The successful musical group Reik is in the middle of their "Des/Amor" world tour, the most extensive and intense of their almost 14 years of career and that it owes its tittle to their fifth studio album.
The group, originally from Mexicali, Baja California and composed by Jesús Navarro Rosas (lead vocals), Julio Ramírez Eguía (acoustic guitar and choirs), and Gilberto "Bibi" Marín (electric guitar), spoke exclusively with Latin Times about their concerts in the United States, new album, special collaborations, racism and more.
“The whole process of putting together this album was very different from what we are accustomed to,” says Jesus. “We usually put together the album in terms of peeking out the material and in three to four months we record it. But this time we were trying out songs, doing demos and we recorded the album in about two years.”
Navarro tells how the process although it was different, it was of great satisfaction and was simpler and less complicated for the group since it was less intense and a little mellower. “The way we built this album, allowed us to really put together an amazing show with a good structure, great visuals, and have different moments,” said the 31-year-old singer to Latin Times.
“We are so excited, we are so thankful that people responded in the way that they did because this time we really have a lot more to say and share,” said Navarro on Des/Amor.
Reik took risks in this album and gave the audience a different taste of what they are used to. With surprising collaborations with reggaeton singer, Nicky Jam and new song with Zion & Lennox, the musical trio definitely caused mixed emotions. “Ever since the very first album we tried two different styles from the genre –which is pop- sometimes we use jazz fusion, or funk,” said Julio Ramirez. “So in this one [album] we tried to go urban, pretty much.” The musician revealed that their manager started working with Nicky Jam and that’s how basically everything started. “We really enjoyed the fact that he [Nicky Jam] writes his songs –even though is urban- his lyrics talk about love and heart break,” says Ramirez. “That was I think the good way to start stepping into the urban scene,” he added.
The 29-year-old guitarist said that they meet in Medellin, Colombia and Jam told the group that he always had been a huge fan of Reik. According to Ramirez, Nicky told them that usually he starts composing his songs as a ballad and then he changes the rhythm to a urban tone. “That made sense to us,” said Ramirez “He decided to add his own stuff to the song and we ended up with this urban version that we love and worked out amazing,” said Julio referring to the song “Ya Me Entere.”
Ramirez also remembered that when the song came out, Reik’s hardcore fans “hated it” because according to the fans, the group was getting away from their roots. At the same time, other fans applauded the featuring, and the people who weren’t familiar with the Mexican group started listening to them. “It became a really positive outcome,” he said. “In Spain we were, I think, the number one streaming artists on Spotify, and a lot of it has to do with just opening our minds and doing this urban version with Nicky Jam.”
Ramirez even said that with their collaboration with Zion & Lennox in the song “Qué Gano Olvidándote” they’re still true to their style but taking the risks helped them to gain more fans and audience.
Reik didn’t confirm or deny that fans can expect the reggaeton stars to be present at their concerts. “We want to let surprises be surprises,” said Jesus. Between 2017 and 2018 Reik will be touring in the U.S, Latin America and Europe. With 25 confirmed concerts, Reik will be performing in Los Dells Festival, New York, Denver, Minneapolis, Texas and more. Find below their U.S concert dates.
After thousands of people took to the streets of Charlottesville to protest against white supremacy, Reik sent a message via Instagram using the hashtag “Un Amor De Verdad,” to support and send love to every person in the world no matter their religion, race or sexual orientation.
“We try not to add chaos of what’s going on, we try not to feed into the frenzy that happens when something horrible like that occurs in the world,” said Jesus Navarro. “You need to make your voice heard and we just wanted to come out and say ‘not be divided’ and ‘love everybody’ because we think we all are valuable and important.”
Finally, Reik took the opportunity to send a message to all of their fans and invited them to be part of this new chapter of their careers. “We are very excited to be able to share this album, and we hope that you guys can join us because we are going to have a really, really good time.”
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