NEW YORK- More than three decades after walking the streets of San Juan together, Ricky Martin and Carlos Vives return to Puerto Rico with a love letter to the island in which their fraternal friendship is evident.
“Canción bonita”, co-written by superstars from Puerto Rico and Colombia with Mauricio Rengifo, Andrés Torres and Rafa Arcaute, debuts on Tuesday at 19:00 in New York with a colorful video filmed between Old San Juan, Piñones (Loíza) and the iconic El Batey bar.
“We’ve known each other since we were little, since we lived in Puerto Rico. I walked those streets in San Juan and left two or three tracks there, I laughed a lot, I drank two or three little rum songs and good things for that. streets, “Martin said enthusiastically in a Zoom interview from his Los Angeles home with Vives connected from Santa Marta, Colombia.
For Vives, who said with a laugh that “Ricky is the culprit of the whole pod”, the collaboration allowed him to pay homage to the land that received him for years as a soap opera actor, where he signed his first recording contract and where he also saw the birth of his two eldest children.
“There is a very beautiful story with San Juan in our life, in our career, so I thank Ricky who wanted to make this song and who gave me the opportunity to give back this commitment, that gratitude to the island, but with San Juan, which is a great city, “he said.
The song combines the characteristic sounds of the bomb and the Plena of Puerto Rico and what Vives described as “our tropical people.”
The video, directed by Carlos Pérez (the same producer of the video “Despacito”), was filmed in February with all the precautions common in these times of coronavirus, and combines beautiful images of children on the beach, drums, music and joy. But this time the streets that were crowded before the pandemic were practically empty.
“We’re talking about very busy streets, not just at parties,” Vives said. “So let’s see ourselves there on those streets as lonely, but we know there are streets full of culture, music, people, history – San Sebastián Street, where El Batey comes out, all those places – it’s curious to be like this And it’s like calling again for all this to happen. It’s like going out and putting the drums on the drums calling so that people can meet again, so that people can dance, so that San Juan can give his all. “.
Vives recalled that before the pandemic, the island went through great vicissitudes, including Hurricane Maria and asked permission to ask Martin a question:
“Ricky, what’s wrong with Puerto Rico, don’t you give up? What do Puerto Rico and its people have in mind that nothing can be said about that joy of living?”
“It’s a mixture of water and rice and beans,” Martin replied, making his friend laugh. “There is an extraordinary danger that in Puerto Rico – look, my family traveled from Stockholm, my husband’s family, and my two sisters-in-law got pregnant! I mean, there’s a magic he has and I don’t know, it’s stupid. “
More seriously, the singer and activist added: “What can I tell you, in Puerto Rico we had our ascents, we had our descents … (But) we must also strengthen ourselves so that people understand that we have an identity. we go out and announce to the world what we are made of and yes, we are Puerto Rico, we are Latin Americans, we have this in our blood and we want to take it to all parts of the world. “
Vives pointed out that everyone has that place they would like to return to and stressed that it is his singing the “Canción bonita” choir: “And if I have to choose, I will stay, I will stay with you / And if I return to San Juan, I’m dying, I’m dying with you. “
Meanwhile, Martin said that “in the same way that Carlos flies with Puerto Rico, I fly with Colombia.”
“It’s about joining forces,” he added. “And at a time as strong as the one we all live in, I think that’s what we want to hear … an optimistic side of life.”
On Thursday, both will present the new song at the 6th annual edition of the Latin American Music Awards, which will be broadcast on Telemundo starting at 19:00 (23:00 GMT).