We have a really cool relationship because I talk to my son like he's my little homie. I try to be the cool dad, like, 'What's up? How many girls you have?'

I feel the first award any artist can have is his audience.

Part of my success with urban bachata is reinventing yourself as an artist and continuing to give people different kind of fusions, mixing up the elements and concepts without changing the beat.

I grew up listening to bachata, to some of the greats of the genre. But it was very natural for me to create this type of fusion and to incorporate new beats.

Usher is so innovative - he's a great performer, a great entertainer.

I will drink alcohol socially. That's really on the weekends.

Once an artist makes his personal life public, he can't close that door.

My mother at a young age put me in bilingual, so my strength is really more in Spanish. Even though I live and I was born and raised in the States, you know, in the Bronx, in Spanish I get my point across. And when I'm writing music, when I'm doing music, it's easier for me, and I know exactly how to express myself.

I've learned that you can do something great, but you have to continue reinventing yourself as an artist. So by the time someone else is copying your style, you have something else to offer your audience.

I think you have a crossover when you are known to a wider audience and a different market. I've been able to sell out stadiums all over the world by doing my music. I'm lucky to be in that list without having done an official crossover. Now, will you hear me doing a little bit of R&B? Sure.

I don't like planning what am I gonna say to the crowd. Sometimes the show takes a whole different twist.

In bachata, you had these guys that used to wear suits and had a really traditional style. We looked different. Baggy jeans. We had the Spanglish going on, and I knew that was going to work to our advantage.

You can have the best product, but if you don't have a plan - a label pushing it, the support of a network - you can't make it big with a product. It's all about distribution.

I come from the Bronx, so I was exposed to every type of music you can think of.

I really just compete against myself. I look at my previous material and try to surpass what I've done.

English is my first language, but musically speaking, I write my music in Spanish.

If I'm performing in the United States, I'm able to speak Spanglish, and the crowd comprehends. If I'm in the Dominican Republic or Puerto Rico, then I'm completely Spanish. I feel like a New Yorker that represents all Latinos.

I would always talk with my friends in English and Spanglish, but it was more like slang. It was more like, 'Yo, what's up, dog?' But in Spanish, I know what's proper, and what's ghetto. I know the difference.

If you put out quality music, you're always going to be in a good place.

I like my music to be like a buffet. If you don't like this plate, there's another one for you.

My first meal when I wake up is five boiled eggs, egg whites, and a slice of whole wheat bread.

'Despacito' is phenomenal; you can't really chase that type of success. I'm a huge fan of the record, the original, and then when the remix came out, I said, 'Oh my God, it just got greater!'

My dad is Dominican, my mother's Puerto Rican, and I got into bachata at the age of 10 or 11. When I started listening, it had a reputation for being music for hick people. I thought that had to be changed. I was born and raised in the Bronx, and I knew you make something cool if you're cool.

I'm really, really grateful. I don't take anything for granted.