Keityn on Writing for Karol G, Shakira, Maluma & More: ‘Out of 10 Songs I Write, One Becomes a Hit’

What’s behind Keityn’s extraordinary ability to pen hits?

The 27-year-old from the small city of Palmira, Colombia, was ASCAP’s Latin Music Songwriter of the Year for the second consecutive year, thanks to a string of hits that included Shakira’s “Acróstico” and Shakira and Karol G’s “TQG.”

But, he says, it’s not like everything he touches turns to gold, and definitely not immediately.

“Out of 10 songs I make, one becomes a hit,” Keityn said in a candid interview with Billboard News. “There are many more songs that never come out. You do a lot, and out of that whole, two or three become huge hits.”

In the last couple of months, Keityn (real name Kevyn Mauricio Cruz Moreno) has had plenty of huge hits. They include Karol G’s “Me Curo Del Cora,” which was inspired by the title of the album Mañana Será Bonito (Tomorrow Will Be Pretty). “If tomorrow will be pretty, it means today isn’t. That’s why we made ‘Me Curo del Cora’ (I Heal My Heart).”

As for “TQG,” the track was written with Karol G while the singer was in Los Angeles filming Griselda, the Netflix series starring Sofia Vergara. “Karol had the foresight to send the song to Shakira,” says Keityn.

And then, there’s the most meaningful song for him, Shakira’s “Acróstico.”

“The fact that such an important woman would let me make a song about something so personal … it’s something that fills me with pride,” Keityn says. “I’ve seen her as a mom, and she’s an amazing mom and sings what she feels. I said, ‘If you want to sing what you feel, let’s give some play to the kids.’”

Watch the full interview here.