Víctor Manuelle: ‘My music reflects who I am as a person, I don’t come with much packaging’

Víctor Manuelle has been a standard-bearer in tropical music for more than 30 years. He began his musical career in 1993, when he launched his first solo album, Justo a tiempo. But it wasn’t until 1996 that the New York-born singer hit it big with the release of his second record, a self-titled album produced by Sergio George. International success arrived in 1997 with his third studio release, A pesar de todo, which dominated Spanish language radio in countries like the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Peru, and the United States thanks to hits like Dile a ella, He tratado and Así es la mujer. He was also the first salsa artist to venture into reggaeton, collaborating with Héctor & Tito, Don Omar, Tego Calderón, Ken-Y, and Voltio.

Known as “El sonero de la juventud” (The young peoples’ salsa singer), Manuelle has had 47 singles on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs charts and 29 of his tracks have made it to number one on Billboard Tropical Airplay. He’s also won five Guinness World Records and sold more than four million albums in Puerto Rico and the rest of the United States.

His most recent release is Retromántico, a celebration of his 30-year career. It’s more than a salsa album, it’s an emotional journey through the nostalgia and romance that characterizes the genre, and with it, he has once again stolen fans’ hearts, re-establishing himself as one of the most important performers in tropical music.

The Puerto Rican artist, 55, was in New York as part of the summer concert series Rise Up NYC, organized by the office of Mayor Eric Adams. Before taking the stage for his show in Orchard Beach, a party attended by thousands of people of all ages and nationalities, the artist received a special recognition: the entertainment key to New York City.

Question. What was your reaction when you found out you would be receiving the key?

Answer. I was filled with a lot of emotion, because New York is a city I have so much respect for and which has known of my career since 1994. It’s the most important city in the world, everyone knows that, and musically, it represents so much. I’ve performed on this city’s most important stages, Carnegie Hall, Radio City, Madison Square Garden, nightclubs, public events — I mean, this is like them saying that all that work has been noticed. It’s been 31 years. When people ask what I was thinking about, it was that these 31 years have not been in vain.

Q. What does it feel like to see your music passed down from generation to generation?

A. That is one of the things that we Latinos have, culturally. We carry the music of our grandparents, our mom, our dad, and that is one of the things that I have accomplished during these 30 years. It’s beautiful to meet younger people who tell me, “I like your music because my mom listened to your music.” I even run into grandmothers, and that is beautiful too. My music’s demographic has gotten older in part due to the commitment I have to people who live with Alzheimer’s. I have an adult audience who has become very fond of me, I have lots of grandmothers who really spoil me — they see me as one of their grandchildren.

Q. Who are you dedicating this award to?

A. To the people who have been with me throughout these 31 years. I mean, there’s so many of them, if I start to name people — there’s the work teams, the record labels, so many people who got you to where you are today and sometimes, they work behind the scenes and you don’t realize who they are. I want to dedicate it to my family, to them, and to the fans.

Q. How have you managed to stay in the music industry for so many years? Who are the people you trust?

A. I’m the kind of person who works with the same people for a long time and some of the performers in my orchestra have been with me for 31 years, my trumpet player and bongosero, who have been with me since the first day I took the stage. Obviously, you make some changes. Intuition, I’m a person who lets myself be guided by what I feel in a musical sense. And secondly, I am very attentive to what I believe suits me as an artist rather than trends. I’m not paying attention to what that guy did when it comes to figuring out what I’m going to do. I do what I think the audience will like, and if that guy does better than me, well then, that’s great, because Father God has that blessing for him and he’ll have a different one for me. This theory of life of mine has allowed me to live in peace, happy, I don’t envy anyone and triumph makes me happy.

Q. What do you have left to achieve, musically?

A. Many things, I think. Every day I wake up with a new idea.

Q. Among the collaborators on this album are Gilberto Santa Rosa, Tito Nieves, and Frankie Ruíz. How did you pick them?

A. I have to admire them. There are times when the record labels will pressure you to collaborate with people who are riding high, but sometimes you have to say, “We don’t have anything in common. It’s not that their music is bad, but it’s nothing like what I do.” I always try to do collaborations that will surprise people, but that make them say, “cool, they’re similar.” That they have something in common, that we behave in the same way, even if we’re in different genres. That is what I almost always look for in a collaboration.

Q. That they’re honest in their music.

A. Because that’s what stays with the audience. I think that’s been the key to my success, why these people are here today, because that’s how I am, I don’t come with much packaging. My music reflects who I am as a person. I am a pretty quiet person, I’m very slow, kind of boring, according to my family. I don’t like to go out a lot, I’m not a party person, I’m a person who likes to stay at home. I have a community at home. I love having my baby, my granddaughter, my mother around … When I have my people with me, that’s a happy day.

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