Cali and Dandee: “We want the world to reopen to go to many places to sing and return to Ecuador”

In the midst of the emergence of the pandemic due to the coronaviruswhen many sank into worry and fear, the artists Cali and the Dandee they opted to evoke happy moments, a little innocent and even mischievous, as were the loves of school. That’s why in mid-2020 they released the album College. “It was a very difficult time for everyone, we wanted to make everyone feel good,” recalls Cali in an exclusive interview with this medium.

Now that the world has reopened, says Cali, and with it the uncertainty has largely disappeared, “we can afford to make sad songs, ‘cortavenas’ about stories of goodbyes, fights and heartbreak.” this is how it came Malibutheir most recent record production that premiered this Thursday, February 24, at the gates of carnival, just like two years ago, on the same holiday, the urban duo held a concert in Quito, Ecuador (in February 2020).

Cali and the Dandee It is made up of the Cali brothers Alejandro and Mauricio Rengifo, who have stood out for their urban style that mixes genres such as pop, hip hop, dance and other Latin rhythms. At an international level they won over the public with their successes Finally I found you and I’ll wait for you.

Indeed, Malibu this is his most nostalgic album. “It is a sadder and also more mature album, which no longer talks about what one was before, when I was in school and first loves, but rather talks about the loves that exist now and the many complications they can bring” Cali adds.

“90% of the album is about leaving a person, and the history that happened, the way they broke up and the things that bothered them,” says the Dandee. His first singleof the same name, precisely tells the anecdote of a summer love, intense but fleeting.

“I think that being in a place as perfect and idyllic as Malibu (California), in front of nature, softens your head and heart to talk about topics that you would not talk about in other places. It is what we felt those two weeks that we were there”, explains Dandee. “Many stories came out that have happened to us and others that have been the inspiration for series and movies that have been recorded in this place.”

This album also stands out for its lively collaborations with renowned artists who complement their styles with that of Cali and Dandee. One of them is Luis Fonsi, a friend of the duet and whom they greatly admire. In fact, it is his second collaboration, after the song I do not forget you (single of the brothers of 2021) and Law of gravityinstead the most recent single from the Puerto Rican singer.

“What we wanted with these songs is to take those themes that we had done to a higher level”, highlights Dandee. Other unique interpretations are those of Andry Kiddos, Aitana, Boza, Beret, Keityn, Bullnene, Danna Paola, the brothers Mau and Ricky, Guaynaa.

Many of the feelings that these themes evoke are emotions with which the Rengifo brothers have felt identified. But they are not necessarily autobiographical melodies. “What we want is for those people we don’t know to feel that we are telling and describing their story,” Cali clarifies. “There is a responsibility that the composer feels to compose a soundtrack for a person he does not know, to play with what one has felt and with what has happened to another person, who needs to be told and sung to” .

Of course, his new music is added as a space for relief, where one can take refuge at this moment that he recognizes as very delicate for society. “It is a very strong moment for the world, that after the pandemic what is happening is happening”, he comments in reference to the current wars. “Our job as an artist is simply to provide an alternative to the news that happens all the time and turn off the news for a second,” completes Cali.

That is why, like their audience, they want the world to reopen to go to many places and sing. “This 2022 we are going to dedicate many concerts to Malibu and hopefully return to Ecuador, since the beginning of 2020 we are not going. Travel the world and put the Colombian flag in many places.”