Bronx native Prince Royce turned back time on Friday with the release of his eighth studio album, ‘Eterno.’
Prince Royce has often been heralded as a man of the people with his bilingual songs, embracing his Dominican heritage and upbringing in the Bronx. Now, the 36-year-old global icon is taking listeners on a nostalgic journey through classic American pop music with spicy Latin flavor.
amNewYork spoke with Prince Royce about what it was like going back to his roots by performing cover songs. He first garnered fame for this when he debuted “Stand by Me” at just 20 years old. After over a year of recording fresh bachata renditions for ‘Eterno,’ Prince Royce hopes to bridge cultures and generations together one track at a time.
“I think that’s what this album does. It is bringing two worlds together, bringing two cultures together that I grew up with. That’s how I grew up. I’m a New Yorker from the Bronx, still very Dominican and Latin, and I kind of can bring those two cultures together,” Prince Royce told amNewYork. “Converting these songs into bachata, into Spanish, and keeping my essence, and dissecting every line of each artist and what they did and how they did it. From a creative standpoint, I truly had a lot of fun with this, so I feel good about it.”
‘Eterno’ features a reinvention of classic tunes from Air Supply, Backstreet Boys, Bee Gees, Elvis Presley, Fleetwood Mac, King Harvest, Lionel Richie, Luther Vandross, Richard Marx, Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, and The Temptations, but with bachata beats and Spanglish lyrics.
“When we first started, the President of SONY Latin told me, ‘Why don’t you do a whole concept album of American or English colors, and do them in Spanglish? You kind of pioneered that. You brought these two worlds together.’ I never really thought about it that way. I never really thought about how I introduced these songs to Latin America, or to youth. There are people who still think that I’m like the original singer of ‘Stand by Me,’ which I think is great, but that’s kind of how it started,” Prince Royce said excitedly. “This might have been the project that I have enjoyed the most.”
Growing up in the Boogie Down Bronx, Prince Royce thought for a very long time that his music career was just going to be a hobby, despite still believing in himself and his craft. But soon, he started to become recognized for his work, and he grasped at each opportunity with fervor, forever changing his life. His cover of “Stand by Me” was one of the tracks that solidified him as an artist.
“I’m grateful that things worked out the way they did. I think that it’s all about following your own path, believing in yourself, and feeling it out. And that’s kind of what I’ve been doing for a while,” Prince Royce admitted.
A few days before the release of ‘Eterno,’ Prince Royce took a stroll through his old Bronx neighborhood. There, he saw a mural of himself, which further cemented his determination to always hold true to his roots.
“I went over there two days ago, and they have this mural of me in the projects, like a picture of me there, and those little things that I never really thought [about but] I hoped to achieve. But it’s different living it than, like dreaming it at the time. And I think that I’m just really representing people like me that are maybe from the hood and [can] get caught up in a cycle of ‘Oh, you’re gonna have to stay here. The system’s not gonna let you get out.’ I kind of was able to break through that barrier with music. I think that it sound cliche but it’s, it really is kind of just separating yourself from the normal thing, following your dreams, doing what you got to do, working hard early on, especially when you’re young, and you got the energy to really just grind it out and try to achieve your goals,” Prince Royce said candidly.
For Prince Royce, family has always been his constant motivation, and the ability to tap into an inner strength that creates something new and to continue to set goals for himself. Even in his gaming room, a place where he always finds solace when he is trying to unwind, Prince Royce has a vision board covered with photos of things he wants to do and achievements he wants to reach. Whether it’s small like running his third marathon in Chicago or something to do with his career, it’s the goal that keeps him motivated.
In discussing family and life, Prince Royce shared that in his album ‘Eterno,’ he features a song that is his mother’s favorite: the Bee Gees ‘How Deep is Your Love. Prince Royce said that it reminded her of when she immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic.
“When she got to the US she heard that song. It played in the factory that she worked at, so she said that one and so many other songs [was her favorite],” Prince Royce said.
He hopes that when listeners pick up his new album, the same sentimental feeling when hearing his iterations will bring back memories.
