Method to the Madness: Interview with "Crazy People" Sensato
12/29/11 at 10:44 PM EST - LatinRapper.com exclusive interview

 

William Reyna, better known to his fans as Dominican-born and Bronx-bred Sensato, is blowing up in the Latin music scene.  In 2009, Sensato captured the attention of Miami rapper Pitbull thanks to his hit single Watagatapitusberry, which soared to the #4 spot on the   Billboard Latin Rhythm Charts.  One remix later with Mr. 305 and Crunk king Lil Jon, and the wheels were put in motion.   Sensato is currently enjoying worldwide buzz thanks to his latest Pitbull-featured joint "Crazy People."  LatinRapper.com spoke to Sensato and brother/manager Frank Reyna about his music and possible crossover English tracks in this exclusive interview.

LatinRapper.com: Are you working on a new album right now?

I'm working on my mixtape, I just released it.

How did you first connect with Pitbull a few years back?

After we did the Watagatapitusberry remix, Pitbull was the one that brought Lil Jon to the table.  After we did that, we just kept the relationship, and that's how we continued to work together.  Now we got the new record, Crazy People, that we're promoting.  After Watagatapitusberry, that's when the connection came.  Ever since then, we've been working on and off.

Crazy People is an infectious track, have you been getting a lot of radio play for the single?

Yeah, it's actually buzzing in Miami, L.A..  It's gonna hit harder now.  It's already getting a lot of buzz on the radio.

Who did the beat for Crazy People?

Sak Noel.

When you drop the new album, whose label will it be under?

We're working with Mr. 305 Inc. 

So it's basically Pit's label?

Yeah, pretty much.

Do you have your own label?

We have our own thing, it's called Tiburon Inc.  Which is how we started, pretty much ourselves.  Now we're going to associate with Pitbull, take it to the next level.

Have you been on tour?

Well, I was just on Pitbull's tour with Enrique Iglesias and Prince Royce.  I wasn't performing with him, but we went all over the states.  We're going to be touring now, starting this year, with Crazy People.  We gotta go really hard on it right now.

[Frank Reyna] We don't have an official tour set up, but since 2009 every weekend, thank God, we've been all over.  On the strength of mixtapes and local buzz.  Venezuela, Switzerland. We've been to Spain.

But on Pitbull's tour, there was no performing?

[Frank Reyna] He performed at one venue, one of the most important performances in France.  This well-known event, Starfloor, and Pit brought him out.  He actually performed Latinos in Paris, which is one of the remixes he has with Sensato.

You're Dominican, but from the Bronx, right?

Yeah, correct.

Were you born in the States?

I was born and raised on the Dominican Republic.  I came to New York City when I was like 12.

What part of DR are you from?

The Capital. 

Santo Domingo?

Mmm-hmm.  Santo Domingo.

How much does being Dominican factor into your music?

Well that's pretty much where I started.  That's where we came from.  All of our buzz started over there.  Once it blew up over there, it came to New York City, then it kept on spreading out.  That's the main thing, that's where I'm from, that's where my roots are at.  That's where I get influence to write all my stuff.

And your first single - I'm gonna try to say this - Watagatapata....

[laughs] Yeah, Watagatapitusberry.

That's you trying to spit game as best you can without speaking English?

Yeah, something like that.  Trying to say something, and can't really say it.

You're popular, but kind of flew under the radar until Crazy People.  Was the first single bigger in the Caribbean than in the States?

[Frank Reyna] It was charted on four different charts on Billboard at the same time.  The reason why we had probably been under the radar, it's been a long time since a Latin Rapper has been brought out.  He's going to be the first one to really have that appeal.  Pit started in English, then moved into Spanish.  Sensato is going in Spanish, with the idea of going English.

Pit is taking us to a level of doing tracks like "Crazy People" and being able to link us to people like Lil Jon. We do mixtapes to stay relevant in the streets.  But with Pit, he's going to take us out of this shell we've been in for years.  We've been working since 2004.

Have you been collaborating with other artists besides Pitbull?

I've been doing a lot of freestyle tracks, mixtape tracks.  I've had a lot of collaborations with all the artists in the Dominican Republic.  Besides Pit, this new record with Jiggy Drama and Fuego.  All the artists in the Dominican Republic, we've already worked with.  That's been the main thing since we started.

How are you looking to improve your buzz in 2012?

Well I've been constantly working for the past couple years.  Every year just keeps getting better, we've been working harder.  Now that I'm working with Pit, we're just trying to take it to the next level, you know.  Doing the right things, so we can go hard.

Fans can buy the single for Crazy People on iTunes or Amazon, but where can they download your new mixtape?

They can get it at my site, it's called www.sensatosworld.com. 

Since it's a mixtape, are you rapping over other artists' beats, or are they original beats?

It's a street mixtape.  It's a mix of remixes, original songs. 

How much of your music is in English?

It's more Spanish than English, but it has a lot of English.  I've been trying to do the Spanglish thing.  If you download the mixtape, it's almost like a Hip Hop mixtape, but in Spanish.  It has English, definitely.

Do you see yourself ever doing an all-English track for radio?

I would love to do that.

What can people do if they want to support your music?

They can call and request "Crazy People" on the radio.  They can follow me on my twitter page @Sensato, and my Facebook page.  They can go to my site and get all my videos.

Anything to add for fans?

We have the video of "Latinos in Paris" featuring Pitbull coming out on New Year's.  It's gonna be a good video, so look out for that.

[Frank Reyna] The video was actually shot in Paris.  It's also the featured performance when Pit brought Sensato out at Starfloor. 

I saw the teaser trailer for "Latinos in Paris" on Youtube a few days ago and thought, how the hell did these guys end up in Paris?

[both laugh]

[Frank Reyna] It's funny that Jay-Z and Kanye West haven't even shot a video for it yet, and here we are shooting a video.  The mixtape that came out is Volume 2, people can also download Volume 1 that came out a year ago.  People really got to know Sensato on that mixtape.

Sensato official website: http://www.sensatosworld.com

Sensato on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PapaSensato 

Sensato on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/Sensato

Sensato on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/papasensato28