When Colombian musician Manuel Turizo was just a child, he was dead set on becoming a performing artist. “I really liked watching videos of Wisin & Yandel’s concerts,” Turizo, 24, tells Us Weekly in an exclusive new interview.
“I liked watching Chris Brown‘s concerts, Justin Bieber‘s concerts on YouTube as a kid — I would stand in front of the mirror and dance like them,” he added.
Turizo’s musical ambitions were also shaped by the influence of his grandparents, who are “passionate about music” as a pastime, he said. In addition, his father encouraged both Manuel and his brother, Julián, to play instruments.
“I always knew that I loved it,” Turizo reflects, adding that there was a sense of destiny about his future career. “You can’t decide that. It’s something the universe chooses.”
So far, Turizo’s biggest smash has been “La Bachata,” which boasts over a billion streams on Spotify. In his brand-new track, “Dios te cuide,” both the superstar’s sound and outlook have notably evolved as he refuses to be pigeonholed into a single genre. Dedicated to “The One” who mistreated him, the track is about heartbreak.
Has Turizo had his heart broken badly in real life? “Not much, just a little,” he assures Us. “It’s something that didn’t necessarily happen to me personally; they are memories or things from real life, from people around me or things that have happened to me. That’s where the inspiration to write songs comes from.”
Regarding the title of the single, beyond a religious cliché, for Turizo it was about immortalizing a common phrase from his native Colombia. “It’s something that’s said a lot. You go and say goodbye to someone and say: ‘Ah, take care. May God take care of you, bye. Stay well.’ It’s something we use a lot,” he explains.
“Music is an amplification of emotions. I want to make music for people to feel good, to enjoy, for people to be and feel happy,” says Turizo.
And, ultimately, that is the same goal Turizo pursues for himself: “I want to keep being happy. I am happy, but maybe it’s not something you can be tomorrow.”
With reporting by Brody Brown and Julia Tortoriello
