Pedro Capo Sings New Life Into Classic Latin Pop Tracks From The ’90s
By Pedro Pincay
What do Selena, Chayanne and Calle 13 have in common? They were all Pedro Capo’s muses for his En Letra De Otro HBO Latino special premiering Aug. 11.
The throwback-like special features some of the most iconic Spanish-Language songs from the ’90s that will have you singing along while strolling through memory lane. After having the inception for this idea a few years back, Capo and his label, Sony Music Latin, decided to take the project to the next level by partnering with HBO Latino in hopes of bringing a live performance to the viewers.
To draw inspiration for the project, Pedro headed to Mexico where he found it appropriate to have a fresh approach for each song. “Pop music was very strong in Mexico during the ’90s, so that’s why I decided to record it there,” said the Puerto Rican musician.
VIBE Viva briefly caught up with the man of the hour before his performance at the HBO Latino x Pedro Capo: En Letra de Otro event at La Marina.
VIBE Viva: You are taking old hits and reimagining them in your own way. Where do you find the balance of speaking to that target audience and speaking of your experience?
Pedro Capo: To be honest, I don’t try to speak and target who my “audience” is. I just do my thing. I try to deliver my proposal, what I’m feeling, what I’m having fun with and what I can be honest with. I’m having fun and I rediscovered these tunes that were part of the soundtrack of my generation. Some of them I liked, some of them I did not, but that’s been the amazing part. They were huge hits so there was something good about them right? So I’ve gotten to discover that and learned the greatness of those songs in my own shoes. That’s why its called ‘En Letra De Otro’ it’s like en el traje de otro. It’s like being in somebody else’s shoes. It’s taken me to a place of utmost admiration and respect to my peers and I hope they enjoy it and I hope everyone connects with it. It’s an honest, unpretentious approach. I’m not trying to make better versions, just my point of view about them.
People will be able to see your interpretation of the project. People have created these images in their minds of these iconic songs. What can we expect to see from your reimagining these hits in the HBO special?
I think it’s straight up guts, it’s visceral. I feel like I always wanted to portray a live sound in my album and something was always missing to translate that sound to a studio. It’s hard, so we decided to make the album what we shot live. The whole album is what you see in the HBO special. Everything that you see was recorded live visually with audio. I hope people connect with the spontaneity of the moment.
This post Pedro Capo Sings New Life Into Classic Latin Pop Tracks From The ’90s first appeared on Vibe.
