Exclusive: Maluma Talks Sun Collab “Rumba,” Working with The Weeknd, J.Lo And More
Maluma is teaming up with the biggest star in the solar system for his new single “Rumba (Puro Oro Anthem).” As part of an Earth Day campaign with Michelob ULTRA Pure Gold, the Colombian superstar joined forces with the sun. He’s also coming on a decade in the music industry. In an exclusive interview with Latido Music, Maluma talked about the inspiration behind “Rumba” and the hottest collaborations of his career.
“Rumba” is part of Maluma’s campaign with Michelob.
“Collaborating with the sun was great,” Maluma tells mitú. “Maybe I’m the only artist in the world who has the opportunity. It’s a big thing for me. I enjoyed the process. I also enjoyed working with Michelob ULTRA Pure Gold. They love the same things that I love like helping the world. I feel grateful.”
Maluma recorded “Rumba (Puro Oro Anthem)” for Michelob to celebrate the beer brand’s ULTRA Pure Gold lager that’s brewed with 100 percent renewable electricity from the sun. The warm reggaeton track was recorded featuring sounds from the actual sun. Maluma wrote it with Keityn and Edgar Berrera, who also composed “Hawái” with him.
“These two guys are geniuses,” Maluma says. “When we work together we’re a dream team. When this campaign came to the table, I told them that I needed a big song. I recorded it in Turks and Caicos around three weeks ago. The song came out great. I love it.”
This year Maluma will be celebrating 10 years in the music industry.
This year, Maluma will be celebrating a decade in the industry since the release of his debut single “Farandulera.” After dropping his breakthrough album Pretty Boy, Dirty Boy in Oct. 2015, Maluma is one of the artists that helped globalize Latin music. He’s happy to be a part of the movement, but he also recognizes the stars that came before him.
“It’s not like we started this year or last year,” Maluma says. “This has been work that started with Ricky Martin’s ‘Livin’ La Vida Loca’ and Shakira like 15 or 20 years ago. I feel like I’m part of it. I feel proud of it. I feel like we still need to do more things, more big things.”
Next up, Maluma’s fans can see him on tour this fall.
As for what’s next, the “Rumba” music video will be released on Earth Day, April 22. Maluma is also hitting the road this fall for his Papi Juancho Tour in the U.S. The tour kicks off in September and runs through late October.
“Coming back to the stage is something that I really need,” Maluma says. “I miss being with my fans. I miss hugging them. I miss going on tour. I miss the whole lifestyle. I can’t wait to see you guys on tour and sing of course for the first time all my new songs that I released this year.”
Since Maluma is also celebrating 10 years in the industry, we had him break down some of the biggest collaborations in his career.
Jennifer Lopez
Maluma will make his big-screen debut in Marry Me with Jennifer Lopez in Feb. 2022. The movie was pushed back to that date due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The two singers also collaborated on songs for Marry Me like “Pa’ Ti” and “Lonely.”
“I always wanted to work on a big project,” Maluma says. “In a big movie. I had a couple of opportunities to work on other things, but I said ‘no’ because I was waiting for this big moment. Thanks to Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson and the whole team to make me part of the movie. I have a lot of beautiful moments. She’s great. She’s such a master for me. She taught me many things when we were working together. I would say from the beginning to the end, the whole experience was great.”
The Weeknd
Maluma teamed up with Canadian superstar The Weeknd for a Spanglish remix of “Hawái.” They pushed the song to No. 12 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart. Maluma helped The Weeknd with his Spanish in the remix.
“At the beginning, the first vocals he recorded, I had to tell him to change a little bit,” Maluma says. “The ‘Instagram’ part because he was saying it in the wrong way, like pretty bad Spanish. I sent him the vocals, like the way he had to say it, and then he changed it. He’s great. He’s super talented.”
Ziggy Marley
For his latest album 7 Días En Jamaica (#7DJ), Maluma teamed up with Jamaican star Ziggy Marley for the song “Tonika.” He performed the song for the first time with Bob Marley’s son at the Latin American Music Awards last week.
“That was great working with Ziggy,” Maluma says. “He’s one of my favorite artists too. I always wanted to work with him because I’m a huge fan of Bob Marley. It’s one of the best things I could’ve done in the album. He put the Marley DNA in my project and that was great.”
Shakira
Maluma and Colombian icon Shakira have teamed up on a number of collaborations, including the hit singles “Chantaje” and “Clandestino.” They also worked together on “Trap,” another cut from Shakira’s El Dorado album.
“I love working with Shakira, but I have to be honest, it’s not easy because she loves everything to be on-point,” Maluma says. “She’s super strict with everything that she does. I would love to work with her again. She’s a master for me too. She’s one of the first big stars that helped me and wanted to work with me. I’m forever grateful to her for giving me the chance to work with such a big artist.”
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