Eladio Carrión spent the past few years establishing a huge name for himself in the Latin world, but now he's making plenty of waves in the Hip-Hop space.
On Friday, March 17, the Puerto Rican rapper released his highly-anticipated LP 3MEN2 KBRN. His latest project, which is the follow-up to his 2022 album SEN2 KBRN, Vol. 2, features a mixture of fresh songs and brand-new remixes of his previous hits. Unlike his past editions of his SEN2 KBRN series, his new album contains rare collaborations with 50 Cent, Lil Wayne, Future, Fivio Foreign, Lil Tjay, Bad Bunny and more.
"Man, I put my heart and soul on this album," Eladio tells iHeartRadio. "I'm not gonna say it's my best album because every album I drop is different. I got a special love for it, but it's definitely one of the albums that I've worked hardest on and just hope you guys enjoy it."
Eladio Carrión has been impressing fans with his bars since 2015. After collaborating with the likes of Jon Z, Myke Towers, Ñengo Flow, and Rauw Alejandro, the 28-year-old artist released his debut album Sauce Boyz Care Package featuring his hit "Kemba Walker" with Bad Bunny. The following year, he followed up with Monarca featuring his NY drill-inspired banger "Tata" featuring J Balvin. Later that year, Carrión got even more attention with the "Tata (Remix)" featuring Bobby Shmurda and Daddy Yankee.
Following the release of his stacked Sauce Boyz 2 album, Carrión decided to release his final edition of SEN2 KBRN, Vol. 2 last year. He began to work on the deluxe version of the project, but it evolved into the unique album fans will finally get to hear today. After providing a brief preview earlier this year, Eladio delivered the video for his "Mbappe (Remix)" featuring Future, which is just the beginning of what he's got to offer on his new project.
In our exclusive interview with the Latin trap star, Eladio Carrión discusses how he managed to land stand-out verses from 50 Cent, Lil Wayne, Future and more. He also talks about throwing his first-ever Sauce Boyz music festival in Puerto Rico, and his plans to bring the event around the world. Read the full conversation below.
You just dropped your new album 3MEN2 KBRN. How do you feel to be releasing your new album with some of rap's finest?
It's a dream come true, man. People who have followed me for the past couple years know that those features are very special to me. 50 [Cent] and [Lil] Wayne are the hardest rappers on Earth, you know? It's just amazing to have them on the album. I think this album is gonna be a very big cultural thing. You know, not many Latino rappers help to build that bridge between American artists and Latino artists. And I think we did a very good job doing that. I'm very happy man.
There are a lot of dope artists that are on the album. Earlier this week you dropped your “Mbappe” (Remix) with Future. Talk about that experience. What was it like linking up with Future and working with him?
Future’s a super cool guy, man. It was definitely something on my bucket list to collaborate with him. I met him in Miami. Super cool dude. He killed it. He gave me a crazy verse. So it was cool to be at eye level with him. Two hard ass trap stars doing music together. It was a good thing. My fans were really excited about it.
Yeah, man it’s definitely a big switch up from your last album. You didn't have too many features on there, but this one is obviously stacked. What inspired the switch up and what did you want do differently this time around?
With SEN2 KBRN, when I drop those, I never do features. It's just me, dolo just me. It gives me the liberty, the freedom to do anything I want because it's me alone and say anything I want. But this album started off as the deluxe album for SEN2 KBRN 2 and it just turned into this monster. I'm happy to drop projects anytime I can. It was a hard decision because when I drop SEN2 KBRN, it was the final one. I drop 'em, it's only me so to put features on a SEN2 KBRN project, I just believe [3MEN2 KBRN] was the perfect name for it. And the features are perfect, man. The songs, like how I put 'em together beat-wise, every one goes perfectly like on each track.
Yeah you got one with 50 Cent, which is huge in itself. How did you meet him and how did that collaboration happen?
Well my team is amazing. A lot of people like pulled strings together to make that happen. I met 50 in Miami. I went to one of his shows over there. I had never seen him live and he’s my favorite rapper so I had a great time there. I met him after the show and I think he hopped on the track like two weeks later. It was super cool seeing him and meeting him. Having a song with him is crazy, man. He doesn't do music anymore. Like he's on his “Power” and he's really doing “BMF”. It’s his thing. So for him to take time out of his day to come back in the booth and kill it for me, it was amazing.
Incredible. 50 doesn't work with a lot of Spanish artists, and the ones he does work with are legends like Wisin Y Yandel.
And that song was legendary. It's very hard to make a hit with Latino and American artists, but few people have done it. Wisin Y Yandel, Karol G with Nicki Minaj, and J Balvin whenever he does it. But to do it with a rapper, it's even harder. And [50 Cent, Wisin Y Yandel] killed it. That song's one of my favorite songs.
Of course, man. You’re about to do it too.
Yeah, I got the best version. I got ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’ 50. I got that “Patiently Waiting” 50. I got that.
We can't wait to hear, man. And you got another legend on there too. You recruited Lil Wayne for the project. Talk about how you landed that one.
Weezy was just a lot of manifestation, just like 50. I just think with these legends you just gotta give them the right track. You know how many rappers had to have shown songs to 50 and Wayne and nothing has happened. It's just about the right track. I think I gave him the right track when they heard each beat, they said, damn. Like, he really thought about what we like. So like, I think that was a big part of it. But it's amazing, man. I got two songs with two of my top three favorite rappers. So it's a dream come true.
You also connected with a few New York artists. You got songs with Fivio Foreign and Lil Tjay. Talk about those records. You gettin' sturdy on them?
With Fivio, we getting sturdy. That's a hard one. That's gonna go crazy in New York. The Lil Tjay one is a remix and more of a strip club joint. But, but the Fivio one is a hard ass song.
You got one more with Bad Bunny too. It’s been a minute since you both collaborated but what can the fans expect from that collaboration?
It's a different song, man. It's a crazy ass song though. They're gonna love it. They're gonna love it. There are some very, very cool bars on that song. They're gonna go crazy.
We know they’re looking out for that one. What I like about you is that your approach to Latin music is very different than a lot of reggaetoneros out there. So how do you stay true to that lane versus having to switch up to fit into the Latin world?
Yeah, I think that's one of the only reasons that I love what I do. I truly love what I do cause I really do what I want and what I like. I think my fans have grown little by little each year just understanding that. I can just drop a boom-bap tomorrow… Hip-Hop… and my fans would love it because they know I like it and they understand me. We have this understanding. I think just being true to myself for so long and not giving in gave me that power to do whatever I want. I think since I've stayed so true to my art, they respect that. They trust me when I drop something.
I’m sure your fans think you’re killing it, especially when it comes to your beat selection. I know you work with a lot of dope producers. What producers can we expect on this project?
I got best in the game, bro. (Laughs) I got Hydro, Bassy, [Foreign] Teck, DVLP, Lil Geniuz, Hide Miyabi, Lil Mexico. There's a bunch more. I usually use the same people on my albums. My producers are the biggest in the world because when they come thru, they deliver. My producers are my homies, and my boys kill it like Hydro. I’ve known Hydro since like 2016. We’ve slept on couches and the f**king floor on the floor. So for him to have done the “Mbappe” joint and the “Gladiador” joint to be like doing this s**t together is amazing. Teck is my brother. All my producers are my friends so it's amazing to create crazy music with my boys.
Dope man. That's great to hear. Now, I know you just announced your plans for a Sauce Boys Festival. Tell us about that.
Damn bro, that's the hardest festival. The Caribbean and Puerto Rico has never seen a festival like this. I don't know when we're gonna put out the lineup but bro, it's international. We got very, very, big American headliners and Latino headliners and then we got me closing the show. It’s a two day event. One day is gonna be on the west side and the other day is gonna be in the north side by San Juan. But it's gonna be an amazing event, man. I haven't seen anything like that or no other Latino doing anything like that. It's gonna be amazing, but I can't wait for people to just go and see what we've been working on for so long.