Luis Fonsi Chats New Album ‘El Viaje,’ Working With Carlos Vives & More | Billboard News

Luis Fonsi on what inspired his new album ‘El Viaje’ and how it is a reflection of his own journey in music. He also shares his collaboration with Carlos Vives on “Santa Marta” and more!

Luis Fonsi:

You know when you reach these kind of moments in life you look back and you’re like, wow it’s been a fun journey. It’s been a beautiful trip. 

Tetris Kelly:

And what a journey it’s been for Luis Fonsi.

Luis Fonsi:

Straight out of college, I started promoting my first album, and it’s really been nonstop since then. And it’s been kind of an evolution from album number one to album number 11, so that’s why ‘El Viaje’ to me represents that journey.

Tetris Kelly: 

When you’re a superstar releasing your 11th album, you’ve got a lot of experience to pull inspiration from.

Luis Fonsi:

The cool thing about this album ‘El Viaje’ is that every song is a city.

Leila Cobo: 

So how did you decide on each city? Because they’re not necessarily the biggest cities.

Luis Fonsi: 

Not necessarily, no. Well, that’s the beautiful thing about cities. I mean, we can have an argument of which city is bigger, or this, or that, like they all mean something different to me. 

Tetris Kelly:

And Luis brought some amazing talent along for the ride. 

Leila Cobo:

Your last single was “Roma” with Laura Pausini. Now you’re coming out with “Santa Marta” with Carlos Vives, his hometown.

Luis Fonsi:

When you hear the song, it’s a celebration of love. It’s a song that is perfect to sing to somebody who you love. It’s like an anniversary song. It’s almost a wedding song. Once Carlos got involved, I was like, this has to be named “Santa Marta.” So we kind of rewrote it. He wrote his part as well. And we made it ours and that was such a beautiful journey.