A worldwide pause.Pausa. That’s what happened when the coronavirus pandemic hit earlier this year.
At the time,Ricky Martinwas gearing up for a world tour alongsideEnrique Iglesiasand the release of a full-length album titledMovimiento. Instead, he was forced to hunker down in L.A. with his husband Jwan Yosef and their four kids, where he worked onMovimiento’s replacement:Pausa.
“When everything started, I said, ‘Wait, what am I going to do with all this energy?'” the 49-year-old tells PEOPLE from his home in Puerto Rico about the six-track record he released in late May. “It’s funny because most of the lyrics were already written. They were exactly what people needed to hear when we started this lockdown.”
“We haven’t seen the PTSD. We haven’t seen the trauma that this is causing,” he adds of thecoronavirus. “I just want to give the audiencePausa, which is relaxing and peaceful.”
The album opens with track “Simple” — a song alongside the legendary Sting singing in Spanish. The lyrics and light tropical sounds inspire a much-needed calmness at the start of quarantine.
Check out PEOPLE’sfull Grammys coverageto get the latest news on music’s biggest night.
(In English: “There’ll always be a light that fills my win, a step closer to the truth. A balsam that eases the weight of humanity. Simple.")
The track is a reminder of gratitude and faith — and a projected sense of hope for a better future. (What better feeling for the start for the ongoing uncertainty?)
Like its opener, the album — which prefaces a yet-to-be-released part two aptly titledPlay— features laidback and calm lyrics that Martin admits that even he needed during this time.
“This album really became my medicine at a certain moment because, to be honest, I was really anxious,” he says candidly. “The uncertainty of not knowing what was going to happen, having to cancel a tour. People were telling me, ‘Ricky, you’re never going to be able to go back on stage.’ These are the things that were throwing at us.”
Ricky Martin.Jwan Yosef
“I believe that this album,Pausa, became my balance,” he adds.
Martin enlisted Carla Morrison’s soothing voice on “Recuerdo,” Puerto Rican compatriots Pedro Capó on reggaetón-driven “Cae de Una” and Residente andBad Bunnyon 2019’s “Cántalo.” (The trio performed the song at the 2019 Latin Grammys.) He also featured Spanish singer Diego El Cigala on flamenco-inspired “Quiéreme” — all collaborations that “mean so much” to him.
Now, Martin is gearing up for the 2021Grammy Awardswhere his work is nominated in the best Latin pop/urban album category — the same category he won in 2016 following the release ofA Quien Quiera Escuchar, his last album.
Martin admits that receiving nominations is always feels good, but this time, it’s different.
“This feels a little bit more special because it’s a special year and where I’m at, it just felt differently and I’m very happy,” he says. “I love music and I am codependent enough to say that I do need the reaction of not only the audience but in my case, the industry.”
“When you get nominated, it’s the industry telling you, ‘Hey, Rick, you did a good job this year. Congratulations.’ Yes, I need that,” he adds. “It’s not a source of inspiration, but hey, when you walk into the studio, you say, ‘This has got a Grammy potential.’ You hear the songs that do and the ones that don’t, it’s inevitable.”
source: people.com
