If there's one thing that we learned from an exciting Q&A session with Romeo Santos, is that he's rooting for Floyd Mayweather to win the upcoming fight against Manny Pacquiao. We also learned that he panics a lot before he does interviews. Aside those two fun facts, we got to learn a lot about the King of Bachata in an intimate Q&A hosted by Leila Cobo, executive director of Latin content and programming for Billboard, at the 2015 Billboard Latin Music Conference.
Leila Cobo: How do you write your songs?
Romeo Santos: I don’t have a format or formula. I’ve composed my songs in many different ways. For example, I got inspired by watching J.Lo’s movie “Enough" to write a song about domestic violence. So that's when I wrote "Hermanita" with Aventura.
LC: What are your biggest hits?
RS: All the songs that speak about dilemmas are my biggest hits. I like to write about everything, especially love because love is never going to go out of style.
LC: Can you share an early anecdote with us?
RS: At one of our first shows in Dubai, the manager at the facility wanted us to sing “Obsesion” and “La Bamda.” We made the mistake of saying that we knew "La Bamba," because the whole night we sang 45 minutes of those two songs. True story.
LC: When did you know that music was for you?
RS: I went through many stages. When I was around eight, I thought I was awesome at drawing. Everyone in my family draws. One day, my cousin Henry told me, ‘I also draw,' and when he showed me his work I was in shock. At that moment I retired from drawing. I was also good at playing basketball. When I began my music career, I never thought I’d be a singer; in fact, I wanted to compose songs for other bachateros, like Luis Vargas or Anthony Santos. I always felt that I wasn’t a singer, until I joined the church choir. Singing is what I'm best at.
LC: What advice would you have liked to receive when you began your career?
RS: I would’ve loved for someone to tell me ‘don’t do this, don’t do that,’ but I wouldn’t change anything. Musically I wouldn’t change anything, but it was sh*t I wore. I would wear muscle shirts when I had no muscles. Those are the things I would change because it still haunts me today.
LC: What did you do with your first big paycheck?
RS: I got mine at the age of 21. I’ve always been a huge fan of clothes. With my first check I was very dumb, if I got a check of $19,000, I would spend $18,000 in clothes. I did foolish things. However, with one of my first checks, I bought my mom a house. Until this day, she still lives in the same barrio where I was born and raised. I invested in two homes, but she won’t move!
LC: How do you celebrate your success?
RS: Honestly, I just keep working.
Romeo Santos is the most nominated artist at the 2015 Billboard Latin Music Awards with nods in 21 categories. The awards show air April 30th via Telemundo Network.
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