Danna Paola Talks First Latin Grammy Nomination, New Single “A Un Beso” + ‘Élite’ Memories
Mexican pop star Danna Paola is going to the Latin Grammy Awards. The former Élite actress received her first Latin Grammy nomination for her breakthrough album K.O. She’s also preparing her next album with her new single “A Un Beso.” In an exclusive interview, Paola talked about her Latin Grammys excitement, her upcoming collaboration with Mau y Ricky, and her memories of Élite.
Danna Paola became a breakout star in Netflix’s Élite.
Danna Paola became a global star in 2018 thanks to her starring role in Netflix show Élite. She played resident bad girl Lucrecia “Lu” Montesinos for three seasons. Paola departed the series this year to focus on her burgeoning music career.
“I’m the person who I am now because of Élite,” Paola tells mitú. “It changed my life. I love my character. Lu taught me a lot of things and that character will always be important to me. The show marked a generation, and I’ll always have big love for it.”
Danna Paola received her first Latin Grammy for her album K.O.
With leaving Élite, Paola extended her record contract with Universal Music Group. She put her all into this year’s K.O. in which she “knocked out” the heartbreak and negativity in her life. It became her first release to crack the top 10 of Billboard’s Latin Pop Albums chart. Paola’s move to music full-time paid off with Latin Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album. The Latin Grammy Awards will air on Univision on Nov. 18.
“I feel so honored, so blessed, and so grateful,” Paola says. “The whole album was such an amazing experience. A process of two years. Two years of healing myself with the whole album. It was like therapy for me. We’re actually winners being nominated. This is such a beautiful dream come true for me in my whole career.”
What will Danna do if she wins the award? “I’m going to cry like a baby,” Paola adds. “I’m thinking about my speech because I talk a lot, so I don’t want to get the music behind me that’s a cue to stop talking. I’m going to thank God, of course. Thank my fans. Thank the Academy. And of course, my co-writers and co-producers and all the people involved in writing this album. I would be so happy.”
Danna Paola is in love in her music video for “A Un Beso.”
Paola has released a string of hit singles post-K.O. like “Mía” and “Kaprichosa.” Her newest song is a power ballad called “A Un Beso.” She opens up about celebrating the love in her life.
“It’s the first love song I ever wrote in my life,” Paola says. “My whole music career as a composer, it was more heartbreak songs, and knocking out the negativity. This was my first experience talking about my latest experience of being in love and being honest with myself, and putting all of these feelings into this song. I’m so proud of it. It’s so beautiful. It has a really special meaning to me, really personal, and really magical.”
Danna Paola’s next collaboration is with Venezuelan duo Mau y Ricky.
In our interview with Mau y Ricky, the brothers let cat out of the bag that they have a collaboration with Paola on the way. While she can’t say the title yet, she explains that it will be a continuation of “A Un Beso.”
“We have a song together,” Paola says. “I sent Ricky the song. He showed the song to Mau and they were like, ‘Yeah! Let’s do it!’ They’re the best. They’re incredible! They killed it on this song. It’s such a cool song. It’s different. ‘A Un Beso’ prepares this next song. I love to tell stories with my songs.”
Danna Paola is already working on her next album.
“A Un Beso” and the Mau y Ricky collaboration will be a part of Paola’s next album. One of her next dream collaborations is with Puerto Rican rapper Myke Towers. The follow-up to K.O. will be reflective of Paola in this new and exciting era in her music career.
“I’m planning my whole album!” Paola says. “I’m working on that every day. It’s a way to reinvent myself with my music. For me, it’s very important to portray all these new experiences and lessons I’ve learned in this past year on my new album. I want to keep evolving and reinventing myself as an artist.”
