artists and have them tap into a little bit of what I do and have me tap into a little bit of what they do. My album is pretty much ready to go. I’ve been writing, and I’m also collaborating with other artists from different countries, not necessarily typical general market artists. I’m just trying to keep coming out with great songs in Spanish with a little bit of English, or in English with a little bit of Spanish. The language thing, now, to me, is almost secondary.
I’d imagine you’d want to take full advantage of the global platform that you have at this point.
For sure. That door has been opened and people are paying attention.
What’s your dream collaboration?
Bruno [Mars] and Rihanna are probably the two. But my all-time dream collaboration would be Stevie Wonder, who is probably my biggest influence.
Are you a New Year’s resolution guy? Did you make one?
I’m not the kind of guy who waits to the end of the year to make just one massive resolution. But I did make one, and I spoke with my family a lot about it. It was to try to slow it down a little bit and enjoy what’s around me and enjoy what I’ve been able to accomplish. I’ve been working very hard for 20 years. During my junior year of college I was already recording my first album, so it really has been nonstop. I haven’t really had a chance to sit back and relax. I went to school to study music and I literally graduated and went out to start promoting my first album. I just need to try to tell my brain and my mind and my heart to slow down, saying you know what, just take it all in. I’ve been able to do things in Latin music that nobody has ever done. I’m really excited about that, but hopefully we’ll slow it down a little bit.
I bet you couldn’t have imagined that you’d come to such international prominence during a time when Puerto Rico so greatly needs such global voices speaking on its behalf. What has it been like to be one of those voices?
Obviously when I talk about what a beautiful and perfect year I’ve had, it’s impossible not to mention, on a personal level, the sour note that we all had to live with in Puerto Rico. We’ve done a lot of work. We dedicated a lot of time to raise money and help out. I’ve personally done many, many trips to Puerto Rico. I’ve chartered full airliners. I have a YouCaring fund to help rebuild La Perla, which is that beautiful town you see in my video. It’s YouCaring.com/luisfonsi.
We’re doing a lot of work and Puerto Rico is slowly getting better. It’s open for business now, and we’re getting tourism back to what it used to be, because it’s a strong island. It’s going to take a long time to fully recover but the beauty of the island and warmth of the people, that has never left.
