Manuel Turizo has called on an unlikely collaborator to help him get over his ex…
The 22-year-old Colombian singer has teamed up with Marshmello for the duo’s first cross-genre collaboration titled “El Merengue.”
Turizo and Marshmello released the track and music video that puts a fresh spin on merengue with layered electro beats and Turizo’s rich baritone vocals.
The video, directed by Chadrick Preuss and Sandeep Vadlamudi, follows a lovestruck Turizo who is hung up on an ex-flame that he casually runs into one night at a crowded nightclub. In the heat of the moment, the Colombian singer and his ex sway to the rhythms of the sultry merengue beat. Overtaken by rekindled emotions — and liquid courage — Turizo ends up retching into the nightclub’s toilet while an unmasked Marshmello listens from the next stall over.
“I drunkenly told you I had forgotten you, but I didn’t,” Turizo admits over a vibrating beat that’s reminiscent of the booming merengue anthems of the early 2000s.
The video then turns into a dream-like, spell-binding sequence that returns to the first scene of the video where Turizo is looking at a photo of him and his ex. The song lyrically touches on the same themes and was written by the duo along with the much sought-after producer Edgar Barrera and Puerto Rican artist Gale, among others.
The collaboration between the two artists was first unveiled on February 24 when Turizo appeared wearing Marshmello’s emblematic white helmet amongst the bustling madness of New York City’s Times Square. Fans crowded around Turizo while the city’s famed neon billboards displayed the announcement of “El Merengue.”
No stranger to Latin collaborations, Marshmello previously released the pulsating EDM and trap-infused “Estilazo” with Dominican star Tokischa last April and during his EDC Mexico headlining set last week, the DJ debuted an unreleased track featuring regional Mexican artists Fuerza Regida and Peso Pluma. Dubbed an electro corrido, the track has been making its rounds on social media and Latin outlets, while fans patiently await the song’s official release.
Meanwhile, Marshmello has been teasing the release of his next full-length record — what will be his first since 2021’s Shockwave — via socials. He has already released a slate of singles this year including “Party Jumpin’,” “Unity,” “Eternal,” and “Again.”
Turizo entered the limelight back in 2016 with his sweet love song “Una Lady Como Tú,” and has since become a global favorite with the releases of hit singles like “Culpables,” a collaboration with Ozuna, and “La Bachata” — the first single from his forthcoming new album, 2000.
