During day three of Billboard Latin Music Week, current cover star Maluma celebrated the occasion with a Superstar Q&A, hosted by Billboard Español deputy editor Sigal Ratner-Arias.
Dressed up in a brown suit and loafers, the artist-turned-businessman spoke of his newly launched label Royalty Records, which has signed its first two artists, in addition to other ventures. Meanwhile, he reveals he already has at least 50 songs for his upcoming album, which he plans to make his best yet.
His best advice for doing so much at once was simple: “Everything in life, you need to have enthusiasm and love.”
He spoke of the importance of launching the label in his country of Colombia, as well as how he scored the label’s first two artists: Abril and Paulina B. As he tells it, both artists caught his heart, with Maluma admitting with a smile, “It’s easy for me to fall in love.”
Below are the five best takeaways from his conversation.
Act on your dreams: “I have achieved a lot with my musical career but now I am building the first steps of an empire… I have always dreamed of helping other artists. If I saw an artist that I liked, I would say, ‘Come, let’s do this together.’ I realized there was a way to commercialize this. I met with my manager and attorney and said, ‘I need some guidance.’ It is very easy to dream and say you want to do so many things but if you don’t know how to do them, it won’t be successful.”
Find yourself first: “We all have some reference when you start a career. For me it was Jutin Timberlake or Marc Anthony, and I’d say, ‘One day I want to sing like them.’ You always feel like you have those benchmarks but it is better to find yourself, your own style. And also, I always say that 80% [of a career] in music is discipline and 20% is talent — and that’s what helped me. That’s what I’m looking for, that [artists I sign] feel happy and free.”
Live for yourself: “Marc Anthony has been a blessing in my life because he gave me advice in the beginning, and that was not happening [otherwise]. When he told me you have to be a little bit selfish sometimes — live your own happiness and your calm — I remember I was doing everything for everyone else and I was tired. When Marc told me, ‘Hey there’s no formula, you just need to be yourself.’ That’s when I was able to do what I wanted to do.”
Put your family first: “I am lucky that in addition to working with me [my dad] is my best friend. In this industry you see that when you start working with your family, well, there are some conflicts of interest and in some ways the relationships have some damage. When I finished my first concert with my first manager, I had no idea about the numbers and then he gave me everything so I could manage it myself and I said, ‘I only know how to sing and make sandwiches.’ And then I told my father, ‘I need you.’ That’s the moment when we started this financial journey together. I said, ‘If you’re going to take care of my business, our relationship as father and son will be affected.’ We had that talk. Now, my father is the CEO and president of my company and everything has been very good so far.”
Let your dreams evolve: “As I grow, my priorities change, and my dreams change a little as well. My first dream will always be music, I’ll never stop doing music until the day I die. But I also felt I should explore other paths, and that’s when we started our first business and that’s the [Royalty by Maluma] collaboration with Macy’s. Also my perfume, and the important business of my mezcal. I believe everything is a matter of being disciplined and organized. I try to meditate [in the morning], have an hour of focusing and planning my day. But it was not like that before, I was in the studio until 4 in the morning and wanting to tour all the time. Now it’s different. I have my routine, my office and I love it. But I always say the music always calls me… going on tour and singing to people is the best thing in the world.”