Dylan Fuentes, Danny Ocean and Daramola are here to prove that blending cultures in reggaeton is the industry’s latest wave. Bad Bunny’s “Yonaguni” took us on a sonic journey to Japan and now NEON16’s Dylan Fuentes and Daramola are blending Afrobeat with el genero’s sound in “Bailame En Los Besos.”
Fuentes, who has been teasing his EP Arena, collaborated with the Nigerian producer to create the project. In a press release, the duo call the track “the perfect fusion between Afrobeat and Latin music, bridging two cultures and continents in a single and unique sound.”
Spread throughout the track are driving electronic drum beat rhythms, with a blend of dancehall and soca. African beats were hugely influenced by the works of Ghanaian Afro-rock band Osibisa and the Nigerian Afro-beat star Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.
NEON16 is known for mixing the iconic beats and rhythms into its production. Fuentes and Dara’s bilingual song “Felicia,” which dropped Memorial Day weekend, is already at 2 million views on YouTube.
“The sounds in Afro and Latin music are global; for example, ‘Como Un Bebé’ from the Oasis album has a Nigerian beat to it, it was executive produced by Tainy, and it’s exciting to hear the sound there. It makes for an exciting combination. [NEON16] makes that available and possible for me to be able to do that,” Daramola told Remezcla in 2019.
Set in Colombia and directed by JASZ, “Bailame En Los Besos” features Venezuelan singer-songwriter Danny Ocean best known for 2016’s “Me Rehúso,” which gained over a billion views on YouTube, solidifying that reggaeton and afrobeat are an undeniable mix.
With a beautiful cast of Black and Brown people, the video for “Bailame En Los Besos’ is a magnificent and accurate representation of Colombia, where civil unrest and police brutality on the African community has taken center stage in the last month*. In the video, premiering at Remezcla, we see Afro-Colombian model Cristian David, Fuentes, and Ocean drive down the country’s coast in an orange Jeep in pursuit of a potential love interest.
“The process of filming the video was very organic and fun for all of us,” Fuentes shares in a statement. Watch the video premiere below: