Latinx producer and singer Velo is ready to snag your attention with a double feature. On Friday (Jan. 18), the star is premiering two new music videos with Billboard Pride: one for “Solamente,” featuring Pablo Hernandez, and another starring RuPaul’s Drag Race alumna Manila Luzon titled “She.”
“She” shows Velo and Luzon clad in stylish outfits and futuristic visors, dancing and singing their way through a black-and-white landscape, singing and rapping about their endless confidence. That was the exact vibe Velo says he was going for when writing this song. “When writing my track ‘She,’ I thought about who Manila was and what she represented,” he tells Billboard. “To me, Manila embodies what the song resembles: a fearlessness that’s innate, confidence that’s addictive, and a fine line between camp and commercial.”
The producer added that after knowing and working with Luzon for a number of years, he has a great deal of respect for the queen. “I admire Manila. I’ve known him for about five years now and I’ve gotten to see him grow as an artist and it’s been super inspiring,” he says. “Manila Luzon is a professional 100 percent, he’s prepared, knows exactly what he likes and doesn’t like. This made working with him on this album so effortless.”
Velo’s other video, “Solamente,” reflects the bilingual nature of his most recent album, Outcast, as it is sung entirely in Spanish. Velo says that with the rise of Latin music in pop culture, he felt a desire to bring that same sensibility to queer circles. “I think Latin music with the recent years has taken a front-runner position in entertainment and I think this should bleed into the gay/queer Latin artist pool as well.”
Check out the videos for “She” and “Solamente” below: