Prince Royce Talks English-Language Influences and Teases Secret 'Mainstream' Collaboration
Prince Royce will soon be singing more songs en Inglés.
The bachata crooner spoke to PEOPLE CHICA about recording new songs in English and revealed the mainstream artists who have influenced him. “For a while now, I have felt this need to pay homage to the music that I used to listen to when I grew up in New York,” says the 28-year-old singer of Dominican descent. “Besides bachata, I used to listen to rap and R&B. And if you really go back to some of my songs, that influence has been present in my work from day one.”
The “Sensualidad” singer reveals he looks up to mainstream artists like Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, Usher, Rihanna and Bruno Mars and would love to record with them some day. He has already collaborated with A-listers like Jennifer Lopez (in “Back It Up”) and Shakira (in “Deja Vu”), and has taken the bachata genre to new heights.
The visionary musician is excited about a hot new partnership he is keeping top secret, but teases: “I am working on a new music collaboration with a female artist from mainstream market, but I can’t talk much about that yet. You’ll see!”
Success as a musician involves taking risks and reinventing yourself, he says. “I’ve always been open when it comes to the creative process. And I am writing music, mixing sounds and tendencies, and that’s one of the reasons I think that my bachata was embraced by both young people and adults,” he says. “For me, taking risks is an integral part of that growth and is an element that’s always present in my DNA as an artist.”
His most recent single in Spanish is titled “El Clavo” (“The Nail”). “The song is everything I wanted it to be and the video — directed by Carlos Perez — is daring. It has a very strong and powerful message told from a woman’s perspective,” he says of the clip, which shows a woman leaving an abusive ex to run into Prince Royce’s loving arms. “I love to have fun with music and that’s what ‘El Clavo’ is, a fun and sexy song that I know a lot of people will be able to relate to,” he adds.
