Farruko is the first to admit that he’s been on a journey the last couple of years. “I think it’s not a secret that I had a really successful career with a lot of global hits… But what can I say? I think I forgot about myself as a human being to get to a certain position, so I stopped for some time to reflect and find myself and become more open to my own spirituality.”
For fans who have been following along, Farruko shared a glimpse of what he was going through during a show at Miami’s FTX Arena back in February 2022. After avoiding singing the lyrics to some of his biggest, most debaucherous songs — including the party-starting, pill-happy anthem “Pepas”— the Puerto Rican singer left the stage briefly. When he came back, he launched into a long sermon about how he was giving up secular music and dedicating his life to God. Fans had mixed reactions.
“It’s been a challenge,” Farruko admits. “With a lot of people, if you talk about spirituality or your beliefs and you say it publicly, people back away. And it’s not a mystery that I’ve paid a high price for it — I’ve felt in in losing fans, in losing views, in the professional side of being an artist, I’ve felt that impact. I had people used to a recipe that was working. And to suddenly change it and said ‘Hey, I don’t want to do this, now I want to go this way,’ it’s shocking.”
Despite the difficulty, Farruko has worked through more of the complexities of his transformation, channeling a lot of energy into new music. This month, he’s released Carbvn Vrmor, his first album in three years, full of songs that trace his whole experience. While some people may have expected a Christian album, the music here strikes a balance between commerciality and spirituality. Meanwhile, Farruko balances message of empowerment and positivity without being outright religious. “I don’t regret anything and I’m enjoying the process, and I’m enjoying the music I’m making. I think people decide if they like it or not, but I want to be remembered a someone who expresses their real feelings.”
“Blessings”
The idea of this album revolves around a soldier in the future, fighting his own battles, and eventually he meets me, Farruko. The first part of the project is the solider explaining his side, and the second side is more about Farruko. I experimented with different genres; I don’t like just doing one thing. I watched out for things like crass language and the themes were really personal and intimate to me. This talks about a moment where you feel like you’re not worth anything, but then you look back at everything you’ve been through and you’re like, “No, I’ve been blessed.” It’s a track that hits me personally the most.
This album represents the struggles we all face as humans. Nowadays, we live in a society where people don’t like to show their vulnerabilities or what it’s like to be human. In the industry, you’re required to put on this persona that gives people what they want, and people forget you’re a real person who feels and suffers. So, to have that courage to express myself honesty and to bare myself in front of people has been a big deal.
“Mazacote”
Throughout the album, I sampled a lot of old songs and classics that meant something to me. “Mazacote” was one of the best examples of that: This song features a sample from Big Pun’s “Still Not A Player,” but we also sampled voices from Tego Calderon’s Métele Sazón” and a lot of ad libs from old-school reggaeton classics, like Don Chezina’s “Tra” and Don Omar’s live shows. We pulled from decades of that history. The song talks about reggaeton culture and our culture as boricuas. It also features Ñengo Flow, a Puerto Rican brother who I respect and who also, on personal level, is one of my close friends.
“Amen”
Dalex is on this track. He actually helped write some of “Blessings,” too. I typically try to collaborate with artists I really feel fit the vibe of the song. A long time ago, I stopped doing collaborations that feel forced—like stuff out of business interests, stuff that’s mutually beneficial, or because someone is trending. I’m realizing that things always work better if both artists really like the song they’re working on. Nowadays, the industry is so fast-paced and everyone’s schedule is really packed, and sometimes you collaborate with someone who is going through a big moment and they actually don’t have time to promote the track, which affects the collaboration, if they’re not really feeling it or if they just did it for business. So you don’t even get to enjoy the creative process, and I like to share a lot with people I collaborate with — I like us to both spend time in the studio and to work together.
I have a lot of artists on this album who added a lot of the album, including Dalex. He’s like my brother. This is an album where, like Bad Bunny says, I did whatever I wanted and just let things flow.
“Sahara”
I met her through my good friend Omar Montes, who is also doing amazing things with flamenco and urban sounds. And he introduced me to her and he said, “Honestly, this is one of the most talented artists in flamenco right now.” I told her that I was working on this song called “Sahara” with Arab and Moorish influences, which Spain has a lot of, and I said I wanted something that would convey that style. I want people to feel like they were in the desert, and she totally brought that to the table. I ended up loving that song so much because of what she did.
“Esta Vida”
Sony Music invited me to a writing camp for Marshmello. I completely love electronic music — I think people saw that on my track “Pepas,” which is made for the club. So when I went in, I wanted to bring a track that was very real but still had a certain energy for the dancefloor. This song talks about fame and how when people love you, they love you — but how when you’re out of the spotlight, they forget about you. And it talks about not pleasing everyone. The fact that we got that message across through this mix of EDM, house, and reggaeton almost felt magic to me because electronic music is something that helps people get lost in the frequencies and the vibe. So I thought it would be cool to combine something with a crazy BMP that would accelerate people’s hearts, but also speak to them, too.
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