After 3 years, Manuel Medrano announces the release of his third album, ‘Perfecto.’ He gives us a sneak peek of new single, “Mojado,” his upcoming tour, explains why it took him so long to release his third album and more!
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00:00Que podía respirar afuera y adentro del mar
00:09Cargado de energía positiva
00:17Hi everyone, I'm Manuel Medrano and you're watching Billboard News.
00:21Billboard News
00:28Manuel Medrano, welcome to Billboard.
00:30Leila, it's a pleasure.
00:31First of all, tell me about the look. I love all of your looks and you look like you're in your fifties. Tell me what you're wearing.
00:42Thank you very much. It's a classic dress, a beige color with a shirt that I discovered recently that comes with this knot here.
00:52Yes, you look like a panclona that you're going to run with the bulls.
00:59I like this classic, elegant style. I'm taking my style to that.
01:07It's a style that contrasts with the tattoos, right? Because here we have an almost complete sleeve.
01:13The tattoos are down there, down there.
01:17The fires.
01:19The fires. So this is like...
01:21This is for kitesurfing.
01:23Really?
01:24Of course, to make the board look cool.
01:29And is there a new tattoo for the new music?
01:32There is a new tattoo for the new music. Well, I have a broken heart here. Here I have an angel that is in honor of my second album.
01:40And yes, there is a new tattoo for my new album. In fact, you are the first person who knows.
01:46I can't believe you, but you haven't done it yet.
01:49Not yet.
01:50Ok.
01:51But very possibly this week I will...
01:54So that it comes out with the album.
01:56Under the tattoo artist, so that it comes out with the album. That's right.
01:58But you're not going to tell me what it's going to be.
02:00No, but it's very much incorporated in the album.
02:06Ok. Well, you know, when you have it done, you have to send us a video.
02:11Of course.
02:12A video like that so we can post it.
02:14You know, I've been thinking about doing one of those that you record the day and show what you did.
02:21Yes.
02:22I'm going to talk to someone who recorded me that day and go visit the tattoo artist who tattoos me.
02:27I love it. And we do that on Billboard and it's called an Instagram takeover.
02:32So we'll be in touch so we can be the first with that.
02:36Perfect.
02:37Listen to me, this album is your first album since 2021.
02:43And it's incredibly only your third album, Manuel, which I hadn't realized.
02:49Because I feel like your career has been long since you won the Grammy for Best New Artist.
02:55But this is going to be your third album.
02:58Why aren't there more albums?
03:01It's not a criticism, it's a question.
03:04Of course, I understand.
03:06I've been asked that question a lot.
03:08And for me it's a surprise because I feel like it's normal for an artist to take 4, 5, sometimes 7 years to release an album.
03:17Bruno Mars takes many years to release an album.
03:21And so do many artists.
03:23But I think when I started releasing music in 2015, my first album, we were in a transition where it was better to release a lot of music every weekend.
03:36Let's say it brought us the new wave of music in 2015.
03:40I also think it's part of the processes.
03:42The processes of modern music are many people working for an artist.
03:46Many are writers, many producers.
03:49A giant infrastructure for an artist to release songs every weekend.
03:55Do you feel very strange with that new infrastructure?
03:58Being that you are a singer-songwriter from the heart.
04:01I come from another school.
04:03I'm not criticizing the processes of the other artists.
04:06They seem fabulous to me and I'm connecting a little more with them.
04:10But if my process was suddenly a little more traditional.
04:13Me with my guitar, special moments of my life, in my happy place.
04:20More introspective.
04:22More intimate.
04:23Of course, taking everything out, putting everything on the table.
04:26You know?
04:27Many times when you work with other songwriters, it's like you're embarrassed to say certain things or write certain things.
04:33But it's very liberating, it's very nice for me.
04:35I love my process as a singer-songwriter and as a composer and even as a producer.
04:41Because it's also very artisanal.
04:43I work from the studio with the drummer that I want for the song.
04:47With the guitarist, with the bassist, the producer.
04:50I make decisions and the song speaks of this.
04:53It tells a magical story through poetry.
04:56It's a very artisanal process.
05:03Did the process change for this album?
05:05No.
05:06But during these years that I've had as a career, I have a relatively young career.
05:11We've been celebrating...
05:13Next year we celebrate my first 10 years.
05:16Oh my God, can you believe it?
05:18From 2015, when I released my first album, to 2025, when we're going to celebrate 10 years of career.
05:23It's incredible.
05:24With three albums that have come out at strange times, like in strange times.
05:30Because with my first album, we won the two Latin Grammys and we dedicated ourselves to touring for a long time.
05:37Then I went through a process of finishing with my first management.
05:41And that takes time.
05:43So it was a time when I was without management.
05:45I was alone because I wanted to be in another wave.
05:49Always at the hand of the Warner Music family.
05:52They have always been supportive.
05:54I have released all the albums with them.
05:56Even this one that is coming, which is going to be my third album.
05:59So from 2015, when we released my first album, to 2021, when we released my second album, six years passed.
06:05But they were also six very beautiful years.
06:08They were six years of establishing Manuel.
06:12Of establishing myself, of doing many tours.
06:14I did a lot of very cool collaborations.
06:16I mean, they weren't like albums, but I did have a couple of very cool singles.
06:20I had a collaboration with Nile Rodgers, who for me is an icon of world music.
06:26One of my favorite guitarists too.
06:29And it's a song that I appreciate a lot.
06:31Because my career has been sailing between pop and funk.
06:40And disco music and folk music.
06:43So all those processes have been reinforced in my life.
06:46The second album does have a column, let's talk a little more about rock.
06:50But it also preserves a lot of my essence, the lyrics, the musicality.
06:55And now the third, I think it's a tribute to pop.
06:58And it's also a way to show a little bit of everything I've learned in my processes.
07:07It's an album that I was at the head of production.
07:09That I produced most of the songs.
07:12And others in co-production with other producers in different countries.
07:17I think it has a lot of that experience that this path has given us.
07:22And you feel that maybe the timing is perfect.
07:24Because pop, after being buried by the urban.
07:30Well, buried by the urban, it was.
07:34But I feel that in the last 12 months it's coming out again.
07:38And from the beginning of the year, I see a big pop inclination in the charts.
07:44I know you didn't plan it like that, Manuel.
07:48But have you seen that too? Do you feel it too?
07:51I feel that pop is in a moment of power, of course.
07:54I think what happened with urban music was also very important for Latin America.
07:59Because we had never had such a relevant musical genre.
08:02In the history of music, I think.
08:04Absolutely, of Latin music without a doubt.
08:07Of Latin music, of course.
08:08So I think that also helped us.
08:12Yes.
08:13Because they opened this door that Latin music, people would like to discover more Latin music.
08:20And I think that's what's happening through these 10, 15 years that reggaeton has been aiming at everything.
08:28And being the most representative Latin genre in the world.
08:31Today I think the world is very interested in Latinos in general.
08:35So they are listening to more Latin music.
08:38Because Latin America also has a giant musical market to offer the world and people's emotions.
08:50And what do you bring us on this album? Tell me.
08:52Well.
08:53Let's see, what sound and what collaborations.
08:56It is an album that navigates, it is a tribute to pop.
08:59But it is an album that will navigate between the genres that I like the most,
09:05all the music with which I grew up.
09:07There is a lot of funky, a lot of disco, a lot of folk music.
09:11Also some country.
09:13The pop that characterizes Manuel Medrano.
09:17We have a very special piano and voice song out there.
09:20Also of those songs that connect with the heart.
09:23Some dreamy featurings.
09:26You know? Also.
09:28Can you give me a couple of what people can expect from the featurings?
09:32We can say it.
09:33Yes.
09:35Yes.
09:37Let's say the featurings.
09:38Tell us, what are the collaborations like this?
09:41Well, this is a dream album for me.
09:43You know that every step in the career of an artist is very important.
09:47And we have been taking care of the release of this album a lot.
09:51So today I'm going to give you the basics of what this album is going to be.
09:53Let's see.
09:54It is my third album with the Billboard family.
09:57I am Manuel Medrano.
09:58I am declaring the release of my next album, which will be my third album.
10:04Its name is going to be Perfecto.
10:09That's the title of the album.
10:11A perfect album called Perfecto.
10:14A perfect album called Perfecto.
10:16Correct.
10:17I feel that the word perfect speaks of the constant movement of things.
10:25It is the best moment of something.
10:27It is not a single thing that is still.
10:29And it was perfect.
10:30It is something that is constantly happening in the universe.
10:33And that's what it speaks of.
10:34Of how beautiful and perfect it is to be standing on this rock.
10:37At the interference of infinite space.
10:40It comes with some dream collaborations.
10:42I have a collaboration with a Colombian artist called Duplat.
10:46Who is like a new star in our country.
10:49And he is a national pride.
10:50A piano teacher.
10:51And he is also a great artist.
10:53A rock star.
10:54We have a song that talks about funky.
10:58That talks about disco.
10:59And that talks about how beautiful it is to fall in love with intensity.
11:03Okay.
11:04I also have a collaboration with a great piano artist.
11:08Because I wrote a song to piano and voice for this album.
11:12It's my first song to piano and voice.
11:13So I recorded it, we produced it.
11:15I love this song.
11:17But I felt that it was important that the piano was interpreted by an artist who was dedicated to the piano.
11:23So I invited our dear Arthur to participate in this song.
11:29He listened to it and liked it.
11:32And he decided to make a piano piece for this impressive song.
11:36He took it to another level.
11:37So he's going to be another one of our collaborations on this album.
11:40I say they are dream collaborations.
11:42Because they are collaborations dedicated to art.
11:46You know?
11:47Yes.
11:48With artists that I admire for their artistic dexterity.
11:54You know?
11:55More than any other circumstance.
11:58So it's nice.
12:00I feel that they gave this album a special color.
12:04And they accompany the narrative of the album in a spectacular way.
12:08It's a very fantasy-inspired album.
12:10Everything that comes from the dream, from dreams.
12:13The magic, the poetry.
12:16This is going to be portrayed both in the lyrics, I feel, and in the musical interpretation.
12:22Because the whole album was recorded with instruments.
12:25Interpreted by real musicians.
12:28In magical studios too.
12:31With very genius producers of music.
12:35So I think it's going to be a very special album.
12:38I hope it can accompany you all in your life.
12:42Now, I know that the production of this album is a reason for great pride for you.
12:47But I also see that you brought the guitar.
12:51Although I know it's not going to sound exactly like the album.
12:54Can you play us 30 seconds of the focus track, maybe?
12:57Or any track you want.
12:59I would be happy to do it, of course.
13:01I love playing the guitar, for those who don't know.
13:06We are looking for Manuel here.
13:08Can you lend me the guitar?
13:09Besides, the guitar is playing with you today.
13:12Look, a red guitar. How wonderful.
13:15I present you my fabulous guitar that plays with your dress.
13:18Your fabulous guitar is fabulous.
13:20I just bought it.
13:22How wonderful.
13:23And it's the first guitar that has a name.
13:25What name does it have?
13:27It's called Roja.
13:29I thought you were going to say, it's called Sergio.
13:32It's called Lola. No, it's called Roja.
13:34It's called Roja.
13:37And the song I'm going to play is part of the album.
13:42And it's the song we're going to release the album with.
13:45Okay.
13:47It's called Mojado.
13:50And it talks about starting again.
13:53It's a song to reconnect with yourself.
14:06Positive energy
14:12That only knows how to swim
14:19Against the tide
14:27I love it.
14:29I'm not going to ask you who told you that you were a devil and all these things.
14:34Manuel, it's spectacular.
14:36Tell us, I don't want to let you go without you telling us about the tour.
14:39You're going to play.
14:41They already announced dates in the United States for November.
14:44What else, where else are you going to be touring?
14:47Well, this year has been very special.
14:49It's an album.
14:51We are releasing our series of concerts in different countries.
14:55We were in Spain.
14:57We will also be in Argentina, Chile, Peru for Latin America.
15:01We just announced our tour in the United States.
15:04It's our first tour in the United States.
15:06And I feel very proud, very happy.
15:08Because our history in the United States has always been very beautiful.
15:13Our artistic history.
15:15And our fans are always watching concerts here in the United States.
15:19They will finally be able to see you here.
15:22Yes, we will be in Miami, Orlando, New York and Puerto Rico for now.
15:30We hope to announce more dates in the United States.
15:34But for now they are those.
15:36So all the people who are watching us are very welcome.
15:39And there I wait for you.
15:40And soon we will be announcing the dates of the rest of the tour.
15:45Which will be Mexico, Central America, more countries in Latin America.
15:50In Spain, yes, Spain is beautiful.
15:52Because we haven't been there for many years.
15:54And we have concerts in Madrid and Barcelona.
15:58Yes, a beautiful year.
15:59Well, I can't wait to see you live.
16:01Congratulations on being so perfect.
16:05How beautiful, thank you very much.
16:07And thank you for being with us on Billboard.
16:09It was a pleasure to see you, Leila. Thank you.
16:10The same, Manuel.