“We’re young kids who spend their entire day inventing new things for our fans,” Saiko tells Apple Music. “Right now I feel that whatever was meant to happen is finally happening.” In the midst of a series of high-profile concerts, hit singles and plenty of collaborations, the Spanish artist from Granada experienced 2023 as a fleeting year that rearranged his plans, but also established him as an important presence on the global scene. The sounds of Miguel Cantos Gómez reached every corner of the world, and now he celebrates this achievement. “I wanted to release all the songs that my fans have been asking for as a way of ending the best year of my life. This is like a little present for all my people.” Saiko’s initial plan did not involve an EP; he had hoped to release his much-anticipated album Sakura. “I feel that people are waiting for the album, and I’m a bit nervous about it, because I wanted to release it now. I didn’t want to leave a void,” he explains. The result is a collection of seven tracks that renews the young star’s reggaetón-meets-Auto-Tune aesthetic while delivering a taste of his forthcoming full-length debut. “It’s called ‘Leaving the Planet’ (Saliendo del Planeta) because Sakura—a galaxy—is the next step. So everything makes sense. Before we arrive at that galaxy, we have to leave the planet.” Saiko discussed the EP with Apple Music, track by track. “CORLEONE” (feat. Yandel) “In Miami, I had the chance to spend time in the studio with Yandel. I played him the song, and he said right away: ‘I want to be part of this one.’ The track was already amazing—add a legend to it, it’s like a nuclear bomb. It was done really fast. Yandel is a great guy. He treated me like I was his nephew, and we got along really well.” “Éxtasisssssss” “I was a little less productive this year. Usually I’m at the studio every single day, but my tour included 90 dates, and that made it difficult to work on new material. When I decided to release an EP, I found a few songs, like this one, worth rescuing. I worked on it last summer, and I actually had forgotten who did the backing track. I lifted it from the box of unused bits, we retouched it and added bright new elements, and I ended up liking it quite a bit. I’m burned out on it now, since I’ve been listening to it for a year and a half, but it will sound fresh to the fans. I know they will love it.” “Feliz Navidad” “I went to Barcelona with my girlfriend. I was at the studio with my buddy Came—we did ‘Polaris’ together, and a few other things—and we started recording some music. I already had some of the chords, so we continued working on that vein. I even have a WhatsApp audio where I’m humming the melody, which is usually how I write my songs. It’s a good way to come up with a track really fast. Then we modified it, added lyrics and all the rest. I returned to Granada and reworked it with Uli, my producer and frequent collaborator. I wanted this EP to be a real aural experience, so we added tons of effects. Good production is essential; I want you to wear headphones and feel like the record is kissing your ears.” “Tinieblas” (feat. Justin Quiles and Raul Clyde) “I met Justin around April [2023]. We were backstage at a festival, and my manager mentioned he had uploaded a preview of a song that I really liked. He said right at that moment: ‘I’ll send it to you and you can put it out.’ Unbelievable. The backing track was from Dímelo Flow. He sent it to me, but we never found the stems, because it was two or three years old and the project got lost. We were finishing the EP and I still wanted to have this song that didn’t really exist. Suddenly my producer sends me a project titled ‘track with Justin Quiles’—he had redone everything. We worked on the production to make it more contemporary and brought on a friend of mine, Raul Clyde, a talented kid from Spain who’s starting out. I always try to lend a hand. I told Justin, and he answered the same, that he loves helping the new talent.” “Tú me calmas” “We did this one in Medellín, Colombia, at the ICON studio, which is like a little house in the mountains. There was a lot of people around; we lit a fire and did a barbecue, it was really nice. I have a lot of affection for this track, because I worked on it the first time I went to Medellín, when everything was different. I knew I wanted it to come out, but wasn’t sure when. Last year I uploaded a preview, and a lot of people started asking for it. I decided to move ahead, because in the end, this EP is dedicated to my fans—the people who follow me and want to listen to my songs.” “Siempre vas a volver” (feat. Polimá Westcoast) “I recorded this one a year ago in Medellín. I was saving it only because I was looking for the right time to release it. The other day I posted a screen capture on Twitter and everybody started asking for it. Both the lyrics and the beat are really good. This summer I invited Polimá, who was in Madrid, to go to the studio. I put it on, he loved it and recorded it right there. It’s been ready for over six months, and I was saving it for the album. My team advised me to include it on this EP, and when I finally did, everything made sense.” “Xxx_Rosario_xxX” “I believe this is my favourite song on the EP, but certainly hope that my grandma doesn’t listen to it. It’s this beat that was sent to me; I loved it from the get-go and told myself I had to do something. The following week I went to the new studio, where everything sounds incredible, and almost blew the speakers with it. This one happened effortlessly. I really wanted to have a song geared to the nightclub. This EP has tracks that could be really big in the club, and other tracks for the radio, and that’s exactly what I wanted: being everywhere at once. This one’s really wicked for the nightclub.”