“Slow”a song by Luis Fonsi in collaboration with Papa Yankee, was first released in 2017 and became a global hit. The theme achieved excellent commercial performance, reaching number 1 in more than 80 countries and being the most viewed song on YouTube at the time.
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Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s song became the musical hit of the moment: “Step by step, soft, soft, we stick together little by little, if you kiss me with this skill I see that you are malice with tenderness”. was heard at parties, clubs, bars and everywhere.
The English version starring Justin Bieber also reached number one on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. The song also won four 2017 Latin Grammy Awards for Best Song, Best Recording, Best Fusion/Urban Performance, and Best Short Form Music Video. But how was “Despacito” born? Luis Fonsi and Papa Yankee tell us the story behind this worldwide success.
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The video for “Despacito,” directed by Elastic People Creative Director Carlos Pérez, was shot in December 2016 in Puerto Rico (Photo: Universal Music Latino)THE STORY BEHIND “DESPACITO”
In an interview with Billboard, Luis Fonsi opened up about how “Despacito” was born. The Puerto Rican singer said he woke up with “Des-Pa-Ci-to” in his head.
“It was so loud and clear that I had to investigate if it wasn’t already a song I might have heard before. Then I ran to my home studio, turned it on, grabbed my guitar and started recording. I wanted to make sure I didn’t forget it because I felt there was something interesting about its simplicity. I had the main choir project before my morning coffee,” he recalls.
That afternoon, Luis Fonsi had scheduled a writing session with his friend and Panamanian singer-songwriter Erika Ender. When she walked in, the artist sang her the idea for the chorus and she got it right away. So Fonsi knew he had his next musical success ahead of him.
97 days after its launch on YouTube, the video for “Despacito” has surpassed one billion views (Photo: Universal Music Latino)“I went to his place in Miami around 2pm, we had a little coffee, then we went to his studio and he said to me, ‘Since this morning I’ve been thinking about writing a song called ‘Despacito.’ He sang me the first and second lines: “Let’s do it on a beach in Puerto Rico.” And I said, “Till the waves cry out, oh blessed,” composer Erika Ender said of that day.
When Mauricio Rengifo first heard the demo he liked it, but there was no reggaeton in it. “But he had ‘Despacito,’ which is a great goal and a fantastic idea,” the co-producer told Billboard magazine.
“It took a long time to complete, not because it took a long time to write, but because of the bureaucracy involved: who would show up, when would they record, there was a lot of trial and error. But that’s one of the virtues of the song. We had time to work on it,” he added of the production process of the musical theme.
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“Despacito” came into the hands of Daddy Yankee
Luis Fonsi revealed that he originally asked Nicky Jam to record “Despacito,” and he did. But there was a conflict with releasing his own album, so Nicky Fonsi suggested he call Daddy Yankee.
So Fonsi emailed Daddy Yankee and wrote, “I have this crazy song.” While Yankee realized that the song was missing something for it to be the success it later became.
“I came into the studio and did my thing: the verse and the pre-hook, ‘Pasito a pasito’, that was my creation. The ending of the song was also very different. I told Fonsi that we had to repeat “Pasito a Pasito” after the bridge. It gave me a lot of freedom,” Daddy Yankee told Billboard.
This is how Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee eventually worked together until “Despacito” was released on January 12, 2017 through the Universal Music Latino label. The issue became a worldwide phenomenon, generating millions of dollars in commercial profits.
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