Pedro Capó

Pedro Capó pens his mesmerising, heartfelt pop music in a slightly unconventional manner. “I write songs in a little dark studio without windows. Sometimes when I have a melody, I improvise weird [lyrics],” he told Apple Music. “This exercise surfaces things from the unconscious mind. You search for a frame and an order for the words. You wait for the muse and you search for it.” That unorthodox strategy has helped him carve out a unique identity among the Capó dynasty of singer/songwriters. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1980, Pedro grew up admiring the songs of his grandfather Bobby Capó, who is ranked among the island’s greatest musical legends of all time, as well as his father, also named Bobby Capó, a trova and salsa singer. After cutting his teeth as a guitarist and frontman for rock en español band Marka Registrada in the ‘90s and early 2000s, Pedro went solo with 2005’s Fuego y Amor, where he dabbled with pan-Latin polyrhythms and romantic lyrics. In 2009, he duetted with Mexican singer Thalia for a stripped-down cover of pop duo Donato y Estefano’s heartwrenching single “Estoy Enamorado”, and for the next decade, Pedro continued to pour out his heart in candid love songs like 2011’s “Si Tú Me Lo Pides” and 2017’s power ballad “Azucar Amargo”. His songwriting formula proved especially successful with 2018’s smash hit “Calma”, a smouldering, languorous pop song with a feel-good reggae bop. The song drew even wider attention with its 2019 remix, featuring Alicia Keys and Farruko. “I celebrate [my songs] regardless of what happens to them,” he said. “For them to reach someone in a way that is honest and profound is significant and valuable for me. It’s a miracle.”