‘This Is My Sober Album’: Arcángel Gets Candid About New Music, Open-Heart Surgery & ‘Being Lucid’

Last spring, Arcángel was rushed to the hospital for open-heart bypass surgery due to clear his blocked arteries. A week later, the Puerto Rican artist began working on his eighth studio album, La 8va Maravilla.

“I went into the studio with all the stitches still in,” he tells me one cloudy December afternoon in his hometown of Kissimmee, Fla. “I couldn’t stay calm because the anxiety was killing me, and I knew a depression was coming. So, I started recording all the ideas that came to my mind in the hospital. I poured all that frustration and discomfort into my lyrics.”

We are chatting in a private room at El Cilantrillo, Arcángel’s go-to Puerto Rican restaurant in Orlando, Fla., where he’s been living for five years. It’s been an ideal home base — far enough from Miami and Puerto Rico to grant him some anonymity, yet close enough to the buzz — for the renegade reggaetonero who’s become an icon of the genre despite his unapologetic and explicit lyrics; controversial tiraeras (diss tracks); and his vocal criticism of other artists from Héctor El Father to Polaco to Anuel AA.

Yet here he is: the artist born Austin Agustín Santos is now 40 years old, a grandfather, still recording and, for the first time, sober. Today, Arcángel is a transformed man.

“This is my sober album, where I didn’t need to smoke,” he says. “The open-heart surgery made me realize that I don’t need [to consume] anything to create. I can create at any time, even in my worst moments. If for 20 years I created music in a not-so-healthy way, making music during very dark times, imagine what I can do now that I’m sober and feeling better personally.”

La 8va Maravilla — the title refers to his nickname — represents an unlikely midlife refresh that started with a 17-day trip across the Seven Wonders of the World last October (seven months after his surgery), with 14 team and family members in tow.

“We were looking for a different marketing approach for the album. We wanted to do something that made sense beyond simple promotion,” explains Arcángel, a history buff who’s long collected National Geographic magazines. “I am La Maravilla [The Wonder]. We’re going to visit the Seven Wonders before the eighth. The eighth wonder is me, the only one who walks and sings… the others are monuments that don’t move.”

“He entered a phase of self-care,” says his manager, Omar “Omi” Rivera, who is also founder of Omi Entertainment. “He called me one day and said he felt clearheaded, that he was seeing everything differently and more clearly now.”

La 8va Maravilla, set for release Jan. 15 under Rimas Entertainment, is Arcángel’s most mature and experimental album to date, packed with merengue, afro house, banda, Jersey club, pop and his signature R&B and reggaetón sound, as well as romantic, tasteful and faith-based lyrics — far from the underground, polemical, and racy identity that helped fuel his success 20 years ago.

“Ten years ago, he released a song called ‘Tremenda Sata.’ Back then, the genre wasn’t as mainstream, and it was even less common to call a woman a sata (Puerto Rican slang to describe a provocative woman),” Rivera explains. “As his manager, I thought the song wouldn’t work; I didn’t want him to release it. But Arca always told me to trust him, and surely enough, the song was a hit. From that moment on, I stopped doubting Austin’s art, because every song connects and has something special. With La 8va Maravilla, I have no doubts whatsoever; on the contrary, he still connects with young people. It’s an album that shows his maturity; it’s very musical and serious.”

The set also includes notable collaborations with Ricky Martin, Beéle and Grupo Firme.

“Edgar Barrera sent me the song [‘Cuánto Cuesta’], and I loved it from the first listen. I even suggested bringing in the band to give it that Firme touch,” Grupo Firme frontman Eduin Caz says of the track penned by Barrera with Keityn and Arcángel. “There was incredible chemistry between Arcángel and us. We spent a lot of time together in the days leading up to the release, hanging out and getting to know each other beyond the music, and I think that’s reflected on the song. I have enormous respect for him because of the genuine interest he showed in our culture,” he adds — a sentiment echoed repeatedly by numerous artists when speaking about Arcángel. “We had such an amazing time that we even ended up getting tattoos together.”

Over the years, Arcángel — slim and small in stature but with a powerful, raspy voice — has earned his stature as one of reggaetón’s most influential and enduring artists.

The rapper kicked off his career in 2004 as part of the underground duo Arcángel & De La Ghetto, breaking out in 2007 when Yaga & Mackie’s “Aparentemente” (on which they were featured) entered Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs, Latin Airplay, Tropical Airplay and Latin Rhythm Airplay charts. The following year, Arcángel released his debut solo album, El Fenómeno, under his own label, Flow Factory; it peaked at No. 14 on Top Latin Albums and No. 3 on Top Latin Rhythm Albums.

Arcángel proved to be ahead of his time in the early 2000s, when he became one of the first reggaetón artists to experiment with Latin trap and R&B, bringing a progressive and futuristic sound to the genre, as heard on songs such as “Pa’ Que La Pases Bien,” ”Por Amar a Ciegas” and “Chica Virtual.”

“That’s the OG,” says Eladio Carrión, whose first major collaboration was with Arcángel in 2021 on “Como Sea.” “It’s everything, from his voice to his beat selection. He’s always been ahead of the game. If you hear his old music, it’s like he went to the future, came back and recorded those.”

Arcángel has charted regularly on Billboard since his first entry in 2006 with his feature on Jowell & Randy’s ”Agresivo,” which reached No. 27 on the Latin Rhythm Airplay chart. In 2012, he signed a record and management deal with producer Rafael “Raphy” Pina’s Pina Records, where he was co-­managed by Pina and Rivera. Under the label, he scored many Billboard hits. Most notably, his album Sentimiento, Elegancia y Maldad conquered the Top Latin Albums chart in 2013 — his only No. 1 album and his first entry on the Billboard 200.

It was the beginning of a solo career that’s seen him eschew casual perreo for deep, thought-provoking music. But in 2018, the artist decided to part ways with Pina due to personal issues and negotiated himself out of his contract. His career stagnated for a year, until he signed a deal with the then-emerging label Rimas Entertainment in 2019, which helped put him back on the map. Under Rimas, he scored a pair of No. 3-peaking singles on Hot Latin Songs: 2019’s “Sigues con Él” with Sech and 2022’s “La Jumpa” with Bad Bunny. The former topped the Latin Rhythm Airplay and Latin Airplay charts.

“I was in a place where I no longer felt comfortable, and I was being punished for not being like them, for having a different way of thinking,” Arcángel says of breaking ties with Pina Records. “I’m grateful for my experience during the years I was at Pina because we created great hits, but the change was necessary. Since [joining Rimas], I’ve been successful again. I teamed up with people whose job is to propel me to the highest level they can.”

But beyond the timeless hits, the strong-willed and self-confident Arcángel has become an avid supporter of next-gen stars including Bad Bunny, Young Miko, Feid, Grupo Frontera, Maria Becerra and Carrión.

“He really is an inspiration to me, not only because of his trajectory but because of his work ethics,” Carrión says. “He’s top-tier in reggaetón and has done a lot for the genre. Not only does he do all types of music, but he taps in with the younger cats. That’s the key. It’s about recognizing that the genre is going in a certain direction, accepting that and going with the flow. His legacy is already there. He’s just doing some overtime.”

That overtime includes an extensive 2026 tour in support of his new album. Ahead of the release and the trek, Arcángel sat down for a candid conversation with Billboard Español.

Thank you for receiving us in your hometown in Florida. What does a “day off” typically look like for you?

When I’m home, I try to dedicate as much time as I can to my house. I don’t go out, but if I do, it’s only to the gas station to buy a soda because I like the ice from the machine — I don’t have shaved ice at home. If I’m not sleepy, I walk around the house brainstorming. You always have to be thinking, even when you have free time; there’s never really any free time when it comes to planning the next move. I don’t have a studio, but I do have an emergency setup for making music.

So you only stay indoors?

I have a room that I call the “John Wick Room” because I like shooting. I have a lot of guns… it’s legal here in Florida. I really enjoy it; it’s one of my passions. When I’m not doing anything else, sometimes I go to the shooting range.

The concept of visiting the Seven Wonders of the World as a promotion for La 8va Maravilla is brilliant.

At first, the album didn’t have that name. In fact, the name came about exactly a week before this Seven Wonders journey began. The album was called Lúcido [Lucid] because I’m in this state of clarity now where I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, and my mind is very clear. Before, I smoked a lot of marijuana, but the reality is that since I stopped smoking, I think much faster. In fact, I feel faster than everyone around me; now I find them slow. I really catch on to things very quickly. That’s when I realized how slow I was while I was smoking weed. If you need some kind of drug to create, then you’re not a very good creator, you know?

Is it safe to say that you’re completely sober?

Yes. I mean, I still drink, but not with the same intensity as before, and I have much more control. It’s all for the sake of my health, and I have no problem doing it because, honestly, I feel much better. I’m in the best mental state I’ve ever been in.

What does your creative process look like now?

It starts the moment I open my eyes. My computer never stops working. There’s no free time for thinking. Now more than ever, with my age and the length of my career, I’m always thinking about what’s next. I don’t want to be a 50-year-old singing reggaetón. Within the standards I have for the genre and as a person, I don’t think the urban music scene would look favorably on a 50-year-old man singing the kinds of topics we usually sing. I have a daughter who’s almost 18, Lucero, and there will come a time when, because of my age and maturity, there are certain topics I can’t sing about anymore.

When we last spoke in 2024, you said, “Reggaetón is musically poor in every aspect, and Mexican music is very rich.” Do you still feel that way?

Always. I’ll give you an example: In Mexico, there’s a reggaetón movement and many artists who want to sing reggaetón. In Puerto Rico, there’s no regional Mexican music movement. The best Latin voices, for me, are all in Mexico. But yes, I’ll stand by that statement all the time because it’s the same here, on the moon and everywhere in the world. I belong to one of the poor-quality musical genres, and thank God I owe everything to that genre. I’m not criticizing it; I’m just stating the truth. Compared to other musical genres, it’s not as rich as ballads, pop, salsa, merengue or regional Mexican music, which all use live instruments. We’re good with just a little keyboard and a computer. I love reggaetón, don’t get me wrong. Everything I am, everything my family is about to become, generations that haven’t even been born yet will benefit from reggaetón and what I’ve managed to achieve. I represent my genre wherever I go.

On that note, how was the experience of performing at a Palenque [Mexico’s traditional fairground arena venue] in Mexico with Grupo Firme for the first time?

Let’s say there are 5,000 people at a rodeo arena, and 20,000 at a stadium like El Choli [Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot]. I had never had the opportunity to sing for an audience so close, so intense and so wonderful. These people matched the energy of 15,000 people or more. I remember that before singing, I asked Eduin what I should sing, and they wanted me to sing “La Jumpa” because the crowd would go wild. At the same time, I’m not the kind of person who doubts myself much; my self-esteem has always been through the roof, but I felt a little nervous there. At first, observing the audience, I didn’t see anyone who seemed to listen to my music… everyone was wearing cowboy hats, dressed very elegantly… but he was right, everyone sang the song, and that set the energy. I even drank tequila from the audience!

Listening to your album, I was very surprised to hear your collaboration with Ricky Martin, “Lluvia.”

Ricky Martin has been one of my biggest idols since I was a child. I still think he’s the greatest artist in Latin American history. Ever since my career started, I’ve always said that the ultimate goal would be if I could ever record with Ricky Martin. I’ve been saying this for at least 20 years, at least once a year.

You manifested it.

My manager is good friends with one of his best friends and that’s how everything came together. And I thought, “Does Ricky Martin even know who I am? Has he heard all the crazy things I’ve said, all the wild things I’ve sung? How does he see me?” I’ve always respected his art, but maybe he doesn’t have much respect for the music I make. But the reality is that he does know who Arcángel is; he has listened to Arcángel’s music; and he respects me just as much as I respect him. I had the opportunity to go to his house, and I became a fanboy again. Forget about Arcángel, I went back to being little Austin. That’s a win already. He’s a tremendous person: very human, very decent, very genuine.

It’s a very sexy song… tasteful but not vulgar. Another track that caught my attention is “Di Amén.” I’d like to say it’s the first Christocentric song in your catalog.

It represents the beginning of a new era. I’m not religious; I don’t represent any church. I don’t believe in man, I believe in God. I have a completely direct relationship with him. The song is simply me saying who I am, and I don’t have to be like any man tells me I have to be to please Christ. In the song, I’m also showing off because I’m saying I have RIAA-certified records; I’m saying I’m a millionaire. In the song, I even talk about paparazzi because I’m shining — all these things a typical Christian song doesn’t have. This song is very much in Arcángel’s style, giving thanks to the father for all the blessings.

What do you mean exactly when you say, “the beginning of a new era”?

I’m clear about this, and there will come a point when I will get closer to him. I’m at a more mature age now, and I don’t intend to sing reggaetón for much longer. I have thoughts of retiring young someday because my genre doesn’t allow me to continue for too long — this is a genre that goes hand in hand with youth. I’m already a grown man. I just don’t have the same energy. I’m tired. This song is from a different perspective on how you can praise Christ, and I think it’s one of the most special on the whole album because it lets people know that God is the beginning and the end.

The album has everything from merengue to banda and very few reggaetón songs. Why did you decide to take this experimental approach?

I have different types of fans. I’ve been catering to the people who like my street music for a while now. Since 2021, my mind hasn’t been so focused on commercial music; I had a lot of anger inside. The musical vibe was different. Over time, I’ve been healing despite the many challenges God has put in my path. I decided to please the fans I’ve neglected… the fans who truly appreciate good music… those who want to hear something amazing. I decided to go back to the basics with a new level of maturity. The same essence, but a different person, 20 years later. We’re continuing with the music that launched me into the world.

The intro is very powerful and truly captures your 20 years of music. I love the lyric where you say, “It wasn’t luck for me; I had to be strong.”

There are people who say it was luck because I don’t have talent. For those people who think it was luck, no, it wasn’t. I come from a place where opportunities are very scarce. I grew up with people who are no longer in this world, and I grew up with people who are now living dead, who are in prison. Luck? My ass. I had to work to get here. I didn’t win the lottery. Opinions are respectable — it’s virtuous to be able to respect someone else’s opinion even if you don’t agree with them. The virtue of me organizing words and putting them in order and being able to evoke different types of emotions in different types of personalities, that’s a great talent.

You also say, “20 years in the business and this still isn’t over.” What comes next?

I see [my career in] music as I recorded with the final boss, Ricky Martin, in my opinion; I’ve sung on very important stages around the world; we’ve made enough money in this industry to secure a couple of generations of the Santos family name. [Now] I want to create brands that will be very valuable in the future. We have several brands: I have the medical cannabis brand, I’m working on a champagne, and we have After, which is a hydration drink.

Generational wealth is important to you.

It’s one of my biggest dreams, even if I’m not here on this earth. My life will be fulfilled when I’m gone and when my future generations explain to their friends that they are rich thanks to this guy right here. That will be one of my greatest rewards, when my future grandchildren’s friends ask them who I was, and they say, “That’s the patriarch of my family, the one who started it all. We are rich thanks to that man.”