Jennifer Lopez recorded a duet with Spaniard Alvaro Soler, “El mismo sol” (The Same Sun), which will be commercially released Aug. 21 with a video shot this week in New York.
The track has legs: In its original Spanish version, it’s topped charts in both Italy and Germany, quite an accomplishment for a Spanish-only song.
But who is Soler? He isn’t on any Billboard chart in the U.S. or any chart Latin America, and his debut album, Eterno Agosto (Universal), hasn’t even been released yet.
Born to a Spanish mother and a German dad, the 24-year-old Soler lived several years in Japan with his expat parents and there, he says, he discovered karaoke.
“We couldn’t get into discos until we were 21, so we sang karaoke instead,” he said in an interview with Italian television. By 17, back in Barcelona, he joined his siblings to launch a pop group, Urban Light. But executives zeroed in on the tall, broodingly good-looking Soler as a solo act.
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Signed to Airforce Records through Universal Music Central Europe, Soler’s infectious “El Mismo Sol,” an uptempo pop track, became an instant hit in Italy and Germany; to date, the official video has more than 28 million views on YouTube.
“Monte, Charlie, Benny and I were having dinner and we started playing and listening to music,” Lopez tells Billboard. “This fun infectious song came on and then we all started dancing and singing! I loved the spirit and message of the song, Alvaro’s voice and the flamenco clap…We decided that night to call Alvaro and see if he would like to do it as a duet [Eddie O’Loughlin and Republic secured U.S. rights via Universal Germany]. He loved the idea and the rest is the record you hear.”
Now, the bilingual remix with Lopez will surely take the song — and Soler — to a different level.
While we wait for the new version to hit, here’s a chance to get acquainted with Soler and his catchy, sunny track.