Angel León, formerly Foolish Heart (aka Luis Nunez) released an all-Spanish EP entitled Te Hago Falta, which roughly translates to "You're Missing Me" in English. This new EP by León represents his growth as an artist, and also shows off his talent of blending both the Latin and Trap genres of music. Songs on this project like "Estas Aqui?" (Are You Here), "Rebatao" (High As Hell), and "Me Quieres/Me Odias" (You Love Me/You Hate Me) serve as great examples to his success as an artist. This is because they allow León to prove himself to be something more than just a Foolish Heart, who is constantly Chasing Heartbreaks.
Be sure to listen to this interview with Angel León by subscribing to Turnt Abel on Apple Podcasts, and on SoundCloud. Check out Te Hago Falta out now on all major streaming platforms, and stay updated on Angel León by checking out his website; staybroken.co
The last time we spoke you had just released the track "No Ties" produced by DMaul, what have you been up to since then?
"Just new name change, working on music and working at Apple. It's pretty good, it's a place where the employee is right instead of the customer always being right."
You recently changed your name from Foolish Heart to Angel León, why the sudden name change?
"Reason for the name change was that I felt that Foolish Heart put me in a box. You hear the name Foolish Heart and you think he probably makes sad music or whatever the case may be. I felt like it put me in a box, like if I were to expand out of it, people would stray away from listening. Also, it's not something that's easy to say in other languages. So, I came up with Angel Leon. My middle name is Angel, and León means lion in Spanish. Lions have been my favorite animal since I was born, and they're seen as the king of the jungle, so it's a powerful name."
I understand that you have an EP called Te Hago Falta coming out this Friday, tell me a little bit about the creation of that EP?
"Te Hago Falta is more like you're missing me basically the other person has this empty space in their life because I'm the missing piece."
Where did the name for the EP come from?
"I had been listening to the songs and they were done for the most part and I was thinking about it for days on end. The more I listened to it the more I realized that these songs are very self-empowered. Usually I focus on how I'm missing the other person, or caught up in a situation where you're the one who misses me. This is definitely the most selfish project I've worked on. I feel like people will gravitate to that because its something that I've come up with, like I'll talk about you, but we're talking about me this time."
What made you want this EP to be completely in Spanish?
"I wanted this EP to be in Spanish because my dad doesn't speak English, so I wanted something that he could listen to and be proud of. Him and some of my family listen to Latin/Spanish music, so it's something to give them. I can be very diverse so I can do music in English and Spanish. Its also something different, something to challenge myself. As an artist you have to challenge yourself to take it to the next level. I feel that an all-Spanish EP for people to vibe to would be perfect and right now Latin music is thriving. Even if people don't understand the language, they can still vibe to it."
Will there be an English version of the Te Hago Falta?
"There won't be an English version of the EP, but I will be working on a project in English under Angel León very soon. It probably will be done by the Fall depending on the reviews and reactions of the Latin EP, I might drop it then, or if people are still really heavy with it, I'll keep pushing that."
Who took the cover photo?
"The cover photo was shot by this girl named Gaby, her Instagram name is 'tubbyg' she got some drone shots, we went to this place in Narragansett, shout out to them because they gave us 15 minutes with a canoe for free. We were going to rent it out but they were like 'If you're only going to use it for 15 or 20 minutes, we'll let you use it.' So, we had this canoe, and I wasn't even in the water, they had this grass patch on the side and we put the canoe on the grass patch and she took a few drone shots from above. My boy in Boston does Photoshop professionally so he photo-shopped me in this nice ocean and it came out phenomenal."
Who produced Te Hago Falta?
"The entire EP is produced by one of my best friends, he goes by Mizuchi and he's produced quite a few tracks for me. He produced a lot of the stuff from Tomfoolery, he produced Chasing Heartbreaks and the 'No Ties' remix. We've been working since forever, and he's also Hispanic as well. I flew out to Florida to go see him and we hung out for about a week and then we came up with all the production together, and most of the lyrics."
Where can listeners hear Te Hago Falta?
"When it comes out it will be everywhere. Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, SoundCloud, YouTube, Deezer, Google Music, Amazon. I have a distributor called DistroKid and they are one of the best distributors out there. They have great customer support."
You've also released a video for the EP, what song is playing in the video?
"Its more of a promo video than anything. The Lemonade video was just for promotion the song playing in the background will be on the EP and is called 'Rebatao' which means two things. Mostly it means high as hell. But it can also mean drunk or lit, but people mostly use it for high. Like if you're drinking and smoking, you are rebatao."
You've made difference music videos in the past, like for "Feeling Myself," "Lonely," and "Switch Up," what was it like making this new promo video? Do you have any plans on creating a music video for this upcoming EP?
"Making the video was really fun, I got to shoot it in my uncles' neighborhood. It was nice and quiet so I had the space to do multiple takes. I was running for at least seven or eight takes and that was very tiring. But it was cool just because I was thinking of how the movie money was going to come out of the duffel and I was like 'damn I hope it comes out good' and it was hitting my side as I ran and it was perfect. As the EP goes, I will be dropping music videos, I have two or three in mind but it depends on the reception of the EP. I'll be working with JPEG Johnny for that."
You have been described as being the "Hispanic Jonas Brother" on the origins section of our staybroken website, how do you feel that this nickname accurately portrays you and the music you make?
"Back in the day I used to sing for school events, and events in the Dominican Republic. Out there they would call me the Hispanic Jonas Brother because I would be singing the Jonas Brother songs and kid friendly song. For Mother's Day I sang 'Would You Look Me in the Eyes.' I wouldn't say that I still am the Hispanic Jonas Brother, but I do put in some rock influence in some of the stuff I release. Its still kind of in me."
Your music has taken a slight change in language recently, blending both Spanish and English together, what made you want to blend both of these languages?
"The blend is so people can see that I'm not doing take after take. I'm fluent in Spanish so its not something that I'm unfamiliar with. Spanish people get hyped when there's English words in Spanish songs, and vice versa with English people. It's also kind of like a shock factor."
Your origins section also states that you identify the most with Lil Wayne, what about his music or his style do you identify the most with?
"Lil Wayne is one of the reasons why I started making music back when I was 14 or 15. I had recently come back from the Dominican Republic, out there he was big. Not a lot of rap artists make it out to other countries like that. He was my introduction to rap music, and at the time, the radio played all Young Money. Hearing the punchlines and hearing him made me want to be like that. Still today he's very big inspiration."
What is your favorite song on the EP and why?
"That's tough. I would probably say my favorite is track three 'Me Falta Tu Amore' that says I'm in need of your love. That one has an 80's vibe to it, its very EDM-ish but without the drop. It has a lot of electric sounds to it and hard-hitting kicks. I love the way I came on the track; I have a lot of vocal tracking so it sounds like a chorus. I had a lot of fun making this track."
Your music has evolved so much from your first EP Chasing Heartbreaks, what about you do you feel has changed the most about you since that EP?
"Since then I have been able to take my personal experiences, or the experiences of those around me, and make them into a general story that is more relatable. Before I got too much into detail to where it sounded like a personal diary more than something for others to experience. Its nice to have personal detail in songs, but as a songwriter I find that you need to find a balance between personal detail and being relatable. I feel like my songwriting has gotten better, and I feel like my creative direction has gotten better. I think about ideas more thoroughly than before. Before it was off of instinct but now I think about how I want things to be portrayed and how they should look. I feel like I've gotten better as a rapper, singer, and artist in general, my mind works differently than from that first project."
What venue is your favorite to play at and why?
"My favorite venue unfortunately closed; it was Aurora. It was a great club, great bar, great stage presence. But currently Dusk has been pretty good as well. It has a very intimate vibe to it, and the people there are really great."
As an independent artist, are you looking to get signed or would you prefer to be independent?
"I would prefer to be independent because I get 100 percent creative control. But if the right deal comes around where we're both on the same terms and agreement, I wouldn't mind getting signed."
What is the most important thing to you about being an independent artist?
"I would say the creative direction. Make the music I want without thinking about needing to make a radio hit."
What is your desert island album?
"It probably wouldn't be a Lil Wayne album because in the desert I would need a more chill vibe. I'll put two albums in, either Free 6lack by 6lack or Watching Movies with the Sound Off by Mac Miller."
How do you feel about Kanye running for President in 2020?
"So, I'm not opposed for Kanye running for president. People think that because he's cool with Trump means that he has the same ideas as him but I don't believe so. He explained that he did everything he did because. He took a hit to his image to fight for what he believed in. I feel like Kanye has a lot of great ideas, some are bad and some are good, he's human. I do feel like he should've waited to run, because it's a terrible idea to run right now. Maybe in 2024."
Is there anything else you wanted to say or anyone you wanted to shout out before this interview ends?
"Shout out to everyone who has been supporting me, Mizuchi for producing the project, Johnny for shooting the videos, Tubbyg for the cover art. Shout out to my management Listen Entertainment, they're going to be doing my merch so I'll have shirts and hats coming out. Follow me on all the socials, its AngelLeónPVD on everything, follow Listen Clothing (listenco_), and I hope everyone enjoys this project."