Luis Fonsi holds his hands in prayer in response to Good Morning America’s Michael Strahan reminding the world that ‘Despacito’ is no. 1 in 47 markets: Photo: Good Morning America/ABC News
As it turns out, Luis Fonsi wrote his record-smashing hit “Despacito,” a song so raunchy it was banned in Malaysia, in his sleep.
The Latin singer told Good Morning America that he woke up with the structure of the song pretty much down pat.
“I woke up one morning with ‘Despacito na na na na na na Puerto Rico,'” Fonsi said, singing the tune we all know and are sick of. “I didn’t know how I wanted to produce it, so it took a little bit to kind of get that perfect hybrid between pop and urban. Then I called my buddy Daddy Yankee who was a big part of this record and he added his magic and it all came together.”
In this Good Morning America anecdote he curiously leaves out the woman he also called at some point in the recording process who made it “sensual,” but that’s a story for another time.
“Despacito” is the first Spanish song to reach the Billboard 100 chart in 20 years. The last song to do that was the 1993 hit “Macarena” by Los Del Rio.
“[It] finally got to No. 1 and it’s been there for 14 weeks and it’s just a blessing,” Fonsi said. “It’s been a huge surprise…I’m just so honored that the world has connected to the song, a Spanish song, to see all of these beautiful countries singing in Spanish.”
One thing that helped this song blow up so much was the involvement of American superstar Justin Beiber, who heard the song in a club and decided he had to be involved, which resulted in a remix version with Beiber singing a section.
“I got a call at 2 o’clock in the morning saying that Justin Bieber heard the song and that he wanted to do a remix,” Fonsi said. “It came from my label, Universal Music, so it had to be real. He did a great job because he sang the first part in English, but he kept the chorus in Spanish.”
Unfortunately for Fonsi, he may go down in history as the creator of a one-hit-wonder.
Watch the full interview on ABC News below.