“In the Heights” star Anthony Ramos is aiming for pop stardom with his new album Love And Lies. The R&B crooner turns up the heat with the sexy LP that explores more genres like pop and Latin music influences. In an interview with Latido Music, Ramos talked about going from Broadway musicals to pop music, the inspiration for his new album, and starring in the next “Transformers” movie.

Anthony Ramos is going from Broadway lead to pop star.

Ramos got his start in Broadway thanks to Lin-Manuel Miranda, who cast in the touring productions of In the Heights and later Hamilton. This month marked Ramos’ first leading role in a major film when In the Height was adapted for the big screen. Now he’s taking those experiences and applying them to his second album Love And Lies.

“Pop and music writing R&B, that’s sort of formulaically different than writing musical theater songs, but there’s still that storytelling aspect of it that I take from doing musicals for sure,” Ramos tells mitú.

Anthony Ramos’ “In The Heights” co-star Melissa Barrera appears in his “Say Less” video.

In a lead up to Love And Lies, Ramos teamed up with his “In the Heights” co-star Melissa Barrera for the music video “Say Less.” The Nuyorican actor and Mexican actress share some cozy moments in the hot-and-heavy visual.

“Melissa and I have been friends,” Ramos says. “We’ve been close since we finished shooting the movie. We shot the video and she was an amazing spirit to have on-set. It was great and she killed it.”

Anthony Ramos is turning up the heat on his music career with Love And Lies.

The “Say Less” video set the tone for how sexy the of the Love and Lies album is. In his new music video for “Lose My Mind,” Ramos is feeling himself while shirtless. In the eighties-inspired pop track, he sings, “I lose my f*cking mind when you take off your clothes.” That’s only the tip of the sexual iceberg.

“I wanted to embrace that sexy side,” Ramos says. “That sexual side. That was the goal with the album. Also, the side of me that likes a good party. I want this album to make people feel good or want to feel good. Like call up somebody and be like, ‘Let’s go! Let’s get it in! Let’s have a night!’ That’s what I want people to feel, especially after the almost two years of the lock down we went through together and we couldn’t see each other. I think people want to connect now more than ever.”

Anthony Ramos is in his boy band bag in “Nobody Else.”

There’s a lot of different vibes on the album. “Blessings” is a reggaeton-influenced song that’s in English. The song that stands out the most is “Nobody Else,” where Ramos channels Max Martin’s 2000s bangers for the boy bands like *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys.

“I wanted to capture that rhythm and those really sharp melodies,” Ramos says. “I love that kind of music, especially from the 200os. This album is a culmination of music that I’ve been inspired by forever. I wanted to make an album full of music that I have loved.”

Anthony Ramos is currently filming the new “Transformers” movie.

Next up, Ramos is set to star in “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.” Afro-Latinx director Steven Caple Jr. is taking the reins of the franchise with people of color in the lead roles. African-American actress Dominique Fishback is co-starring in the movie alongside Ramos.

“[Dominique] is incredible!” Ramos gushes. “She’s an amazing actor and she’s also from Brooklyn. We’ve been friends for years and now I’m excited to tell this story in this way because it’s never been told like this.”

With the movie set to be released in June 2022, Ramos can’t say too much about it yet. However, he promises there will be plenty of action with the Maximals, Predacons, and Terrorcons in the mix.

“We got some crazy stuff in story for y’all,” he says. “The battle at the end of this movie is one of the most epic things I’ve ever read on a script. This has never happened before.”

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Read: Anthony Ramos Was Pressured To Appear Less Latino and More ‘Ethnically Ambiguous’ Early In His Career