Fatherhood has completely transformed Camilo’s life. Last September, the Colombian Grammy-winning singer released his third studio album, “De Adentro Pa’ Afuera,” shortly after his wife, singer-songwriter Evaluna Montaner, gave birth to their daughter Indigo.
“When I released ‘De Adentro Pa’ Afuera,’ my third album, it was really an exploration of a lot of things that were happening inside of me and that I really wanted to share with people,” Camilo tells POPSUGAR. “Because I mean, ideas are only real and valuable in terms of how can you impact other people’s lives, right?”
When Camilo hit the road for his De Adentro Pa’ Afuera tour last May with his team, his wife, and his baby girl, who was just 40 days old, he knew he was in for the experience of his life. But what he didn’t expect was that his free street concert in Spain in October of 2022 would inspire him to create a deluxe album with live recordings from that show.
“What I lived in my tour transformed me in a tremendous way. The way I saw how people were grabbing those songs and making them feel part of their lives and telling their own stories through my songs – it felt like a need of my soul to immortalize those versions with their voices singing to me and my people,” he says. “We were singing before to them in a new version of my album. So, when I listened to those songs and I listened to their voices, I just feel like the circle of the intention of the album is absolutely complete.”
Camilo was very intentional about the live recordings he selected for the deluxe version because doing the entire album live “would be too long.” The ones he included were “really special,” he says: “KESI,” “Por Primera Vez,” “5:24,” “De Adentro Pa Afuera,” “Tutu,” and “Vida de Rico.”
“We were like, if we’re going to immortalize this, let’s think about what songs were very meaningful in the connection we had with La Tribu – the people on the other side of the microphone,” he explains.
La Tribu refers to the Grammy-winning singer’s loyal fanbase, whom he wanted to include in this deluxe album. It’s his way of letting them know how much their presence and their voices impact him when he’s performing in front of them. His wife, Evaluna, was also very much a part of the tour – and not just when it came to joining him on the stage.
“She’s the director of all my music videos, all my performances, the entire tour and the design of everything, of the visual experience in the tour, everything in my career and in my life goes through her filter,” Camilo shares. “And almost all of my songs are inspired by her and are songs that I intentionally sing to her . . . she’s la protagonista of every story that I write – she’s the main character and I enjoy her so much and traveling is so awesome with her.”
And as he looks back at the hell of a year he’s had between becoming a father, releasing a new album, and touring with his family, he’s realized he’s learned so much – from both the good and the challenges.
“It was easier with the baby than without the baby,” Camilo says. “The baby brought a lot of challenges and a lot of ways to anchor yourself at the moment . . . and that brought us so much order and enjoyment.”
Since the tour ended, Camilo has been prioritizing time for rest and restoration. The singer, who identifies as a highly spiritual person and has been open about his faith, tries to make time for stillness and meditation every day. He and his wife are also mindful of disconnecting from the rush of the day-to-day by putting their cell phones on airplane mode during the first hour or so of the day and the hour before going to bed.
Camilo says he tries to have a daily practice of meditation and conscious breathing when he wakes up and again in the afternoon. For him, hustle culture isn’t the right path forward. “The way of ‘I’m just going to burn myself out and then I’ll have one day of vacation’ – I think that’s unhealthy and it doesn’t work. It doesn’t work in the long-term, and I want to be a long-term artist,” he says. “So, we try to make every day a healthy combination of rest and activity.”
Camilo is also making time to give back. He recently partnered with McDonald’s for the brand’s newest launch of Ritmo y Color, “a curated fusion of art and music experiences created to fuel Latino pride while elevating the voices and stories of our communities.” The campaign featured a series of live performances at McDonald’s restaurant locations across six US cities, which were each transformed by artwork created by a local Latine artist. From June 26 to July 18, Camilo’s fanbase also had the chance to vote from one of the six participating cities for his next live concert destinations. The two winning markets will be announced in two weeks and the two live concerts will be in September and October in one of the six markets: Miami, New York, San Jose, Dallas, San Antonio, or Chicago.
“My music is a celebration of who I am, but there’s no way of talking about who I am without talking about being Latino and being proud of being Latino,” Camilo says. “So, [Ritmo y Color] is a great opportunity to share with everybody more layers of how awesome it is to be Latino. . . . It’s an excuse to keep celebrating who we are and I’m proud of it.”
