How Farruko Balanced Spirituality and Dance Music on “Carbvn Vrmor”

Farruko is the first to admit he’s been on a journey in recent years. “I think it’s no secret that I’ve had a really successful career with a lot of global success… But what can I say? I think I forgot myself as a human being to get to a certain position, so I stopped for a while to reflect, find myself and open up more to my own spirituality.

For fans who followed, Farruko shared a glimpse of what he was going through during a show at Miami’s FTX Arena in February 2022. After avoiding singing the lyrics to some of his biggest and most popular songs, more debauched – including the one that opens the party, the anthem “Pepas” – the Puerto Rican singer briefly left the stage. When he returned, he launched into a long sermon about how he was abandoning secular music and devoting his life to God. Fans had mixed reactions.

“It’s been a challenge,” Farruko admits. “For a lot of people, if you talk about spirituality or your beliefs and you say it publicly, people back off. And it’s no mystery that I paid a high price for it – I felt the loss of fans, the loss of views, the professional side of an artist, I felt that impact. I had people accustomed to a recipe that worked. And suddenly to change that and say, “Hey, I don’t want to do this, now I want to go this route,” it’s shocking.

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Despite the difficulty, Farruko overcame more of the complexities of her transformation, channeling a lot of energy into new music. This month he is released Carbvn Vrmor, his first album in three years, full of songs that retrace his entire experience. Although some expected a Christian album, the music here strikes a balance between commerciality and spirituality. Meanwhile, Farruko balances the message of empowerment and positivity without being purely religious. “I have no regrets and I enjoy the process, as well as the music I make. I think people decide whether they like it or not, but I want to be remembered for someone who expressed their true feelings.

“Blessings”

The idea of ​​this album revolves around a soldier from the future, fighting his own battles, and eventually he meets me, Farruko. The first part of the project is the soldier explaining his side, and the second part is more about Farruko. I experimented with different genres; I don’t like doing just one thing. I was careful about things like strong language and the themes were really personal and intimate to me. It’s about a time when you feel like you’re worthless, but then you look back on everything you’ve been through and you’re like, “No, I’ve been blessed.” » This is a piece that strikes me personally the most.

This album represents the struggles we all face as humans. Nowadays we live in a society where people don’t like to show their vulnerabilities or what it means to be human. In the industry, you have to put on this persona that gives people what they want, and people forget that you’re a real person who feels and suffers. So having the courage to express my honesty and lay myself bare in front of people was a big deal.

“Mazacote»

Throughout the album I sampled a lot of old songs and classics that were important to me. “Mazacote” is one of the best examples: this song contains a sample of “Still Not A Player” by Big Pun, but we also sampled vocals from Métele Sazón de Tego Calderon” and numerous ad libs from classics of the old-style reggaeton. , like “Tra” by Don Chezina and the concerts of Don Omar. We have drawn on decades of this history. The song talks about reggaeton culture and our culture of boricuas. It also features Ñengo Flow, a Puerto Rican brother who I respect and who, on a personal level, is also a close friend of mine.

“Amen”

Dalex is on this track. He also helped write some of the “Blessings.” I usually try to collaborate with artists that I think really fit the mood of the song. A long time ago, I stopped doing collaborations that seemed forced, like things related to commercial interests, things that were mutually beneficial, or because someone is trendy. I realize that things always work better if both artists really like the song they’re working on. Nowadays the pace of the industry is very fast and everyone’s schedule is very busy, and sometimes you collaborate with someone who is going through a big moment and doesn’t have time to promote the track , which affects collaboration, if it does. I don’t really feel it or they just did it for business. So you don’t even enjoy the creative process, and I like to share a lot of things with the people I collaborate with – I like that we both spend time in the studio and work together.

I have a lot of artists on this album who added a lot of the album, including Dalex. He is like my brother. It’s an album where, as Bad Bunny says, I did what I wanted and let things flow.

“Sahara”

I met her through my good friend Omar Montes, who is also doing amazing things with flamenco and urban sounds. And he introduced him to me and he said, “Honestly, he’s one of the most talented artists in flamenco right now.” » I told him that I was working on this song called “Sahara” with Arabic and Moorish influences, which Spain has a lot of, and I told him that I wanted something that conveyed that style. I want people to feel like they’re in the desert, and she totally brought that to the table. I ended up loving this song so much because of what it did.

“This life”

Sony Music invited me to a Marshmello writing camp. I love electronic music – I think people saw that in my track “Pepas”, which is made for the club. So when I came in, I wanted to bring a song that was very real but still had a certain energy for the dancefloor. This song is about fame and how when people love you, they love you, but when you’re not in the spotlight, they forget about you. And we talk about not pleasing everyone. The fact that we got this message across through this mix of EDM, house and reggaeton almost seemed magical to me because electronic music is something that helps people get lost in the frequencies and the vibe . So I thought it would be cool to combine something with a crazy BMP that would make people’s hearts race, but also talk to them.

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