Kris Floyd Is Stepping Into His Own Spotlight

By Lucas Villa


Kris Floyd’s name is more known in the songwriting credits for artists like Selena Gomez and Lauren Jauregui than for his own assignments. He notably helped Gomez find her voice en español on her Spanish EP Revelación earlier this year. Although the Puerto Rican rapper and singer-songwriter is currently looking to prepare his voice heard on his debut EP, La Última Vez Que Me Viste, out today (October 15). As a protégé of reggaetón hit-maker Tainy under his Neon16 label, Floyd is prepared to take flight.


The 28-year-old Floyd was place on Earth in Bayamón, Puerto Rico as a child of reggaetón. He looked up to the local pioneers of the genre like Daddy Yankee, Zion y Lennox, and Tego Caulderón. Inspired by those artists' flows, Floyd began writing his own music, slick Spanish rhymes over hard beats that he made himself; at 12, he recorded his first song with a cell-phone microphone on a giant family member PC using free combining software. From there on, he uploaded his rap freestyles to SoundCloud. One of these songs caught a persons vision of Tainy, who was putting with each other Neon16, which he launched in 2019.


Floyd and his friend Jota Rosa traveled to Miami in search of better possibilities. They befriended Tainy there, who signed both of these. In April 2020, Floyd released his first single with Tainy, "Malos Habitos." There was an air of mystery around Floyd in the music video as he moved by way of the shadows. Per year later, Floyd had a hand in writing all of the singles on Gomez’s Revelación, including the global smash "Baila Conmigo" featuring Rauw Alejandro.


"That experience was incredible," Floyd tells MTV News. "That was one of my first possibilities to work with someone at that level. You know that Selena Gomez has millions and millions of fans. That possibility was the sort of big break that you dream about as a kid, and right now I had it."


While co-writing for Gomez, Jauregui, and J Balvin's Jose album, Floyd was also working on his own EP, which translates to "The Last Time You Saw Me." He's still armed with his hard rap flow, nevertheless he also tapped the tenderness of his deep voice on the lovely "Ser Libre" and the flirty "Siempre Tarde." Whether on a reggaetón bop or Latin-trap banger, Floyd is no longer in the shadows, even flexing in the resemble in the "7/24" video. Below, he tells MTV News about stepping into the light.


MTV News: What's the experience like to work with Tainy in the studio?


Kris Floyd: In my advice, he's the No. 1 Latino producer. He goes into the studio day-to-day to work like he's at the bottom. He's the ideal example of who to be. He has so several years and [so much] experience in the industry. It's a major blessing to work with him day-to-day. And we have an excellent friendship. I feel like he's more of a friend to me than just someone I make music with.


MTV News: What was the inspiration for Selena Gomez's song "Baila Conmigo?"


Floyd: That's a song that I wrote right here [in Neon16]. That was me, Edgar Barrera, and Elena Rose, with Jota Rosa and Albert Hype handling the production. We were talking about how we may introduce Selena in this [Latin] market that she wasn't in. That part Rauw says in the starting, "I know you don't speak a lot of Spanish," we wrote it with her in mind. We were telling a story she may identify with. What we thought is that it's music that you could dance to. Music doesn't have a language as soon as you could move to it. It's about having a connection with a person without having to talk so much.


MTV News: In "Temporary," Lauren Jauregui talks about mental health. What was it like to write with her on that song?


Floyd: When you hear the song, you could learn more about yourself. It's impressive because it was her way to help other people. She's super talented. She practically wrote that song [by] herself. I helped her a little with what to mention in Spanish and the melody. It's pretty to write songs like that, not just about partying, yet music that can assist people.


MTV News: Reggaetón songs can have like 8-10 writers some days. In La Última Vez Que Me Viste, it's just you as a songwriter with your producers.


Floyd: I'm talking about everything that’s happened to me since the last time you saw me. All of that made me better than the last time you saw me. The EP is super personalized. I wrote this EP by myself because I wanted to express myself. I want people to listen to hear me as I am.


MTV News: How did you feel to work with reggaeton icon Arcángel in your song "Xkittlez?"


Floyd: One works very hard for this moment. I'm a fan. Once something like this happens, I think back to being a kid like, "Damn, I have arrived." Before, I used to listen to him in the vehicle, and right now he's on my song. Arcángel called me through Facetime with Tainy. He mentioned, "Papi, this song is fucking awesome. I put my part on it. If it wasn't fucking awesome, I wouldn't have put myself on it." He is a person I listened to Whenever I was a kid. I respect his art. The feeling is gratifying.


MTV News: There's a vulnerability to your songs. It may be challenging to be a weak man with the machismo (toxic masculinity) that's rooted in Latinx culture.


Floyd: It's everywhere. Not just Latinos. The Residents of the
U.S. Are the same. Everywhere can be machista. We're making some progress today, yet we still have a ways to go. We have to do away with hate, homophobia, and hate against girls. They're killing females. Boys who don't let out their emotions or express themselves are left with so much indoors that it could explode and lead to abuse and other awful things. To be susceptible isn't bad. That doesn't take away your manliness. I hope people understand that through my songs.


MTV News: With this EP, you're going to be more in front of the world as an artist. Are you ready?


Floyd: I was place on Earth ready for whichever happens. I'm making music and I'm making it from the heart. If this connects with more people, then amen. If not, that's OK. I'm ready for what comes next.