By Giselle Medina | 23 June 2023
“La gente quieren saber, quien es Don Juan?” (The people want to know, who is Don Juan?) That is how the Instagram reel posted by Colombian artist Maluma on May 22 started, officially announcing the 2023 North American dates for his Don Juan World Tour.
Maluma had been teasing us about a tour for a couple of days prior to when he posted a steamy poolside photo dump with the caption ‘Calentando pa’ la gira’ (Warming up for the tour).
But the question remains: Who is Don Juan? 2023 debuted the Colombian artist’s new alter ego “Don Juan” after parting ways with his “Papi Juancho” era in an Instagram post last December.
But back to the tour. Produced by CMN (Cardenas Marketing Network), the Don Juan World Tour follows Maluma’s 2021-2022 Papi Juancho World Tour. The tour, which consisted of 27 shows ranging from the United States to Asia, grossed $24 million according to Billboard. This landed him at No. 14 on Billboard’s Top Tours of 2021 list. “Don Juan” will be kicking off his tour on Aug. 3 at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California, and ending his U.S. stay on Nov. 14 at the Kaseya Center in Miami. In between, he will be performing in cities such as Seattle, Las Vegas, Houston, New York City and Atlanta.
As an avid fan of Maluma since his ‘Pretty Boy, Dirty Boy’ days, here are 10 songs released before 2023 and some artists I’m hoping will make an appearance on his setlist:
This list does not include the songs that were released at the start of Maluma’s “Don Juan” era.
1. ‘Tengo Un Amor’, ‘Pretty Boy, Dirty Boy’ with Leslie Grace. The ‘In the Heights’ star has such a delicate voice which would be amplified if intertwined with Maluma’s smooth voice in a live performance.
2. ‘Carnaval’, ‘Pretty Boy, Dirty Boy’ A soft song that converts into a party/dance anthem which will intensify the spirits of the crowd. It just makes you want to jump up and dance.
3. 'El Préstamo', ‘F.A.M.E’ The definition of Latin Pop, bringing in upbeat music stylings to reggaeton. But the song does more for the reggaeton genre, experimenting with dashes of salsa that expanded the Colombian artist’s versatility.
4. ‘Felices los 4’, ‘F.A.M.E’ For this one, I am imagining 3 different scenarios:
The solo version.
The salsa version, a styling that was teased throughout the ‘F.A.M.E.’ album from songs like 'El Préstamo' and ‘Delicuente’. In this scenario, I can see Maluma starting off the same way as the original but switching the tone a fourth of the way, adding the intensity of piano notes to bring out top-selling tropical salsa artist Marc Anthony.
On May 16, Maluma posted these photos on Instagram with J Balvin, Ryan Castro and Blessd with the caption “Felices los 4 🇨🇴🤣”. To me, this seems like an easter egg of tour guest appearances, and the energy all four of them would have on stage together would encompass the whole arena.
5. ‘Me Enamoré de Ti’, ‘11:11’ The 6th track of ‘11:11’ depicts Maluma’s romantic side in the most reggaeton way. It’s a softer side of the artist while still sticking to his usual tune and theme of the 2019 album.
6. ‘Agua de Jamaica’, ‘#7DJ (7 Días en Jamaica) “Entre tu cuerpo, encuentro vida” (In your body I find life) Are we kidding? It’s just for that line alone. In an Instagram live, Maluma explains that this 2021 album was supposed to be released before the Papi Juancho era, but due to COVID-19 ‘Papi Juancho’ was released first. In this track, Maluma continues with his signature smooth charisma that can only be showcased in a kind of slow-romantic reggaeton song.
7. ‘Nos Comemos Vivos’, ‘The Love & Sex Tape’ with Chencho Corleone. A sensual track that upholds the album title. And the feature of the Puerto Rican singer brings another layer to the song that is a great contrast to Maluma’s usual sound.
8. ‘Junio’ (released as a single) I didn’t appreciate this song like I should have when it first came out last September, but after the song's consistent playing on the radio, I finally understood why the single was No. 1 on Billboard’s Latin Airplay Chart. ‘Junio’ aligns more with pop, a drastic change from Maluma’s past releases. Maluma embraces his Colombian roots, heavily making use of Colombian slang which goes so well with what he’s expressing - how in love he is at that moment.
The following are from his Papi Juancho album. I know that era has finished, but putting these songs on the setlist would showcase the metamorphosis from Papi Juancho to Don Juan.
9. ‘Hawái’ (Remix), ‘PAPI JUANCHO’ with The Weeknd. Who doesn’t love a sad song about a relationship that didn’t work out? The bilingual-ness of The Weeknd feature brings a laid back yet heartfelt touch to ‘Hawái’.
10. ‘ADMV’, ‘PAPI JUANCHO’ (not the urban version). This will be putting Maluma’s vocals front and center. His smooth voice with an acoustic or guitar version of ‘ADMV,’ (an acronym for "amor de mi vida" or "love of my life"), will bring more power to his profession of love.
The Don Juan World Tour officially starts on Jun. 16 in Spain. According to the Instagram reel announcement, it’s a side of Maluma “como nunca me habían visto” (like you’ve never seen me before).
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