Chart-topping DJ, producer, and songwriter Marshmello talks about diving into Latin music, the process of creating his first Latin music album 'Sugar Papi,' working with Young Miko, the success of his track "El Merengue" with Manuel Turizo and more!
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00:00 It was interesting, I kinda showed up to Miami
00:03 to write this album and I was like,
00:04 I don't really have anything prepared.
00:06 (laughing)
00:07 I was like, part of my job, my main job
00:09 is on the spot creation.
00:11 - Yeah. - Just making it,
00:12 you know what I mean, making it work.
00:13 Yo, what's up, it's Marshmello and this is Billboard News.
00:16 (upbeat music)
00:19 - Hey, I'm Lindsay Haven for Billboard News
00:28 and I'm here with the chart-topping DJ, producer,
00:30 songwriter, Marshmello.
00:32 - What's going on? - What is up, man?
00:33 - Chillin'.
00:34 (upbeat music)
00:37 - You are no stranger to our charts.
00:51 We have a lot of firsts to talk about with you right now.
00:54 You have a major label, debut album coming out,
00:56 Sugar Poppy, first Latin album, first proper album,
01:00 artist on every song. - First album,
01:02 like major label album.
01:05 - Tell us a bit about the how and when the idea
01:08 for this album even came about.
01:10 - I've always been eager to kind of make a body of work.
01:13 Wasn't sure when the right time was.
01:16 Sony Latin reached out to me and was like,
01:18 hey, would you like to do a Latin album?
01:21 And I'd always wanted to tap into the Latin music
01:25 and it just seemed like a perfect time
01:27 to first knock out the album that I've always wanted to do.
01:30 And Latin and everybody was so cool and so nice,
01:33 it was a no-brainer.
01:34 (upbeat music)
01:36 - Did you ever think that Latin would be your first album?
01:43 - No.
01:44 Even though I wasn't putting out Latin songs,
01:46 just over the years, I just befriended so many people,
01:49 so many Latin artists.
01:51 I knew it would happen, I just wasn't sure when.
01:52 And it was just kind of sent by the universe.
01:55 - Yeah, I mean, what conversations did you have
01:56 with Sony Latin about the appetite for this right now?
01:59 - I wasn't just gonna go and make this huge,
02:03 every biggest artist in the world on an album.
02:06 I was just gonna work with artists that I vibe with
02:08 and that I just genuinely like their music.
02:11 And so I think you'll see on the track list
02:13 and who I worked with, it'll be like, oh, okay,
02:15 just a good vibe.
02:17 (upbeat music)
02:19 - Correct me if I'm wrong, I think we're working
02:24 on this in Miami with meeting all of these artists
02:26 for the first time in the studio.
02:28 What was the vibe check?
02:29 - It was interesting.
02:30 I kind of showed up to Miami to write this album
02:33 and pretty much had to make everything from scratch.
02:37 It's like 10 days, 11 days, made this whole album.
02:39 - Wow. - Yeah.
02:40 Every day was a song, done, done, done, done, done, done.
02:44 - That's nice. - It was pretty,
02:45 it's pretty spectacular.
02:46 I don't know how many times that happens.
02:49 (upbeat music)
02:51 (singing in foreign language)
02:56 - Another first and the biggest single
02:58 off of this project so far.
02:59 You got your first number one on our Latin Airplay chart.
03:02 - Yeah.
03:03 - How did you find out?
03:04 How did you celebrate?
03:05 - I didn't have any expectations, in a really good way.
03:07 I was just like, let's just do it.
03:10 When this song popped off and me and Manuel,
03:13 very similar, so we got along really well.
03:14 So we hung out a lot.
03:15 For that song, especially with somebody who I call a friend
03:19 to do so well, it was like the ultimate finish.
03:22 Perfect situation.
03:23 - Did you guys FaceTime when it happened?
03:25 - Oh, all the time.
03:26 - Okay. (laughs)
03:27 - Like every week.
03:28 Yeah, every week once the song came out.
03:30 (singing in foreign language)
03:33 - Are there any other memories that,
03:38 when you look back at that kind of quick time in Miami now,
03:40 that just really stand out and feel really special to you?
03:43 - Yeah, working with Mico, young Mico.
03:45 Yeah.
03:46 (singing in foreign language)
03:49 She just showed up and was just so nice and humble.
03:52 And the vibe was just happy to be there.
03:54 That's how I felt the whole time too, right?
03:55 To see somebody matching that energy,
03:57 it was like, okay, we're gonna have a really good day.
03:59 You know what I mean?
04:00 And Mico's just all swaggy, like bucket hat.
04:02 - Right.
04:03 - They were just all tatted, just chilling on the couch,
04:05 just killing everything I'm showing her.
04:07 And I'm like, okay, let's just pick one.
04:08 We didn't have a hip hop leaning song that whole time.
04:12 So I was like, yeah, I have this one beat
04:14 that I've been waiting for the right moment.
04:16 - Yeah.
04:16 - It just went absolutely insane.
04:17 But in the vault, there's like two other songs that we did.
04:20 And it's like straight like rave music,
04:22 like old nineties, like Eiffel 65,
04:25 and like young Mico, like with like auto-tune,
04:27 like crazy, crazy vibe.
04:29 You have to dig it out.
04:30 - If there were some other songs in the vault
04:31 that they might come out?
04:32 - Maybe, yeah.
04:33 There's a few songs in the vault
04:35 from a bunch of different artists during that time
04:37 that could very easily pop up again.
04:40 (upbeat music)
04:47 - So when you think about Latin music,
04:49 before you did this project and now after it too,
04:51 what is it that just inspires you so much
04:53 as a creative that feels so good?
04:54 - The passion that the Latin culture has for their own music
04:58 and how knowledgeable and just seeing the writers
05:01 and they just like live, breathe this music.
05:03 I just like felt at home.
05:05 - Have you done these singles yet live?
05:08 How excited are you to maybe play the whole album live?
05:10 - Right, yeah.
05:11 So I've only played every song that's out already.
05:15 - Yeah.
05:16 - It's been really fun going down to Chile.
05:17 I played all through Chile and El Salvador
05:21 and Spanish speaking countries and being able to play this
05:23 and like hearing it sung back to me,
05:25 you know what I mean?
05:26 - Yeah.
05:27 - So it was just like awesome.
05:28 - I feel like you're a historian almost, kind of.
05:30 - Yeah.
05:31 - Going back into your Joy Time series,
05:32 how do you see some of what you've learned
05:34 or gathered here maybe seeping into those projects?
05:37 - Yeah, definitely.
05:38 I don't know if I've said it publicly,
05:39 but I've been in the studio kind of this whole summer
05:41 writing a new album,
05:45 kind of like redefining what Marshmello is, you know?
05:47 And I've been trying to use everything I've learned.
05:49 And I just had some sessions recently
05:51 where I had Latin touches and house music with Latin
05:55 and just a bunch of stuff that I've learned
05:57 over this whole time.
05:58 And so yeah, I could definitely see a lot of elements
06:01 that I'm learning.
06:02 - Well, I'm super excited.
06:03 Congratulations on everything.
06:04 - Thank you so much.
06:05 - Yeah, thanks for coming by.
06:06 (upbeat music)