00:00 It was interesting, I kinda showed up to Miami
00:03 to write this album and I was like,
00:04 I don't really have anything prepared.
00:06 (laughing)
00:07 I was like, part of my job, my main job
00:09 is on the spot creation.
00:11 - Yeah. - Just making it,
00:12 you know what I mean, making it work.
00:13 Yo, what's up, it's Marshmello and this is Billboard News.
00:16 (upbeat music)
00:19 - Hey, I'm Lindsay Haven for Billboard News
00:28 and I'm here with the chart-topping DJ, producer,
00:30 songwriter, Marshmello.
00:32 - What's going on? - What is up, man?
00:33 - Chillin'.
00:34 (upbeat music)
00:37 - You are no stranger to our charts.
00:51 We have a lot of firsts to talk about with you right now.
00:54 You have a major label, debut album coming out,
00:56 Sugar Poppy, first Latin album, first proper album,
01:00 artist on every song. - First album,
01:02 like major label album.
01:05 - Tell us a bit about the how and when the idea
01:08 for this album even came about.
01:10 - I've always been eager to kind of make a body of work.
01:13 Wasn't sure when the right time was.
01:16 Sony Latin reached out to me and was like,
01:18 hey, would you like to do a Latin album?
01:21 And I'd always wanted to tap into the Latin music
01:25 and it just seemed like a perfect time
01:27 to first knock out the album that I've always wanted to do.
01:30 And Latin and everybody was so cool and so nice,
01:33 it was a no-brainer.
01:34 (upbeat music)
01:36 - Did you ever think that Latin would be your first album?
01:43 - No.
01:44 Even though I wasn't putting out Latin songs,
01:46 just over the years, I just befriended so many people,
01:49 so many Latin artists.
01:51 I knew it would happen, I just wasn't sure when.
01:52 And it was just kind of sent by the universe.
01:55 - Yeah, I mean, what conversations did you have
01:56 with Sony Latin about the appetite for this right now?
01:59 - I wasn't just gonna go and make this huge,
02:03 every biggest artist in the world on an album.
02:06 I was just gonna work with artists that I vibe with
02:08 and that I just genuinely like their music.
02:11 And so I think you'll see on the track list
02:13 and who I worked with, it'll be like, oh, okay,
02:15 just a good vibe.
02:17 (upbeat music)
02:19 - Correct me if I'm wrong, I think we're working
02:24 on this in Miami with meeting all of these artists
02:26 for the first time in the studio.
02:28 What was the vibe check?
02:29 - It was interesting.
02:30 I kind of showed up to Miami to write this album
02:33 and pretty much had to make everything from scratch.
02:37 It's like 10 days, 11 days, made this whole album.
02:39 - Wow. - Yeah.
02:40 Every day was a song, done, done, done, done, done, done.
02:44 - That's nice. - It was pretty,
02:45 it's pretty spectacular.
02:46 I don't know how many times that happens.
02:49 (upbeat music)
02:51 (singing in foreign language)
02:56 - Another first and the biggest single
02:58 off of this project so far.
02:59 You got your first number one on our Latin Airplay chart.
03:02 - Yeah.
03:03 - How did you find out?
03:04 How did you celebrate?
03:05 - I didn't have any expectations, in a really good way.
03:07 I was just like, let's just do it.
03:10 When this song popped off and me and Manuel,
03:13 very similar, so we got along really well.
03:14 So we hung out a lot.
03:15 For that song, especially with somebody who I call a friend
03:19 to do so well, it was like the ultimate finish.
03:22 Perfect situation.
03:23 - Did you guys FaceTime when it happened?
03:25 - Oh, all the time.
03:26 - Okay. (laughs)
03:27 - Like every week.
03:28 Yeah, every week once the song came out.
03:30 (singing in foreign language)
03:33 - Are there any other memories that,
03:38 when you look back at that kind of quick time in Miami now,
03:40 that just really stand out and feel really special to you?
03:43 - Yeah, working with Mico, young Mico.
03:45 Yeah.
03:46 (singing in foreign language)
03:49 She just showed up and was just so nice and humble.
03:52 And the vibe was just happy to be there.
03:54 That's how I felt the whole time too, right?
03:55 To see somebody matching that energy,
03:57 it was like, okay, we're gonna have a really good day.
03:59 You know what I mean?
04:00 And Mico's just all swaggy, like bucket hat.
04:02 - Right.
04:03 - They were just all tatted, just chilling on the couch,
04:05 just killing everything I'm showing her.
04:07 And I'm like, okay, let's just pick one.
04:08 We didn't have a hip hop leaning song that whole time.
04:12 So I was like, yeah, I have this one beat
04:14 that I've been waiting for the right moment.
04:16 - Yeah.
04:16 - It just went absolutely insane.
04:17 But in the vault, there's like two other songs that we did.
04:20 And it's like straight like rave music,
04:22 like old nineties, like Eiffel 65,
04:25 and like young Mico, like with like auto-tune,
04:27 like crazy, crazy vibe.
04:29 You have to dig it out.
04:30 - If there were some other songs in the vault
04:31 that they might come out?
04:32 - Maybe, yeah.
04:33 There's a few songs in the vault
04:35 from a bunch of different artists during that time
04:37 that could very easily pop up again.
04:40 (upbeat music)
04:47 - So when you think about Latin music,
04:49 before you did this project and now after it too,
04:51 what is it that just inspires you so much
04:53 as a creative that feels so good?
04:54 - The passion that the Latin culture has for their own music
04:58 and how knowledgeable and just seeing the writers
05:01 and they just like live, breathe this music.
05:03 I just like felt at home.
05:05 - Have you done these singles yet live?
05:08 How excited are you to maybe play the whole album live?
05:10 - Right, yeah.
05:11 So I've only played every song that's out already.
05:15 - Yeah.
05:16 - It's been really fun going down to Chile.
05:17 I played all through Chile and El Salvador
05:21 and Spanish speaking countries and being able to play this
05:23 and like hearing it sung back to me,
05:25 you know what I mean?
05:26 - Yeah.
05:27 - So it was just like awesome.
05:28 - I feel like you're a historian almost, kind of.
05:30 - Yeah.
05:31 - Going back into your Joy Time series,
05:32 how do you see some of what you've learned
05:34 or gathered here maybe seeping into those projects?
05:37 - Yeah, definitely.
05:38 I don't know if I've said it publicly,
05:39 but I've been in the studio kind of this whole summer
05:41 writing a new album,
05:45 kind of like redefining what Marshmello is, you know?
05:47 And I've been trying to use everything I've learned.
05:49 And I just had some sessions recently
05:51 where I had Latin touches and house music with Latin
05:55 and just a bunch of stuff that I've learned
05:57 over this whole time.
05:58 And so yeah, I could definitely see a lot of elements
06:01 that I'm learning.
06:02 - Well, I'm super excited.
06:03 Congratulations on everything.
06:04 - Thank you so much.
06:05 - Yeah, thanks for coming by.
06:06 (upbeat music)
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