There are producers that want to sing and those who don’t, according to Dmelo Flow. He tells Billboard, “I never wanted to be a singer.” “I’ve always wanted to be the executive producer, the lead of the album who has all the ideas, and who produces the music.”
Dmelo Flow (actual name: Jorge Valdes Vasquez) releases his first debut album Always Dream (RichMusic) as an artist-producer after being the genius behind successes such as Sech’s “Otro Trago,” Dalex’s “Pa’ Mi,” and Anitta and J Balvin’s “Downtown,” to mention a few.
The album has 28 tracks, including previously released hits “Se Le Ve,” “Hickey,” “Crazy,” “Winnie Pooh,” and “Suelta,” and combines a wave of contributors from la vieja and nueva escuela, inspired by compilation albums from the early 2000s.
He explained:
“It’s what I lived with albums such as ‘Mas Flow,’ ‘Flow la Discoteca,’ ‘MVP,’ ‘Los Benjamins.’ All of those albums were legendary in the genre, and I always dreamt of doing something like that… Everyone in life has a dream, and for me, it became a reality to make an album like this.”
Over the years, the Panamanian artist has developed close ties with both new and established artists, who he claims believe in his work and did not hesitate to be a part of it.
His longstanding colleagues Sech, Lenny Tavárez, and Justin Quiles were the first to hop on board, with J Balvin joining approximately two weeks ago. They appear together on the album’s title tune, “Qué Me Contás.”
Ozuna, Farruko, Zion & Lenox, Wisin, Nicky Jam, Jowell & Randy, Arcangel, Reik, and newcomers Mariah Angeliq, Beéle, paopao, Thyago are among the other artists on the album.
He elaborates, adding that the album took from six months to a year to create:
“All of the songs are produced by me and a team of people I work with… I always get involved from the beginning of the song to the last detail. Whether the song is mine or not, it has to be a hit regardless. In this case, it was difficult for me because I had to recruit more artists but it was a beautiful process that I’m always going to remember for the rest of my life.”
Paying homage to his Panamanian roots, Flow also recruited artists El Roockie, Kafu Banton, and Boza, in addition to Sech.
He proudly shared:
“We’re all representing our flag and our country. It was time for Panama to show the talent we have… Not only in Panama, but there’s also Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Spain, there are artists from all over the world coming out, and that helps us to expand the genre.”
As for his top tracks in Always Dream? Flow recommends the focus single featuring Balvin, “Partela” because Eladio Carrion is singing reggaeton, and “FKU” because it sample’s Divino’s timeless hit “Pobre Corazón.”
