Nigerian born Afro-Pop/Alternative singer and music producer Daramola and Colombian rising star, singer and actor Dylan Fuentes released the single ‘Felicia’ on 28 May.
‘Felicia’ is the first track off their upcoming EP Arena which is billed to celebrate the music styles of Nigeria and Colombia. The artists mix the dynamic reggaetón of the South American country with the Naija afrobeats flavour.
‘Felicia’ has a feel-good sunny vibe to it, the beat flows easy and gets the listener bobbing to the sweet delivery of passionate vocals that express togetherness. The song is in Spanish and English.
On the motivation for the joint project, the Miami based Daramola in an interview with wearemetu.com said, “I had the opportunity to produce Dylan’s 2020 single ‘Bipolar‘. The record came out so well and got good reviews so we just kept on building a working relationship. It also helped that we had good chemistry.” The producer continues, “We did a couple of more records and in December last year, we started working on ‘Felicia’. Our manager Lex Borrero heard it and approached us to work on a joint EP. That was the birth of the idea.” Daramola grew up in a creative environment, his mother, Gbemi Olaleye is a seasoned Nigerian gospel artist.
Dylan Fuentes, signed to NEON16/Interscope Records is riding on the success of his 2020 hit, ‘Bipolar’ which is a track driven by the West African highlife groove. Fuentes also remixed Nigerian monster single ‘Nobody’ (Latin Remix) with DJ Neptune, Mr. Eazi, and Joeboy.
The Colombian revelation opined in the interview, “For a while, I’ve been listening to afrobeats, and it’s been one of my favorite genres, it connects directly with the music that I would sing growing up in my city of Barranquilla. Artists like Joeboy, Wizkid, or Mr. Eazi have been my soundtrack for the last few years. Our cultures are really similar and we want to share that with the world.”
Fans are to expect Latin music mixed with afrobeats like they have never heard before. This collaboration is yet another confirmation that afrobeats is taking the world by storm.