the Playground Meets: Magic Juan

Written by: Disnerys Molina

Recently Disney from the PressPlayGround team got to speak to Magic Juan about his journey in music, new music, and what being Hispanic means to him. 

Magic Juan began his professional journey in music as far back as the early nineties. In his teenage years, Juan was already writing, producing, and collecting music to sample on his own. In 1991 alongside the group Proyecto Uno, he received his first glimpse of international superstardom when his bilingual rapping was featured on the song “Brinca” which would climb the Latin charts in over eight countries. 

In addition to growing up in a Dominican household, where he listened to a lot of Merengue. He was also heavily influenced by the sounds of R&B/Soul and Hip-Hop music, which speaks to his New York origins.

When asked how he felt about being a pioneer in the Latin music market: “I never looked at it that way - I did always know we were breaking ground. When you're walking into a room and you're the first of your kind coming with this style and look - You know you're doing that (pioneering the genre). What I didn't count on was the long-lasting effect that it had on urban, Latin, and popular music - it was worth the risk because it was such a big risk to do it at that time.”
He mentioned the difficulties he faced when he first started out in the music industry, “we got a lot of backlash from the older guys. We got a lot of side eyes, but when your intentions are pure there's nothing they can do about it.” Nobody was expecting the success that he would go on to have in music, which is a career that spans over three decades.

Magic Juan was able to bridge the gap and inspire younger generations by going places that regular latin music wasn't willing to go. He considered it somewhat of a youth movement that was able to impact around the globe. Songs like “La Ultima Vez” with Eddie Herrera became signature hits for Magic Juan that continue to influence younger artists today. “La Ultima Vez” was Magic’s second single as a solo artist and it was one of the biggest records of his career. It showcased Magic’s versatility as an artist branching out from what his usual sound is assumed to be. 

On the topic of younger artists, Magic Juan says that he is branching out to younger artists from across the globe, looking at places like Colombia, Dominican Republic, Panama, and Puerto Rico. He gives props to the likes of Bad Bunny and J Balvin for staying cutting edge and leading the latin music market right now.  He also mentions Rauw Alejandro, Myke Towers, and Ala Jaza as artists making waves now as well.

Pásame La Botella is the first single from his fourth album, a collaboration with merengue legend Toño Rosario and  Latin Urban Music icon Shelow Shaq. It is a remake of Mach & Daddy’s 2005 hit “La Botella” 

“I always loved the record, it was always one of the records that turned up in the parties anywhere I went. It didn't matter which nationality, people just got down to it. It was natural, I just really wanted to do that song over again - but I also wanted to do it justice.” Indeed Juan knew the importance of making this record perfect, revealing that he worked on this record for over a year.

Juan says he wanted to make it modern and bring a more Dominican/New York City feel that he is known for.

He also gives praise to the legendary artist with whom he collaborated on this song.

“It was a great thing being able to collab with Shelow  who I admire very much, I'm a huge fan and he's been lighting fires for the Urbano movement in the Dominican Republic”

He continues, “I wanted somebody from the tropical/merengue and Mambo  -- and for me, Tono is one of our biggest innovators for that. Not just sound-wise, but style and brand-wise.  For me he's a groundbreaking trailblazing artist, he has a voice that you know” -- “Shelow I was listening to for a while and I met him through one of my boys in DR- When I was working on the record I said let’s throw Shelow  and Tono on it and let's just go crazy.”

When asked about the importance of celebrating Hispanic Heritage month; “I think it's important to take out time to celebrate us - all the cultures, all the nationalities. It's the one month out of the year where we bring everyone together and celebrate - we are Latinos and Hispanic all year round - but it is that one time of the year that makes corporate America stand up and realize our movement, our power, and our influence.”

Magic Juan talks about the shift in influence in Latin music -- “We’re not a big country (Dominican Republic), but we're a very influential country - If you think about it, music right now is being driven by two countries- The Dominican Republic and Columbia.” stating that other countries are jumping into the swag that makes the Dominican Republic stand out. Now more than ever Dominican artists, writers, and producers are being signed and becoming popular artists.

What's next? New music, the new album coming, also a new entertainment company Omerta Music, where he plans to sign artists, producers, writers,  handle publishing, handling events, tours and concerts. The first live event on October 31st is called “Halloween Omerta” and will feature artists rising out of Panama like El Zeta , Anyuri Música and Italian Somali.

For more interviews like these please visit The Playground website!