201

“At the beginning of my career, I was focused on absorbing everything as quickly as possible,” Manuel Turizo tells Apple Music. “However, after seven or eight years of making music, now I’m focused on enjoying it and living it.” Only a year and a few months after 2000, one of his most diverse albums, Turizo presents 201, which goes even further. The Colombian star draws from rock, vallenato, country and other genres, and connects with his musical roots while maintaining his mischievous vibe. “I like different types of music, because I have listened to them all my life,” he says. “Where I’m from, we do not listen to just one genre.” Below, Turizo tells the stories behind a few highlights from his fourth studio album. “Sigueme Besando Así” “This is a romantic song. Usually, when I am writing, the theme is not very clear to me. Sometimes, when you set out to define it, you sit down and simply write as you would a letter. It comes out in prose. You talk about a theme, but, in reality, each song is relative and unique. Often, you have no idea what you’re going to talk about. You spend your time thinking about it over and over. On certain occasions, I want to express affection or love and, on others, I want to express anger. Each song conveys very different things.” “La Ex de mi Amigo” “I remember the day when we recorded this song. Truth be told, it was very normal, nothing special. We went to the studio just to make music. One afternoon, we were composing, talking about what to write, and Kevin Cruz said, ‘What would happen if we made a song about you liking a friend’s ex?’ I feel this is the melody that most represents where I am from, Montería, on Colombia’s coast. This is Colombian folklore. Vallenato is from Valledupar, but we are greatly influenced by the sound of the entire coast. I did this track with Elder Dayán Díaz, an incredible person who is also part of one of the most important vallenato legacies nowadays. His father is Diomedes Díaz, the biggest star th