Luis Fonsi caught up with Billboard’s Chelsea Briggs on the red carpet at the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday (May 20) to discuss his nominations and early wins, the success of “Despacito” and to hint at a new collaboration that will be dropping very soon.
Fonsi, who has been nominated for seven BBMAs and has already won three tonight, tells Billboard, “It makes me super nervous. You never know how people are gonna react, so to know that, to walk in here to the red carpet and know that we got three in the bag is like phew! I’m not gonna strike out…We’re super happy, it’s been an amazing year. Very grateful for all the support, everybody just kind of connected to the song and I’m just happy to celebrate it with everybody today.”
The singer also discusses the success of “Despacito,” saying that it is a “great feeling” to see Latin music becoming more popular. “I can’t sit here and take credit for being the forefront of Latin music,” he states.
“I’m a small part of it. I think there’s a lot of people who we have to thank, but I just love the fact that people are embracing Latin music and they’re a little bit more open-minded into trying to learn a song that’s in a different language and at the end of the day, it’s all about music and getting people to move and to dance, have a good time, so I‘m really grateful.”
He also hints at a new musical collaboration which will be coming out in three weeks, revealing that it is “something a little different, but it’s very kind of islandy. I hope you guys like it…it’s like a British Jamaican artist, that’s all I’m gonna say!”
Check out the full video above to hear much more from Luis Fonsi, including what the key to writing a successful song is and what the best compliment he has ever received about “Despacito” has been.
