Romeo Santos Releases New Album ‘Formula Vol. 3′: All Collaborations Ranked (Critics’ Picks)

Romeo Santos’ highly anticipated studio album Formula, Vol. 3 (Sony Music Latin) was released on September 1, coinciding with his eldest son’s birthday.

With 21 tracks, including the only previously released single “Sus Huellas,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Latin Airplay chart, the new set showcases Santos’ ever-experimental side, as he dips into hip-hop, trap, tango, merengue, and regional Mexican sounds without losing touch with his bachata essence.

To name a few, his collaborators include renowned pop star Justin Timberlake, Mexican artist Christian Nodal, and Spanish songstress Rosala. He also collaborates with a slew of Dominican talent, from Too Rosario and Luis Miguel del Amargue to newcomers like Chris Lebron. Even Katt Williams, the comedian and actor, and Santos’ children make appearances.

“I’ve taken the title of ‘King of Bachata’ very seriously,” Santos told Billboard for a recent cover story. “It’s a massive responsibility.” It was very risky, very descarado, to declare, ‘We’re the bachata kings!’ But you can say whatever you want as long as you back it up, and that is something I am proud of. I want to make sure that whether people like my albums or not, they can listen to them and realise there was some production and work put in. When it comes to music, I’m very particular. “Everything I do, even salsa, sounds like Romeo Santos.”

The album concludes with “Nirvana,” a vulnerable track on which the King of Bachata has an open conversation with God about his loved ones, colleagues, the Uvalde school shooting, and other social and personal issues. “I know I’m complaining, but I keep praying,” he says. “When I’m in doubt, I just hope you hear me, open your arms, and take me into Nirvana, into the clouds, just to tell me you’re there.”

Formula, Vol. 3 follows Santos’ 2014 release of Vol. 2, which is still on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart after 386 weeks — the longest streak for any Latin album in history. Santos has released Golden (2017) and Utopia (2017) since the last Formula album in 2014. (2019).

Christian Nodal’s “Me Extrano”

When Romeo decided to dabble in Regional Mexican music, he made a point of bringing in the top mariacheo artist of the moment, Christian Nodal. Santos’ smooth high-pitched vocals contrast with Nodal’s powerful tone on this track. Nonetheless, this mariachi song conveys melancholy through all of its musical notes and lyrics, as it tells the story from the perspectives of two men who have had the same woman. Romeo, the one who abandoned her and didn’t know what to do with her, accepts his mistakes and the irony of missing her. “I recognise the damage/before I was like you, and that’s why I’m shocked,” Nodal says, and he appreciates his mistakes. “Cheers for what you’ve forgotten,” he sings.

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