Billboard’s Griselda Flores and Justino Aguila stopped to chat with Mexican trio Reik on the red carpet at the Billboard Latin Music Awards on Thursday (April 26), discussing new music, upcoming tour plans and their appreciation for Maná.
Asked how the rise of music streaming has impacted their music, band member Julio Ramírez Eguía says that it has been “crazy,” adding that they pay close attention to the charts and what people are listening to most.
Explaining that people seem to be largely listening to urban and pop music these days, he adds that they are trying to make their own sound out of what people are listening to now. “I think you can see that in ‘Me Niego,’” he says. “We’re coming up with a new song in a couple of months that’s so different from ‘Me Niego’ — but still has urban beats, but it has piano, it has guitars… so you’re gonna see a bunch of things in that area that really interest us just because of what people are listening to and our approach to that kind of music.”
The group also discusses plans for live shows, with vocalist Jesús Navarro telling Billboard: “We like to always be playing and we’re gonna be focusing this year especially in the States, and hopefully by the end of the year we’ll be working Europe. And meanwhile, we have a few shows here and there in Mexico and the rest of South America.”
Check out the full video above to hear more from Reik, including their fondest memories of Maná, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award.