Latin star Ozuna says he worked hard to make ‘Nibiru’ great
MEXICO CITY: Ozuna set a record for most weeks at No.1 on the Billboard Latin albums chart by a male artist with his 2017 debut album, “Odisea.” The superstar reggaeton and Latin trap singer, who has sold-out New York’s Madison Square Garden, is also the first artist to have seven music videos reach a billion views each on Youtube. Because he wanted to match his previous success — and reach even greater heights — Ozuna got more involved in the production process of “Nibiru,” his third full-length album released on Friday.
“I believe this is the album (that) I have dedicated (the most) time in my career,” Ozuna said in Spanish in a phone interview from New York City this week. “I feel good (about) the music ... we took things from everywhere to do this.” The album features the hit single “Baila Baila Baila,” which earned him his first Latin Grammy nomination this year (he lost to Rosalía). “Nibiru” also includes “Reggaeton en Paris,” featuring Dalex and Nicky Jam, and his latest single “Hasta Que Salga el Sol,” which he said was made “for the disco and the party.” “It’s a great song with great energy,” he said. “If you wake up with a song like this, you got to cheer up that day.”
“Nibiru” also includes collaborations with high-profile performers such as Diddy and DJ Snake (“Eres Top”), Snoop Dogg and Anuel AA (“Patek”) and Swae Lee (“Sin Pensar”). The track “Temporal” features Willy of the Puerto Rican rock band Cultura Profética — a song that takes the rocker to more tropical grounds. “I love the style of rock. I love the electric guitar,” said Ozuna about his relationship with rock music. Ozuna, born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, performed at Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in New York City on Thursday. Last week he was one of the headline acts at the Coca-cola Flow Fest in Mexico City, where 75,000 fans attended and Ozuna shined onstage with a bright red jacket and hat.
“It’s out of respect for my fans, you got to look and dress good,” Ozuna said of his fashion choices. He will return to Mexico for the Machaca Festival next year. His 2020 will be super-busy: He’ll launch his “Nibiru” world tour and he will appear in “Fast & Furious 9,” which will hit US theatres on May 22. Ozuna is ending 2019 on a bright note. At the beginning of the year, he said he was being extorted over an explicit video filmed when he was 16 years old. To those facing similar challenges, Ozuna said: “Keep going forward.” “Those are special situations, everyone comes here to learn something, surely they will learn from those situations. It’s just going to be an experience.”
Ozuna is a Puerto Rican Latin rap and reggaeton singer, who is regarded as the “New King of Reggaeton”. He has released two successful albums “Odisea” (2017) and “Aura” (2018), and since the beginning of his career, he has sold around 15 million records, making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time. He made his acting debut in the film Que León. Ozuna is the artist with the most one billionview videos on Youtube. Ozuna was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico to a Dominican father and a Puerto Rican mother. As stated in the eponymous opening track from his album Odisea, he grew up poor and was mainly raised by his paternal grandmother. His father, who worked as a dancer for reggaeton performer Vico C for three years, was fatally shot when Ozuna was only three, and his mother was not financially stable enough to raise him.
He moved to New York City in 2010, where he lived for three years. From an early age, he had a passion for the Latin urban genre, and at the age of twelve, he started composing songs. He debuted as a singer in 2012 with the song “Imaginando”. He previously went by the name J Oz. He worked with Musicologo & Menes before gaining popularity. In 2014, he signed a recording contract with Golden Family Records and began to publish his songs on Youtube. In that same year, he started his ongoing popular streak with his breakthrough hit “Si Tu Marido No Te Quiere”, originally featuring D.OZI when released to platforms and websites, though he was taken down when the song hit the radio. That song achieved success on radio and was eventually well known across Latin America. He has since performed in many shows across South America.