Dopamina

Days away from turning 21, Manuel Turizo has the résumé of a reggaetón veteran. After the romantic rapture of 2019’s ADN and an unbeatable run of collaborations in the last couple of years, his second album, the explosive Dopamina, sounds like the beginning of a new era. “I don’t like doing the same thing over and over,” the Colombian singer and songwriter tells Apple Music. “I like experimenting, learning and trying to do new things, and this is an album where I freed myself completely.” His newfound freedom becomes evident in songs like “Caliente”, a collaboration with will.i.am and El Alfa that takes Turizo’s sound to the Caribbean with visionary boldness. Elsewhere, there are love letters, wronged lovers and plenty of party invitations. “People pigeonhole you really quick,” says Turizo. “I’m a singer. I’m not a pop artist, a balladeer or a reggaetonero. I sing what I feel, and I don’t care what it is.” Here he talks through each of the stories behind Dopamina. “Tiempo” “This is a song about loneliness. It’s about a guy who is still waiting for the woman he loves, but she’s with someone else. It deals with heartbreak in the first person. In this music, men hardly ever talk about being dumped; they’re always alpha males leaving women behind. I wanted to change that.” “Caliente” (feat. will.i.am & El Alfa) “This is a whole new trip, completely different from anything else. I think the three of us are very unique artists, but we managed to create an authentic combination. The idea was to use this opportunity to make something that no one was expecting. I wrote the song with [his brother, songwriter and collaborator] Julián Turizo and [Colombian producer] Sky, and then we presented it to El Alfa and Will. We knew we had something really fresh and we needed artists that would bring their own identities to the mix. They both killed it.” “Mala Costumbre” (feat. Wisin & Yandel) “I’ve been a huge Wisin & Yandel fan since I was a little kid. As soon as we wrote the song