“As a kid, you’re always dreaming of being something,” Dímelo Flow tells Apple Music. For the Panamanian artist and longtime Miami DJ fixture, those dreams included making the kind of producer-led albums that helped define reggaetón. Following in the tradition of such seminal releases as DJ Nelson’s Flow La Discoteka and Luny Tunes’ Mas Flow, his globe-trotting Always Dream provides a contemporary update of, and overt homage to, that format. “I grew up with those albums where the producer was the one putting the tracks together,” he says, a noted contrast with the artist-led model that now dominates the genre.
Having gone that route repeatedly, making hits with Rich Music artists like Dalex and Sech for their own records, he now brings together some of the biggest and best-regarded names in reggaetón for his own. Over the course of its 28 tracks, Always Dream represents the genre’s vanguard, from modern superstars J Balvin and Ozuna to veteran acts Arcángel and De La Ghetto, often stacked together in rare and inventive combinations. “I think my strength as a producer is putting the right artists together, making them sound good together.” Read on to learn more about some of his favorite Always Dream songs, in his own words.
“Intro”
“Back in the day, the producers, all they’d do is grab the drops and put them together, and that was the intro. So, I got all these artists saying my name, giving me ad-libs and drops. I did it my own way. I gave it my flow. I left some people out, so people can have surprises. It’s like you're cooking the rice. You’ve got to put the sofrito in there if you’re Latin. You’ve got to throw the salt in there. If you don’t put no salt, it can’t mix with all that, and it won’t taste good. It’s not about just putting artists together.”
“Crazy” (feat. Wisin, Ozuna, Arcángel, Lenny Tavárez & Jay Wheeler)
“Wisin came to the studio. He has this energy that we all vibe from. He’s like, ‘I need the keys played like this. It’s going to be a hit. Trust me.’ We record the song. Wisin leaves. But obviously, I need to put somebody else on there because it can’t just be Wisin. Ozuna comes to the studio. I sent it to Arcángel. He loved it. He’s one of my best friends. Arcángel hopped on the record. I couldn’t have left [Jay] Wheeler out. So, that’s why I had to squeeze all them together and made a big record out this one.”
“Winnie Pooh” (feat. Reik, Jay Wheeler & Boza)
“I got connected with Reik because of Justin Quiles. They loved it. They sent me the vocals back. Then I was like, ‘Boza, I need a song for my album. Come.’ They all sit down with me in the studio. Same situation happened. He loved the record. Me and Wheeler, we work a lot on some of his projects. He got on it, killed the record. We wrote the verse together.”
“Pártela” (feat. Arcángel, Eladio Carrión & Brray)
“It was a song that you particularly talk shit on. And Eladio has a lot of punch lines and a lot of lyrics on his records that people can relate to. Another person that comes from that is Arcángel. He’s a major shit talker, but in a good way. On the records, when I say shit talker, it’s about lyrics, the delivery. It has that malianteo swag and that perreo talk. Everybody loves that record. You need the shit talk.”
“Espíritu Guerrero” (feat. Farruko & Kafu Banton)
“Farruko is like my brother. I respect him a lot for letting me put out this record because he really changed his vibes on the music. The story behind the record is fun. Farruko was coming from trap. I came to his studio one day. Justin took me over there. He was transitioning from TrapXficante that he had made to reggaetón again. We started to click instantly, even the vibe at the studio.”
“No Es Normal” (feat. De La Ghetto, Chencho Corleone, Zion, Ñengo Flow & Nio García)
“I actually made this track with Chencho first. I had it for a long time, and I was like, ‘I got to put something new that refreshes the hook.’ Because Chencho, whatever he sings, it never gets old. So, we updated the intro, we left the hook, just Chencho. Then I sent it to De La Ghetto. I wanted to put more of the old-school guys on there.”
“¿Qué Me Contás?” (feat. Sech, J Balvin, Justin Quiles & Lenny Tavárez)
“We’re in Medellín, me and Justin only. We were not working on my album here; we’re just working for Justin. I started listening to all the stuff we recorded in Medellín, and I find ‘¿Qué Me Contás?’ I show it to Sech. We started changing the beat on it. Lenny got on it. He loved it. And then Sech was like, ‘Yo, I like this. Let me get on.’ Sech gets on the record, and then we show it to Balvin. It’s the first time I worked with Balvin on a project that’s mine. And I really appreciate it. I think it’s going to be a huge hit.”
“Mi Perfume” (feat. Sech)
“Me and Sech’s working relationship, we trust each other on everything. We show each other everything before it comes out. It’s like Batman and Robin. He shows me the records. I show him the records. We be honest to each other, and I think that’s why we have a lot of success in our career. He’s really a freak of nature, man. He’s way passionate on a lot of the stuff that he does. A lot of people don’t know that he produces a lot of his own records. I do the magic touches on there. I finish the stuff, but he produces most of his records.”
“Suelta” (feat. Rauw Alejandro, Maria Becerra, Farruko, Mr. Vegas & Fatman Scoop)
“I was in Panama and my good friend Chris Marshall was in his studio. He’s like, ‘I’m going to work with Mr. Vegas today.’ I come from the dancehall world—that’s from Panama. I was like, ‘I need you to just play the chorus and have him record on 96 BPM [singing] “Heads high, kill ’em with the ‘no!’”’ That’s it. Two, three years pass by. I make the beat on the record with Slow Mike and one of the other producers, Vinny Venditto. Another three months pass by. Then I decided to work on my album, and I grabbed that record and I put Rauw on it, the day we were making ‘Elegí.’ After that, I was like, ‘It’s a Jamaican feel. It needs Farruko.’ I go record the verse with Farruko. Now the record’s done, I was like, ‘It needs a girl. Let’s give it the woman vibe.’ All the dancehall records always had a woman. We get Maria Becerra. And after that, I’m like, ‘I don’t want to talk on this record because it’s going to sound like I’m trying to be like Khaled.’ Every time you want to hype up the party, there’s a voice that always connects with the people: Fatman Scoop.”