Earlier this week, Steve Aoki, Daddy Yankee, Play-N-Skillz and Elvis Crespo dropped the music video for their new collaborative track “Azukita,” which is Aoki’s first-ever Spanish song. Billboard caught up with Aoki, Yankee, Crespo and Play-N-Skillz to chat about the song, how it came together, and how they meshed the two genres of EDM and Latin music together.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Aoki, who describes the song as being “about merging [the] cultures together,” says that when they performed the song at Ultra Music Festival, there was an “amazing moment” when everyone in the crowd was dancing and holding up “Azukita” signs that he thought, “we’re really bringing the world together.”
“It doesn’t matter what language it is,” adds Yankee. “And I’m proud that it’s in Spanish…it doesn’t matter the language, you know? It’s about making the right music for the entire world and I’ve always had a global vision about music and teaming up with Steve Aoki. He always has the same mentality to work for the world and I think that’s the right mentality to create music [in].”
As for mixing the two genres of EDM and Latin, the song’s co-producers Play-N-Skillz explain that when they first got involved with the project, there were vocals laid on the track, but the original version was “very bare.”
Related
“It was almost just kick snare, chord progression,” they tell Billboard, “but then we got into it and Steve sent something back that was a little more EDM and I said, ‘Steve, we gotta put some Latino…we gotta fuse both worlds.’ And that was the challenge of the production on it.”
Aoki adds that being an EDM DJ, he is accustomed to traveling the world and performing in non English-speaking countries while still being able to connect with the audience through music. “That’s the similarity between EDM and Latin music now,” he says, “is that it is completely universal.”
Crespo also expresses his gratitude for getting to work on the song with its star-studded groups, sharing: “I feel very grateful and thank God for this opportunity to be able to join these very accomplished artists. They’re hardworking, creative geniuses who considered me. I have like 30 years of music career and I am here right now.”
You can watch the full video interview with Steve Aoki, Daddy Yankee, Play-N-Skillz and Elvis Crespo above.