Nearly a decade into his career, Manuel Turizo is proving himself to be a global pop star that can do it all. The Colombian heartthrob has scored multiple hits in genres like reggaeton, bachata, EDM, música Mexicana, Afrobeats, and more. Turizo is currently taking a victory lap with his diverse discography on the 201 World Tour.
“I’m in an era of constant evolution,” Turizo says. “I feel like I always have something to discover, something to learn, and a drive to keep evolving. I never want to get to a point in my career where that’s not the case.”
A decade ago, the Montería native moved to Colombia’s reggaeton capital, Medellín, which has spun off stars like J Balvin, Maluma, Karol G, and Feid. The then teenage Turizo set himself apart from his peers with his ukulele-led smash “Una Lady Como Tú,” which has over two billion views on YouTube. While first lumped into the reggaeton scene, he broke out of that box with his third album 2000 and the tropical hit “La Bachata.” Now at 25, Turizo is putting the spotlight on Montería and Colombia’s Caribbean coast with his latest LP 201. His sultry baritone voice soars in the alluring “Qué Pecao” featuring Kapo, the salsa of “Sígueme Besando Así,” and the cumbia of “De Lunes a Lunes” with Grupo Frontera.
The album is named after Turizo’s family’s old apartment in Montería. The 201 World Tour features a reconstructed version of that apartment onstage. He fully leans into his sex appeal and performs his biggest hits while shirtless. Turizo’s abs famously appeared in Shakira’s “Copa Vacía” music video. He has continued to branch out in collaborations like Xavi’s “En Privado,” which seamlessly blends corridos with bachata. At the L.A. stop of his tour, Turizo spoke with UPROXX, looking back on his career an talking about not limiting himself to one genre and his next album.
Now that you’re eight years into your career, what have you learned about yourself in that time?
You have to work hard and make sacrifices for what you want to achieve. We all have our dreams and those dreams are beautiful. It’s all about working towards developing those dreams to make them a reality.
You have big hits like “La Bachata” and “El Merengue” and you’ve explored genres like reggaeton, EDM, Afrobeats, vallenato, and salsa. Why is it important for you to explore all types of genres in your music?
It’s something that I enjoy. I want to keep having fun. If I went to the studio doing the same thing, I would get bored. That would become monotonous for me. I wouldn’t be interested in that or excited by that. I don’t want to limit myself as an artist. When I started out, my team and label wanted to know where I fit. That was difficult for me because I can’t be boxed into one thing. I like many different things. With time, people started to understand that that is the way I enjoy making music. I like to try out different genres. Playing around with genres is a way for me to express my identity.
What does it mean for you to explore your roots in Montería and Colombia’s Caribbean region with your 201 album?
I feel very proud. I’m a genuine representative of my homeland and my culture. When people are connecting me, they’re also connecting with my culture, my people, and where I come from. The idea is to show people the beauty of where I’m from and that they have a lot to get to know in that region. For that album, those influences came out of me naturally. It was all very organic.
How would you describe the experience of bringing the 201 album to life with your world tour?
On this tour, it’s even more special than my previous ones because of the 201 apartment onstage. It’s like a real place. The apartment brings a sense of mystique to the tour and speaks to where the songs come from and why I wrote them. I always feel a mix of nerves and stress, but when I’m onstage and ready to go, it’s all worth it. When my fans are happy and having fun and I see them dancing and singing along, it’s all worth it. I feel all kinds of emotions, but above all, I’m happy.
From your voice, your lyrics, and your body, you have fans that see you as a sex symbol. How do you feel to be seen in that way?
I send that love right back to them. Everything that my fans think about me and all the praise, I take it as them showing me love and caring about me. I always try to be genuine about who I am and express myself and I’m glad they enjoy that. Who doesn’t like to feel beautiful? My fans make me feel good, confident, and happy.
In July, I loved seeing you show up to Madrid Pride with the colors of the Pride flag in your hair. As an ally, why was it important for you to show up for fans in the LGBTQ+ community?
The theme of Pride is all about respecting everyone and allowing people to feel free to do what they want to do. My team has several people that belong to the LGBTQ+ community. We’re in 2025 and I feel like it’s something that needs to be normalized. Everyone should feel free to be themselves. Also, a very large part of my fan base belongs to that community and they love me, support me, and care about me. That was a small gesture on my part to make them feel the same way they’ve made me feel. I did that with love.
“Copa Vacía” is on the setlist of your tour and Shakira’s Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran Tour. How would you describe the experience of working with her on that song?
It was very amazing! As an artist who is also from Colombia, that was on my checklist. It was something that I had to do. A year before, we talked about doing a song, but it didn’t happen. Exactly one year later, “Copa Vacía” came to me as a surprise. I said yes automatically. I remember she was still in Barcelona and I was in Mexico. We had to do the session through Zoom. I traveled from Mexico to Barcelona to shoot the music video. As someone that grew up with her music, that was a surreal experience for me. To think that I made a song with Shakira, I told myself, “You did it!” A power of hers is that she never gets tired of wanting to evolve. That’s something I always aim for. She always wants to keep growing and giving her fans something new and different. I learned from her that you always want to be better. You demand more from yourself because you want to bring out the best in you.
Another big hit this year is “En Privado” with Xavi. How did that collaboration come together?
I remember we went into the studio and we said, “Let’s do a song for you and a song for me.” There’s people that think “En Privado” is more my style. We have another song that I’m sure they will think is more his style. I hope next year that we can release that other song. We understood each other well in the studio. He’s very talented. It was very easy to work with him. We were talking and laughing together. He still has very fresh ideas. He’s not influenced by the industry trends. He’s simply going with the flow and having fun making music. I’ve been on this path where I’m embracing música Mexicana more and more. Aside from Colombia, Mexico was the first country to embrace my music. Working with Mexican artists and Mexican culture has come very naturally for me. I want to show people that I love Mexican culture and all the música Mexicana genres.
What was the inspiration for your newest single “Mírame Ahora (Salud Mi Reina)”?
With that song, I wanted to return 100 percent to romanticism. I believe my fans really like that. They like when I’m heartbroken or when I’m in love. With that song, I was very much in love. It’s the appetizer to my new album that I’m starting to work on. It has a lot of that Latino and Caribbean vibe of 201. It’s along those same lines of love, the Caribbean, and summer. It’s all things that I like.
What more can you tell us about your next album?
It’s an album that I dreamed about and I’m making it happen. I never imagined making an album with very big names. They’re pillars of the industry. With these collaborations, I’m seeing myself in the same league as these artists. I’m very excited for what’s next. As I’m working on my album, there’s other collaborations coming. You know I’m always working and putting out music. I’m seeing how I can keep offering something beautiful from myself to my fans.