“I would never title an album Fórmula just to keep the franchise alive,” Romeo Santos tells Apple Music. “This is where the trilogy ends.” Three years in the making and coming roughly a decade after the massively popular first installment, Fórmula, Vol. 3 marks a fitting and phenomenal end to the bachata superstar’s beloved series. “Right away when I named it that title, everybody was like, ‘Who's going to sing bachata? What’re the surprises?’” he says of the expectations surrounding his first Fórmula record since the 2014 sequel. “I had to push that envelope.”
Indeed, the third installment bears many of its predecessors’ hallmarks, from the comedian-led introduction to the inclusion of exciting and unexpected guests, including vanguard pop artists Justin Timberlake and ROSALÍA as well as tropical music heroes like Toño Rosario, Rubby Pérez, and Fernandito Villalona. All the while, he continues to assert his dominance in the genre while also experimenting outside of the sound he made his name with. Whether you’re an Aventura day-one fan or a devotee of solo albums like 2017’s remarkable Golden, there’s plenty to enjoy here. Read more about some of the standout songs of Fórmula, Vol. 3, in the artist’s own words, below.
“Intro”
“It starts with just the concept, and then I put Artie [Pabon] to do all the hard work. It's not a walk in the park; it’s a mission. Katt Wiliams was cool, understanding what this means to the Latin industry. And we got it done. It's my most personal intro as well, because my three kids participate, so I can honestly tell you that it has a sentimental value. I was good just with my kids, but when you add Katt Williams to that intro, it's like, ‘Okay, this is Fórmula vibes.’”
“Bebo”
“‘Bebo’ is that typical Romeo bachata. Traditional, fusion—it has a little bit of both. I think that it was just the perfect song to set the tone, because for everyone that I played the song to prior to me setting up the tracklist, there was just always something about that one song. Everybody was like, ‘Oh man, this shit is fire.’ So I said, ‘Let’s start the album with the record, because it has a little bit of everything.’”
“Sin Fin” (feat. Justin Timberlake)
“This was history in the making. My first cover ever with Aventura was an *NSYNC song, ‘Gone.’ We released our second album We Broke the Rules, and I adjusted it to our style at the time. I always said, ‘I need to record with Justin Timberlake.’ It was on my bucket list. We linked up and he's like, 'The worst thing that can happen is I tell you I don't like this song.’ And clearly that shit would've been terrible to me, but that's where I'm honestly very confident. When it comes to tailoring a bachata to whoever I want to collab with, I did it with Usher, I did it with Drake, and this was not the exception. I linked up with my good friend, producer/songwriter Rico Love, who worked on ‘Promise’ and ‘Odio’ with me, to keep the tradition. But I also brought on board Danja, an amazing producer that has worked on many hits with Timbaland—‘My Love,’ ‘SexyBack.’ The reason why I did that is because I wanted it to feel authentic. I really wanted it to have his essence. JT threw his spice in there producing, tweaked some melodies, songwriting. He just gave it his magic.”
“Boomerang”
“‘Boomerang’ is just that straight-up fusion. It's almost difficult to describe what style the intro truly is, because it's just a very earthy sound that I don't know how to explain or elaborate in the best way what I do. I just do it. It feels good. I don't force it. It’s one of those records that it is what it is, but it's also one of my favorites.”
“El Pañuelo”
“I'm terrible with remembering the timeframe, but I know that it was right in the premature stages before ROSALÍA reached stardom. Someone from my team showed me a video, because they know I'm heavy on flamenco. I was just blown away, not only by her voice, her stage presence, her energy. ROSALÍA is what I like to describe as a unicorn. I just presented her with a verse, not even the hook. I knew that she had collaborated with The Weeknd, and I love the record. But that's more like an urban bachata, which allowed me to do something completely different with her and do more like a fusion of flamenco with bachata. She was very hands-on producing, writing. We created this in Dominican Republic, rented out a villa for three days. It was beautiful.”
“Me Extraño”
“For this particular project, just like volume 1 and 2, everyone that participates in this album, I highly admire. This record with Christian Nodal started in such a beautiful way. I've always been a huge fan of Vicente Fernández, his son Alejandro, and Joan Sebastian. And I'm like, ‘I want to do this, but I need guidance. I don't know how to start.’ I wasn't aware of how big of a fan Christian was. Before he even heard the song, I remember I called him on FaceTime. He was a really amazing and humble kid. This is one of my favorite songs on the album.”
“15,500 Noches”
“I had this idea for years. It was actually one of the first songs that I recorded for this album not knowing if it was going to be part of this production. It was the most secretive task for me. I didn't want to tell [Toño Rosario, Rubby Pérez, and Fernandito Villalona], ‘This is what I have in mind.’ I'm very secretive when it comes to my productions; I love the surprise factor. I was afraid of egos, and it ended up being the complete opposite. These guys never collaborated in 40 years of their careers. Everyone does have a spotlight, but everyone has a spotlight individually. When I reached out to all of them, I said, ‘Look, I just want you guys to come to my studio and lay down some ideas.’ This is not your typical merengue. This is not fusion. This is not mambo. I needed this to sound like '80s merengue. I'm truly honored to have them on my album, to have accomplished this.”