On Friday, Francisco Javier Álvarez BeretHe is better known by his stage name Beretwill fill WiZink Center The highlight of his last tour was Madrid. The capital’s venue has become the cornerstone of artistic success for musicians of all genres, and it’s where they chose to present their second album. Durabilityhis most ambitious work to date, featuring collaborations with Omar Montes and Do not Pull. He will be on stage the next day, with almost no time to recover. Kings League finalFootball competition created by Ibai and Gerard Piqué at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona. No company seems too big for this 27-year-old, who started by growing his own business. mix tapes He entered YouTube at the urging of a friend and took his music to wider areas with four and a half million followers on the video platform. few weeks ago Performed at the Vatican in the presence of the Pope and 6,000 young people from all over the world next to Italian Mr. Rain While finalizing the details of his debut as a presenter alongside other well-known faces such as Mario Vaquerizo or Maxi Iglesias. will be in talent show Meetings with taste It is sponsored by Mahou brewery and will release La Sexta early next year.
All this maelstrom doesn’t seem to have much of an impact on the mood of Beret, whom almost everyone around him calls Fran, and who willingly lends himself to a photo shoot and interview during a break between recordings. As he himself recalls, all this takes a long time. “I started in 2013 without realizing I was starting. This is very important because I didn’t actually plan anything in advance, I just recorded people rapping from my neighborhood. “Without knowing what I was doing, I had a sound card that I bought second-hand, and I started recording my first rap on one of them, songs that I listened to to some of my friends in my neighborhood, but that I listened to very privately,” he recalls. . “One of my friends uploaded a song to YouTube without telling me anything, and a lot of people started talking to me and saying they liked the song. I didn’t know what they were talking about. “I hated my friend then, but now I love him because he pressured me to get rid of my fears,” she recalls with a laugh.
“One of my friends uploaded a song to YouTube without telling me anything. I hated my friend then, but now I love him because he pressured me to get rid of my fears.”
If we consider that the maximum capacity of the former Sports Palace of the Community of Madrid exceeds 15,000 people, it becomes easier to understand the turning point it represents for an artist whose success has been processed in digital format for a long time. “My first concert was in front of 30 people and now I’m going to fill WiZinkSaying that he spent a lot of time, especially in the beginning, Beret admits, “This process was very brutal for me.” anxiety. “Firstly because of my lack of knowledge, and then because I had a life that was a bit contrary to all of these, and because no one in my family was a musician and did not bring me closer to music, I had to learn while being known. I had never worked in my life, I was studying in high school. Luckily therapy helped me manage all of this and now I’m calmer than ever.”.
Being honest about his weaknesses doesn’t take away from his genuine enthusiasm when it comes to overcoming challenges, and so he remains forceful when assuring that Friday’s concert will be “the best concert I’ve ever played in my life.” I will give a very long concert. “Trying not to do everything like on the platforms, singing old and new songs,” he says. To show “For that child who will be able to see himself at 20 years old when he was 13 years old, listen to a song of mine that he loves, listen to new songs and enjoy the collaborations that my agenda allows. In a full WiZink, a lot of people are singing and shouting all my words.”
It all started with rap
“I was inspired by rappers like Violadores del Verso or SFDK,” Beret recalls of his beginnings. “I also listened reggae or singer-songwriters like Sabina, from whom my father played,” he says, but I can say that the main source he draws from is “Rap, because it has a lot to say, it has a lot of knowledge. “My way of being and thinking today largely comes from what I learned from rap,” he says. Since then, Beret has been building an artistic identity that includes: pop, city sounds or hits Italiansand this led him to collaborate without prejudice with artists such as Sebastián Yatra, Estopa, Aitana, Melendi, Pablo Alborán or Lola Índigo. “People who are a minority come to me and say I should do something more similar to the old music they were listening to. “I tell them that I don’t think like I did when I was 17 anymore,” he says, and adds: “The people who are with me know that even if my music changes, they are there because of what was said, thanks to what was said.” lyrics, because of these ‘sticks’.’ [versos o frases que se cantan en el rap] “It kind of helped them.”
“If I want to release a ‘reggae’ song I’ll release it but I’ve been recording rap for a long time and I’m bored of it”
“I keep rapping and singing at home with my colleagues reggae. If I want to bring up a topic reggae “I was going to release this, but I had been recording rap for a long time and I was tired of it,” he concludes. Days before the big presentation of his second album, match by match seems to be the most effective philosophy for an artist who does not hesitate to say that he does not trust the format: “I always said this: I don’t like records, I love them singlesgo to the studio, work somewhere Single “Because it’s so beautiful, I look for combinations in an album so that everything has a meaning, but I love making songs because they sum up a scene, a moment, better than an album,” he admits, concluding somewhat fraudulently, “I’m telling you this and 10 years later I will even say that I am crazy about records. I love making songs and there comes a point when I say ‘damn I have 12131415 songs, we should all find common ground and make an album’. Because it is true that the album also adds meaning to the tour.“.
In a time when defending the natural, the neighborhood and the street has become another stance, it is enriching to find an artist who is convincing in his work, even if he is perched on overwhelming success. simplicity. That’s why he doesn’t squeak when talking about his new project as a television presenter (“I think it’s nice to be able to get out of this area where I’m already so calm and realize that I’m capable of doing other things.”) after openly admitting that I’m not a fan of talent shows Not very useful in the kitchen nor with the stove. HE reality While he predicts that he will do many things, it leads him to realize that the experience can also open doors to a kind of people who do not know him. singles because he “worked hard these months” and is preparing for a 2024 tour that is much more extensive than this year. Don’t let the rhythm stop.