Daddy Yankee knows what it takes for a Latin song to break the charts. And when Myke Towers showed him his new song “Ulala,” which dropped on Thanksgiving, Yankee understood its “global hit” potential.
While working with the same producers on their albums, Towers — who was featured on Legendaddy‘s “Pasatiempo” — decided to show the reggaetón legend his tropical-tinged pop song to see what he would think.
“[My producers] Play-n-Skillz were working on Daddy Yankee’s album at the same time as they were working on mine, so in one of these back-and-forth phone tags, Daddy Yankee told me he wanted me to hop on one of his songs, and I decided to show him ‘Ulala,’” Towers tells Rolling Stone. “Daddy Yankee knows a global hit when he hears it and he could hear the global sound on the song, just like I did.”
Like in the Mike Ho-directed video, the song has a beachside vibe as Towers sings about “enjoying the moment” as he meets a beautiful girl he knows he likely won’t see again.
“Mami rica/Ulala/No se cuanto durará/Yo se que nadie como tú lo haré/Se luce si la veo bailar,” Towers sings before Yankee joins in his signature style. (In English: “Mami rica/Ulala/I don’t know how long this last/I know that no one like you can do it like that/She shows off when I see her dance.”)
“Ulala” marks one of Towers’ first songs working with Play-n-Skillz, the Latin Grammy-winning production duo that has worked with the likes of Natanael Cano, Pitbull, and Lil Wayne.
“In one of the studio sessions, the ‘Ulala’ beat was the first song they played me,” Towers says. “The process was something magical: the song came together very quickly and smoothly, something difficult to explain, almost as if the rhythm was already telling me what to write.”
“Ulala” is the third song that Towers and Yankee have made together, after “Pasatiempo,” and last year’s “Súbele el Volumen” with Jhayco. “Ulala” is set to be featured on Towers’ upcoming album, titled Michael.
“It’s a really personal album. It shows everything I can do,” Towers told Rolling Stone earlier this year, adding how much becoming a father in 2020 has influenced his approach to his career: “Everything I’m doing isn’t even for me anymore. It’s all about [my son].”