Feid’s music is steeped in his Colombian identification, however on one among reggaeton’s most essential levels, he received Puerto Rico over.

@Sismatyc

conceal caption

toggle caption

@Sismatyc

Feid’s music is steeped in his Colombian identification, however on one among reggaeton’s most essential levels, he received Puerto Rico over.

@Sismatyc

This summer season, the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot (aka El Choliseo) in San Juan grew to become saturated with neon inexperienced outfits, posters and lights. The brilliant hue signaled two headlining reveals by Colombian artist Feid, who grew to become the primary artist in historical past to promote out the venue in an hour or much less.

On an island that is birthed artists like Daddy Yankee and Dangerous Bunny — the place reggaeton is a whole tradition, not only a style of music — Feid does not take that accomplishment flippantly.

“For them, reggaeton just isn’t pop music. It is music from the streets, music from individuals who run the streets for actual,” he says of the Puerto Rican followers. “Como que no puedes inventar allá nada. You can’t be a poser there; it’s important to be so actual with folks, and [either] they join with you or not.”

Feid’s music is steeped in his identification, usually referencing his hometown of Medellín, its colloquialisms and the vivid inexperienced shade of town’s mountains and soccer jerseys in his imagery. And on one of many style’s most important levels, he received the Puerto Rican crowd over.

“There’s a complete lot of controversy about how some artists who will not be from Puerto Rico are appropriating our slang,” says native music journalist Juan R. Arroyo, who reviewed Feid’s Choliseo efficiency for Rolling Stone. “He is somebody who stays true to his vocabulary from the place he is from, however on the identical time, when and if he namedrops something from [Puerto Rico] or makes use of a phrase from [Puerto Rico], it is coming from a spot of respect the place he did the homework and did the due diligence.”

Arroyo partially credit that cultural understanding for Feid’s quick rising recognition. In two years, he notes, the reggaetonero went from opening for Karol G on the Choliseo to breaking a brand new document within the venue’s historical past. However this pop breakthrough — which incorporates nominations in 5 Latin Grammy classes this yr, a brand new album and a collaboration with Dangerous Bunny — did not come out of the blue; it has been almost a decade within the making.

Feid began off writing and producing for different artists, working with stars like J Balvin, Nicky Jam and, most lately, Christina Aguilera behind the scenes. “Lots of people know me as a songwriter, nevertheless it wasn’t my motivation,” he says. “It isn’t like I used to be a songwriter and now I am an artist. I used to be an artist that needed to be a songwriter.”

He started releasing his personal music in 2014, nevertheless it took a number of years and albums to essentially discover his footing as a solo artist. He hunkered down on making sentimental songs for the membership, usually that includes a slicker pop polish than the lure pushed perreo emanating from the Caribbean. He additionally developed a signature look along with his alter ego, El Ferxxo: a bleached mullet, wraparound Oakley sun shades and outsized suits with a pop of that ever current Medallo greenery.

“Once I was attempting to be extra myself, it was when folks related with me extra,” he says.

Final yr, he rushed to formally launch his album Feliz Cumpleaños Ferxxo:Te Pirateamos el Álbum forward of schedule after it was leaked unexpectedly, which he alluded to within the title and on the quilt. Regardless of the less-than-ideal timing, the document earned Feid his first High 10 on the Latin Albums Billboard chart, peaking at No. 6, and led to an immediately sold-out tour throughout the U.S.

This time on his personal phrases, Feid dropped his sixth studio album on Sept. 29. MOR, No Le Temas a La Oscuridad, which interprets to Love, Do not Be Afraid of the Darkish, has been his greatest document so far, reaching No. 4 on Billboard’s High Latin Albums chart. He says the title is an ode to the perseverance that led to his success.

“Most individuals simply began listening to about me two years again, one yr again, perhaps this yr,” he says. “So for me, I used to be at all times shining in all that darkness.”

Sonically, the album is his most expansive but. It traces reggaeton’s historical past again to dancehall, that includes the legendary Sean Paul waxing poetic in Spanish on “Niña Bonita,” then traverses into tropical Afrobeats with an help from Nigerian singer Rema on “Bubalu.”

“He is singing in Spanish como si fuera una persona de Medallo, singing with slang, with acento, with all the things,” Feid says, beaming with delight.

“Luces de Tecno” brings renewed EDM power to the second half of the album, whereas the rock-infused “Privilegios,” alongside the band Cupido, lets Feid’s vocals carry the album to an in depth. Although his roots lay in reggaeton, Feid says he is excited to push the boundaries and geography of the style. He is additionally the one non-Puerto Rican artist with a function on Dangerous Bunny’s record-breaking new album, Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va A Pasar Mañana, on a music that pays homage to one among Medellín’s hottest golf equipment, Perro Negro.

“I at all times felt like, como que el embajador de Medallo in a sure approach as a result of I wasn’t afraid to say I am from Colombia, I eat arepa con chorizo, I eat chicharron con frijoles,” says Feid.

Though he is a part of an even bigger legacy of artists from the Colombian metropolis, together with collaborators Maluma, Karol G, J Balvin and Sebastian Yatra, Feid leans into the paisa swagger to anchor his sound and persona in an authentically singular approach.