And The Writer Is...with Ross Golan - Ep. 120: Erika Ender

Episode Date: March 8, 2021

She is one of the most versatile artists in the music and entertainment world. A true pioneer and multi-talented woman with unprecedented success as a world-record composer, singer, producer, communicator, motivational speaker, entrepreneur, and dedicated philanthropist. All in one. Born in Panama, of Brazilian, European, and Asian roots; our guest was raised in a multicultural and multilingual environment, which allowed her to be the versatile professional she is today in a global market. Her songs have been recorded by Justin Bieber, Akon, Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, Marc Anthony, Chayanne, Gloria Trevi, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Prince Royce, and Ha-Ash among others. She is the only Latina woman, in history, to achieve a #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 list, with a Spanish song. She is also the female composer with the longest number #1 record on Billboard, the first Hispanic woman to obtain a Grammy nomination for a Major Category (Song of the Year), the composer with the most reproduced song of all time (worldwide) on digital and radio platforms, and the youngest person to enter the Latin Composers Hall of Fame. About 200 CDs and more than 40 singles have been released with her songs, (including the unprecedented worldwide success "Despacito"). Simultaneously, with music, she has a respectable career in the media world, both in front and behind the screens. Through her company ENDERTAINMENT, she creates formats and produces shows and diverse contents, with high results, not only in numbers but also, in social impact. Her true mission has always been using arts as a vehicle for the common good. This task has been successfully achieved through her Foundation (Puertas Abiertas), by benefiting thousands of children and young people, with projects such as TalenPro, which unites entertainment, culture, values, social responsibility, and education. In 2020, She released her new album ‘MP3 - 45,’ a multilingual concept album that pays tribute to the music of her past while charging head-first into the sounds of her future, celebrating the dichotomy of a modern woman who both honors tradition and embraces change. And The Writer Is… Erika Ender!Artwork: Michael Richey White Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hey guys, welcome to Ann the writer is. I'm your host, Ross Golan. I've written with hundreds of artists and writers over the years, and my favorite part of each session is the first hour when we catch up about life, the industry, politics, composition, whatever. So this is a journey of learning why people write songs, how people write songs, and most importantly, who the people are who write the songs.

I'm producing this with the Great Joe London, big deal music publishing, and mega house music management. If you want to listen to the songs we discuss in this podcast, follow us on our socials, find out about special live events, or buy that merch, aka that hat I always wear, go to our website www. www.organtanthor is.com. Welcome to And The Writer Is. I'm your host, Ross Golan. Today's multilingual, multi-platinum, multi-aclaimed songstress

is the youngest composer to ever be inducted into the Latin songwriter's Hall of Fame. And with the mostly Spanish song, she tied one of the most sacred records in pop music by holding the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for 16 consecutive weeks. Nominated for every award in the music universe, this Trailblazer has racked up enough Grammys and Billboard Awards to fill an Estadio de Football. Born in Panama City, currently in Miami, this writer has broken down. the barriers between multiple genres, languages, and echelons of the music industry. And the writer is Erica Ender.

Oh my God, what an intro. Thank you for that. You know, we got to interview some of your co-writers on some of the songs that we'll talk about earlier. So, you know, some of our audience is familiar with a little bit of the Latin music world,

but it's so vast. And if you've never spent any time in it, You know, you think it's, if you're from the U.S., you think it's essentially, you know, one or two regions. And then that's about as good as you get. And you don't realize that this is like a worldwide genre. It's a lot of genres as well, a lot. Like, you have no idea. One language, but a lot of things.

Totally. Well, let's start from the beginning. You were born in Panama. I was born in race in Panama, City, Panama, yes. Who were your parents' musicians? Well, my mom and my dad sings really well, and to tell you the truth, they fell in love singing because they didn't speak, I mean, my mom used to speak Portuguese, my dad used to speak English and Spanish.

He didn't know how to speak Portuguese, so they learned the languages by singing first. My dad went to Brazil to study medicine, where my mom studied as well, so they studied together, and then he brought her to Panama. But my parents were all like on my dad's side, his grandpa was German. My last name is German. And then he was married to an Italian. And my dad's mom was the daughter to a Chinese and a Spanish. Wow.

And on the other side, my mom was her ancestors were French and Portuguese. So it's all a big salad. And then I think that helped me a lot in my life, you know, and my profession. as well. Did they listen to, you know, more Brazilian music? Were they listening to the Samba and was it more like that or were they listening to everything? Everything. Like I grew up listening to Frank Sinatra and Atkin Cole, Richard Chamberlain, Michael Jackson, John Bon Jovi, you name it, on the American side. And then Enrico Pericoli and Edipia and Gao Costa, like everything you can imagine, I could have, you know, listened. And it's on this hard drive.

you know, in the back of my brain. And also, I mean, food and everything. Like my dad can do Italian food like an Italian, you know. He can make Chinese like food like a Chinese because his grandma taught him. And I grew up with all of that. And Fejoada, which is a fishwada is, you know, a dish from Brazil, like all of that mixed in the same household. So I'm super grateful that life gave me that opportunity to learn from so many angles.

how human beings see the world, but at the same time, how the essence is what prevails, because all of them would, you know, connect through the essence, you know? What kind of medicine did they practice? General medicine, general practice. I find that, you know,

when in the U.S., you have a lot of children of immigrants tend to be really motivated. In your case, you have a family that's, moving all around so they're constantly sort of, you know, I don't know, are they still in Panama? Are they, did they move to the U.S. with you? Are you just, are all your grandparents then immigrants of immigrants of, I mean, it seems like you guys are constantly moving around

if you're from, if you've been Brazilian, you know, you're all over the place. Yeah, well, my, my great-granddad, which was my dad's grandfather to German one, met her, his, wife in Europe and then they went to Panama, you know, to start, you know, he was in, I think, an engineer or something like that and he helped with the Panama Canal train or something like that back in the day. And then on the other side, the Chinese one, he wasn't from China specifically. He was from the English Guayanas and got married to the Spanish woman and brought her to Panama too. And then my dad was born and raised in Panama, but then he went back to New York because my grandma got married for a second time

and he grew up in New York and Minnesota and then went back to Panama and went to Brazil to me I mean to study medicine, met my mom and brought her to Panama. So I have people all over the place. I have relatives all over the place, especially Brazil. But mom, dad and sister, they live in Panama. Did you feel pressured to be a doctor?

They knew there was no option with me. me. I was a black sheep. Were you just singing then when you were like when you were born or was it just? No, not at all. The good thing is that I know some, you know, diagnostics because I, you know, I grew up listening to things. But no, and I'm the last person that would take a pill. Like I like doing everything organic, but at least I know what you can take whenever you need something. But no, never, never. Like since I was a little girl, I remember just calling everything. one in the house or whomever came to visit.

Like, can you come over? Because I have been practicing the whole day. So you can see the show that I have today. So it was always, you know, in my DNA to be a singer and to write songs. But the different, there's a huge difference between singing and writing songs. I feel like when we're all little, we just start singing along to whatever music is being played. But, you know, what inspired you to start writing? Well, I mean, as I told you, my mom and dad, they fell in love by singing.

You know, they sing very well. They wanted to be doctors, but they do sing very well. So by listening to music that they used to play all the time at home, I would sit down and read when I started reading. I love reading the big long plays, the vinyl. And then I would see, like, for example, Rafael canta a Manuel Alejandro. which means, let's say, let's say, I don't know, Celine Dion sings Diane Warren songs,

things like that. It was very usual in the Latino market to see also the name of the songwriter. And I would sit down and read the whole lyrics because, I mean, I was starting reading and it was even easier for me to read something that came out with music. And then I would sit down and read the credits

and everything and I would ask my mom and dad, who's this guy that is not in the picture? Manuel Alejandro or Diane. morning, for example. And they would tell me that's a person that makes the message. That's a person that does the magic so the artist can sing. And I went like, what? You know, I was so impressed and fascinated by that, that I sat down and read everything I could. And I said, I want to do this. Even though I want to sing as well, I want to be the one who translates, you know, thoughts and feelings into melody and notes. I mean, in lyrics. That's, I mean, I was a little. I was a little.

little girl. I wasn't thinking that deep back in the day, but it was kind of what really fascinated me. And I started putting melodies and, you know, words together since I was like nine. And I totally fell in love with it. And I wanted to sing what I was writing, but I wanted at the same time, in a parallel way, to give songs to other artists at the same time who couldn't translate what they were feeling, but who were good enough to, you know, express that. What language did you speak in the house? Well, in my house, let's say mostly Portuguese because of my mom, but my first language is Spanish.

So English would be like the third language that was learned as the second language. What language do you think in music? Depends on the melody. Really? Yeah, it depends on the message. And it comes natural. Let's say if I'm hearing a Latin melody in my head, it depends. just goes straight to

Spanish lyrics. Sometimes I'm hearing something that sounds more Brazilian, I would write in Portuguese. And if the melody is mostly more American or European, I would sit down and write in English. A lot of you know, the

Swedes when it comes to songwriting are constantly talking about the sound of words and how much it makes a difference in what you write. specifically in the Latin world and when you have Portuguese and Spanish

and different dialects of Spanish when you're pitching songs there have to be songs that you've had to translate in different language I would assume or different words because when my mom speaks Spanish she speaks with a Nicaraguan accent and people in Mexico

be like, where are you from to her? And it's like a different, it's a different language. It's hard, you know, how many times when you're writing songs, do you have to rewrite lyrics because the person who's wanting to record it doesn't even speak that dialect of Spanish

or that dialect of Portuguese? Do you have to do that? Or do you end up pitching songs? No, not really, because whenever I write something, it's very neutral, you know? You've got to write something in English, someone, I mean, anyone who could sing pop, let's say, or country or whatever, it could sing that song.

Like, I want to, I mean, unless it goes a little more, I don't know, R&B or whatever, that it has a little more slang or, you know, but usually it would be like something more neutral, depending on the genre also, because let's say regional Mexican, even though it's a neutral Spanish, they have their way of expressing themselves. And you got to know a little bit how they, you know, I mean, the sayings they have, the simple way of expressing their emotions that most differ a little bit from whatever you do in ballads or pop music in Spanish. So going towards that, yeah, probably the lyrics are a little different. I don't have to change them. I just write using that code for that genre, mostly.

How does a young woman from Panama City get a song heard by anybody to cut it? I mean, what gets you from being a kid who likes to sing songs at nine years old who's writing their own lyrics? That's how long story we would be here for days if I tell you the whole story. Well, let's give the short version then. Where did you go to after Panama City? Because there's no, I'm sure there's a music industry there of some sort, isn't there? or not. No platform, Ross.

And since I was little, I remember watching TV with my mom and seeing Gloria Estefan taking over the world with Konga back in the 80s. And I was a little girl. I was like nine years old. And I remember telling my mom, wow, I mean, she's a Latina. And look what she's doing. And I saw her and in her as a big example of people that would stick to the roots, their roots, and they wanted to show it to the world, show them to the world.

in a world that was a little, you know, close to Latino rhythms. And they made the difference. So I said, I want to do that too. As a Latina, I want to make sure that my music crosses over and that I get the whole world to sing my songs. And it happened, mostly as a songwriter, because it's where I put most of my energy. I love singing as well and making my own albums, but I've loved even more, you know, writing for others as well. And you can compare, I mean, it's like seven albums that I have recorded studio albums, and I have like placed in more than 200 albums songs as a writer as well.

It's easier to be a writer, let's say, than to be a, you know, an artist. An artist has a lot of things in the background and a lot of effort and traveling and everything. But I got so inspired when I saw them. And then I said, you know what? Whenever I grow up, I want to go to Miami and do what they did. So my plan when I was a little girl was, you know, growing up and knocking on Emilio Stefan's door, which didn't really happen. I had to make my own story, you know. But when I came here, I knocked on every door that I could.

But the first month that I got to Miami, I got robbed in my apartment in Panama. I was just married in Panama. And we spent like nine months, you know, putting everything together. Me and my ex-husband back in the day, I was like 21, 20. 22 years old when I got married. And when we got here, like a month later, I guess someone in the building or maybe the guy that, you know, took care of the building, maybe he has my TV or something. Because there's no way they could have, you know, got in. But they did and we lost everything.

So I cried like for half a day. And I said, you know what? I came here to try. And if I have nothing to go back to, I'm going to start over. And that's what I did. So then I started knocking every door. I remember going with my CDs and my cassettes in the 90s to Sony music and sitting down, waiting for people to hear my things.

And they wouldn't, of course. So I had to say a little light here, a little light there. Nothing really, you know, big or bad. But I would say, you know, I have this contract in Panama, which was true. And I want to transfer it. I didn't know how it worked. I went to transfer my contract here because I just, you know, I just moved. And I would like to see who I had to talk to in order to do that.

It didn't work like that. But then, I mean, since they saw me every single day, finally I got someone that got to hear me. And then they gave me a couple of numbers of people that could start listening to my music. And then the whole story began. But it took a long time. And it took like nine months of not having any income of, you know, losing every single penny that I, wasting every single penny that I had because there was no income.

And then when I was about to, you know, hang the gloves, which wasn't my plan, but I had like $13 in my account, my bank account, an opportunity came in for me to be the TV host of a TV program called Videlina, which was a TV show broadcasted for Latin America. the U.S. and Spain and Portugal as well, Discovery Channel. It was all about technology. That happened. I mean, who just picked? Notting indoors and, you know, looking for agents, because since music wasn't opening up the door for me,

I started doing things on TV because in my country, I did that as well. Like, I had a big TV program every Saturday that was like three hours in a row from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. every Saturday. and I would like interview a lot of artists and everything. So I would sing right and at the same time I was on TV doing that. So that kind of like helped me, you know, to start knocking on doors here since music wasn't opening the doors for me to start doing something on TV to, you know,

pay my bills at least, no? So that's what happened. And then I got this job on Discovery Channel. And that let me stay here for a little longer and let me eat and everything while I was doing my demos and sending it to people so that I could, you know, play those songs until they got pitched. Were you becoming at that point, you know, famous to people in Latin America? Because if you're a host of a show on Discovery and at that point, you know, we're about the same age when you're watching, when you're watching cable at that point when Discovery is cable,

there's, you know, you have a choice of 30 channels. You don't have a choice of 600. 100 channels, you know? Let me pause that. How old are you? I'm 40. I'm 45. Yeah, we're close. I'm like, you look like 20.

You know, it's weird because I do remember when I was really little not to date myself or ourselves or whatever, but I do still remember a TV where you'd have channel, you know, in the U.S., you'd have channel 2, 5, 7, 11, and that was it. you know and in new york i guess it'd be two four seven and eleven and that you know those are your options which is why everyone watched the same thing and it wasn't until 80 81 when you started having MTV and you started having discovery channel and those things so there still weren't you know at most there really were i can't i don't think there were 30 channels of information so at cable tv but well back back that it was like the biggest

thing to be on Discovery Channel, especially for Latin America. I mean, the people that saw me, I mean, that stopped seeing me, better said, in Panama, when I came to the U.S. pursuing my music career, and then suddenly saw me at Discovery Channel, they were like, oh, my God, this girl is rich. You know, like, what is she doing there? Because that's what people think, like, oh, you went to the U.S. and now you're on TV, everything is great. And it's not quite like that. Why isn't it like that? I mean, I still think people think when someone on TV that that means that they're rich. I mean, you start earning your money and everything, but it is not that you're rich.

I mean, not from one day to another. And it wasn't like that either in the 90s. Like, I think that people on TV are earning way more money after the 2000s and recently even more. But the thing is that it was good enough for me to start, you know, knocking on doors again and having the patience to do every demo and getting to. to know the people. And I was doing at the same time a lot of different campaigns for TV

because that agent that opened the door for me after I knocked on his door for like six months in a row and he didn't want to take me because he said that he just had the 25 top artists, Latin, Latino, well, there were an artist. They were like TV hosts and celebrities just took on it in a way. And I insisted so much that I said, okay, you sent me to at least one thing and I, you know, and they, and they choose me, then I, I'm staying with you because he was the best and I wanted the best back then. So that's what happened. And then, um, I stood there for like a year. And after that, I said goodbye to the cameras again, because I

started, you know, placing songs. But it took a little longer for it to really explode. It took like a year and a half or two years in order for me to get to Chayin, which was like a before and after in my career. He's like, you know, an icon in Latin America, like a Ricky Martin as well. And then he recorded two songs that I co-wrote called Candela and my mama. And it really was like my big break in order for me to understand that I could live out of being a songwriter.

And then I started, you know, a whole new life in the U.S. And I got to have a car and, you know, I have my house and everything. pay for everything once again after I lost everything before. And also, right before that, I got to write the English version of a song called Apura Dolor, which was a huge hit all over Latin America and also here in the United States, and I wrote the English version. So I made it first to the 100, to the Billboard 100 list before I made it to the Latin 100. That's crazy.

That is crazy. Did you find that people in the music industry, you know, I know that there are a lot of actors and sort of celebrities who want to do music? And I think a lot of times there's mixed emotions to that. You know, some people maybe don't, don't hear them with positive ears because they're celebrities or they're actors. Like, so how good a musician can you be if you're busy being, you know, an actor or a host. And meanwhile, like, that's so stupid and inaccurate, but a lot of us assume that, you know, that this person can't be as good of a musician because they're, they have, they've pursued some other path, you know, path. As a songwriter, when you walk in and

you're a celebrity at this point in that world, did, you know, did people think, well, aren't you the woman from Discovery? Or was it that, no, they heard the songs first, and then they were surprised that it was the woman from Discovery? Let's look for an example. Let's say Oprah Winfrey. You see that she can act. She can be her own, you know, TV show host.

She can produce. She can be a great entrepreneur as well. So I don't see art within the box. I've always seen it. I've always done three things at the same time. I got into TV because of an accident. I was singing on this summit for the Central American presidents, and then the track, I mean the PA with the track stopped,

and I had to improvise in front of everyone. And then two producers, TV producers saw me, and they started like going after my dad and my mom like, we need her on TV. We want her on camera. Like she has light. I know we want her. And I was like, no, thank you.

I'm a singer, I'm a songwriter, and I'm not interested on TV. But they insisted so much, and my dad said, what can you lose? Why don't you try both? And that was amazing because I learned how to produce, how to edit, how to, you know, talk in front of people in front of the cameras. So at the end, for me, art is infinite and you cannot put it within a box. There are people that, for example, because it's cool to sing, they want to sing, even if they don't have a voice or they want to say they're right, but they don't even know even how to write their names. So you find a lot of things, you know, in this industry. But I don't put anything

in a cage or in a box. I think that if you have art, I like to design, for example, things that I wear. I like to paint. I'm not a painter, but I have a couple of, you know, paintings in my house that have done. So when you have art in your DNA, as long as you do it. right, I think that you have no limits. You shouldn't put any limits. The thing is that you have to have the talent, you know, not to invade someone else's track if you don't have it. At the point where you're starting to, you know,

you're doing some English translations and you're starting to get some cuts that, you know, a big artist in throughout not just Latin America, but I would imagine just like me in general. you're still wanting to record your own music. Yeah. You know, that's... Well, I started with my own music professionally to tell you truth. What was that?

I started with my own music professionally to tell you truth. Like, I got, I got music pitched when I was like 22, but I started singing when I was 16. And I was really, you know, I recorded my first albums and I was like all over the place singing my songs and everything. Out of Panama? this before Miami. Out of Panama. Yes. Let's say that I kind of switched my career a little bit more into a songwriter when I came here

because I saw it wasn't as easy to be a singer because I also wanted to write for others. And that was one of the things that really pushed me to come this way. And it was something that I always wanted to do, as I told you, since I was little. So I wanted to sing, but I also wanted to make sure that I could write songs for others. So I focused everything in my career. career towards that. And once I got a name as a songwriter, I started singing again. Right. When you are into, you know, painting, fashion, all these other art forms, do you also tend to design, you know, let's say do design clothes is your style specific to, you know,

there's a different style when you're in Paris than when you're in New York than when you're in Rio. Those are different styles. What would you describe your fashion sense? How would you describe that? It all has to do with how I feel. I'm not someone that follows what's trending, but whatever has a style that goes with who I am. Mostly. Okay, so let's go back to you, you're starting to get cuts. Are you recording, a lot of Latin music comes out of Miami. That's for the whole world. but are you having to travel to Spain? Are you having to travel to Argentina? Are you traveling to Mexico?

Are you traveling to these different places from Miami? Or is that the center where you don't have to move and all the industries come to you? Well, you can definitely stay here and do whatever you want because there's a lot of people coming this way to do that, especially the Latin market. the U.S. Latin market and everything else that has to do. And now Miami like went back to be like the main focus of Spanish music again.

Because back in the day it was for a period, it was pain. Mexico was really strong as well. And to tell you the truth, in my case, as a songwriter, understanding that this is not only, I mean, this is a business of emotions. This is not only a business when whenever you get inspiration, you just write a song and you live out of that your whole life. you have to discipline yourself if you really want to live, you know, doing this as a profession.

At least that's what I've tried to do. Like I was very, I've always been very disciplined at saying, okay, Eric, now you're going to write, now you're going to, this amount of days you're going to go into the studio, or you're going to sit down and write by yourself. And then I'm always checking on who's looking for songs. And I feel that the human, you know, contact can't be replaced in any way.

So whenever there's an artist in Spain looking for a song or a producer slash songwriter that is looking for a song for a certain artist, I would grab a plane, go all the way there, try to R-X the artist, you know, x-ray, I'm sorry, I was translating. Like try to see what's in there. Can be artists in order for me to understand what is a moment that he or she is going through, what she or she wants to stay, how is her range, her vocal or his vocal range,

everything that has to do with it or her in order to picture that and make a song that fits perfectly. You know, I'm a tailor of songs. That's how I see myself. So I would definitely go and especially, if it's, you know, markets where I can learn from, I love doing that as well. You have to always be open and listen to other people and understand their codes because this is not about ego. This is about sharing art in order for something good to go out there and conquer the world. When you write for people who are from so many different places in the world, do you end up following things like radio charts,

that are regional. Do you, are you able to separate, you know, the X-ray of these, you know, these artists where you're in there, you're writing their motion, you're trying to bring it out, you're trying to write a song for them or with them. Are you able to separate that from following charts in Spain? Or, you know, obviously. Not even when the Spacito exploded. I was checking lists.

I never do it. I like listening to music. Yes, I would put on Spotify or whatever I need to, to listen to what's going on out there. I would especially try to connect with feelings. That's what I like to do, you know, the handcrafting of some writing. To understand that this is really a business of emotions and the song that is going to be, the more successful is the one that connects with the most quantity of people, the most amount of people.

Whenever you get to understand that, I think that everything flows. Because when you're like too stressed in my case, I'm speaking, you know, of my own experience, if you're too stressed about what's going on there and the list and whatever and you just do music because it's not the same of really writing a song that kind of connects with what you want to say to another person and you get addicted to it and you need to play it over and over and over and over, that's when it gets to your thoughts and to your feelings. And that's what I like to do the most to make sure that the message that I'm going to put in there, even if it's to just have some fun, it's going to be dressed properly by the right production. But the message itself and the melody and the lyrics are going to do something to your brain and your heart in order for you to really want that.

And that becomes a hit right away. One of the cool things about your discography is that you write with men as much as you do with women. Yeah, well, mostly men because the industry Because the industries, but I mean, you're not, you weren't pigeonholed. And one of the issues with the pop community is that a lot of women, you know, if it's a female artist, then women usually get the call. But so will men. And if it's a male artist, men get the call. But so rarely do women get the call.

There's a lot of, you know, inherent sexism. in the pop community that we're trying to, you know, get rid of. But like you were saying, you know, I don't, it doesn't look like you've had an issue getting in with writing with men in that sense. And that's what I was getting at was that you were, you've, you've been allowed to and invited to write with everybody. I imagine that's uncommon. The beginning of my career wasn't easy because I remember when I used to write

the songs by myself because I wasn't, you know, really familiar to co-writing. I would send my songs to all these places and to all these A&Rs and the ones who, you know, answered, they would tell me, you know, Erica, it's a beautiful song, but it's for a woman. It's not, it's too feminine. So I decided, what? This song was made for a man to sing. What I'm going to do is I'm going to call a male friend, ask him to sing the song, the demo, I'm going to take out my name of the credits, and I'm going to put, I mean, my female name. I'm going to put E-ender instead of Erica,

and I'm going to send it to another project to make sure this song, you know, is for a man, and maybe they're having lack of vision. I didn't want to say discrimination. I don't want to, I don't like to see things from the negative perspective, even though sometimes it is. But I don't know.

I said, you know, this is like a vision. they don't know that a woman can write songs for a man as well because everyone is very used to men writing for women. So then I sent it to other projects and the three songs went in, you know, were part of the album. And right after they got pitched, I was like, hey, it's me and I'm a woman, you know? And then I learned an amazing lesson, which is what really matters here is not for you to work against men. I always say that being feminist is not being less feminine. It's just showing your capabilities and fighting for them, you know, doing your job the best that you can and try to collaborate with people so that everyone gets benefited from what we're doing.

And your job speaks by itself. That's what I like to do. And that's why I tell other women. And I love sitting down and writing with women artists and women songwriters. And I empower all the women in this industry because I really think that we have to unite the most in order for others that are at home to empower themselves as well and dare to do what we're doing. Because also it has a lot to do with, I don't know, with culture. I mean, how this industry has been seen for generations. I think that all of that has to do with we being a minority, but we can change that. Do you have a preference, right? When you write inherently when I write, I don't know what it is, but I tend, if I write by myself,

most of the time I tend to write songs that would be pitched for a female singer. Really? It's just like, that's just, I always think, oh, that would be really pretty melody, and I move around that and like that you know trying to I don't know what whatever it is that that seems to be let's say 70% of the songs naturally that's great what that's great thank you for us we know I don't know I don't know why it's just it's a thing

do you tend to write because so many men are so many the artists are men do you tend to write initially just oh well if it's not for you as artist that it's going to be for... Especially in the Latino world, men tend to express themselves a little different from women. But nowadays, I think that things have changed. And to tell you the truth, when I sit down, if I'm not writing for a specific artist, a female or a male artist specifically, what I do is just write a good song that could fit either one, you know, that is not referring to someone else.

in their genre, but referring to the feeling itself. So that's what I try to do nowadays. Like, I keep it open so that anyone can sing it. When you're writing with, you know, the tops of an industry, like Julio Glacius and Gloria Trevi, all the people in the beginning of your discography, you know, like you're saying, Cheyenne, all these people that are really big artists.

when you start releasing your own music, do you start having expectations of a certain level of success as an artist? Do you start having, like, what's it like to release music? And you've done a lot of albums as an artist. You know, when do you keep songs for yourself? And what are your thoughts when you release an album? Is it so you can get the art out there? or is it, you know, when we're pitching songs, little bits for commercial success or we cross our fingers and hope that. But when you release music as an artist,

maybe that's not a high priority. So I just wanted you to talk about what it's like to be an artist. What I've always said, I prefer to make a difference than to be popular. I want to do what I feel from the bottom of my heart and I want to express what I'm feeling at the moment. Whomever connects with that, I'm more than happy.

And you know this industry is very complicated. and there are things that, you know, are under the table as well. And I'm a person that take very much to my values. And I wouldn't be happy going, you know, to sleep with a dirty consciousness, conscious. So I just want to do what my heart tells me to. And whenever I write for others, as I was telling you, I would write for them as a, as a making a couture thing for them. You know, like I would really tailor the song for them

in order for them to shine and to express whatever they want to express in that moment of their lives. In my case, I have no conflict whatsoever whenever a song that I've wrote has to go for someone else. Because if I did it like that, it's because it was its final destination.

On my case, I just sing what I want to sing what I want to express. And whenever I have a show or something, what I would do is that I sing the songs that I wrote for myself. And also, I would do a medley or something with the songs that other people have sang. And I would tell the story of how, you know, they were born, how they came out. So at the end, you're always the owner of the song. You're always, you know, mom and dad. Yeah, and I mean, you know. We have to

pass forward for a while. I was going to say like fast forward quite, you know, quite a bit from when you started, you get your, you know, your own nomination

for Best Singer, songwriter, you know, for an album. You know, that didn't come on your first album. Exactly. And it happened a year,

you know, I happened in a, like the most glorious year of your, you know, of probably any artist, I guess we can skip to this, because I'll go back and ask questions. Despacito is one of the biggest songs of all of our, you know, our lifetime, certainly anybody who's listening to this for the most part.

Yeah. You know, you've written a lot of songs that have been hits, but it's a different thing when you write a song that's the biggest song in the world across all formats. And whether you're checking charts or not, you couldn't go anywhere without hearing that song. Yeah, of course. The evolution of that song is really interesting, how, you know, Justin Bieber coming on it after it was a hit. You know? I want you to talk a little bit about, what was that?

It had like four months in the first place of several countries when, when, and we were in number one in the Latino charts of the U.S. also on Billboard. when he came in, but he really made a difference because he took us from number 40 to number nine, no, for number 30 something to number nine and then to number three and then to number one for 16 weeks in a row. And of course that remix and that collaboration made a difference within the Anglo market. And for sure, reflected in whatever is happening nowadays in the world because Spanish music is being heard nowadays, like mainstream music, like U.S. mainstream music. At that time, I was on the, I don't know if I'm allowed to say this, but I'll say it anyway.

I was on the National Committee for the Grammys at the time, and that's the committee that, you know, listens to the, whatever songs qualify before nominations. That's sort of the committee that decides nominations. and it was fascinating because there had to be a translation of the lyrics. And the lyrics are not, they're, even in the translation, they're actually really seductive. There's a lot of metaphors in there. They're messy, by the way, but they, you know, they give you some place in your imagination to, you know.

But very, very responsible, very careful. But it has a lot of seduction there, yes. Did you spend a lot of time writing those lyrics? Or are you just at this point where you just naturally, it was just one day, one session? Well, we sat down. I went to Fonzi's house. It was September 15, 19, I mean 19, September 15, 2015, 20, okay? I was living in, in L.A.

Back in those days. And then Fonzi told me, whenever you're in Miami, come over to the house because I want to start writing something for my new album. And then I passed by. We made this session. I didn't, I haven't seen them like for months because I moved to L.A. And then we had a coffee for like an hour. We chatted a lot. And then we went to the studio.

And then we started writing the song about 3 p.m. And at 6 p.m., we were out. So it took us three hours. Yeah, writing with Andres and Maricio have that effect too a little bit where they're, they're very excited people, right? You guys wrote it with them in the room, right? No. They produce it later.

It's just ourselves on a guitar. And then when we finished that, he called Dadi Yankee. So he did the rap and added the poscoris, the Pasito Pasito, which was genius. And then Andres and Mauricio produced. the song on top of what we did. Like, it was the opposite of what happens nowadays, because nowadays a lot of people work on top of a track, and they call this top liners.

No, it was the opposite. It was a handcrafting kind of, you know, writing. I love that because that's really, you know, that gives, to me, that gives everybody more credit. And that gives more freedom as well. Like, you're not stock in the sports. You just let the song go. to wherever he wants to go.

In this next segment, Andres Torres asked Erica Ender, he wants to ask you, one, he says, can you please write me another Despacito? And two, he says, when you were done with Despacito and you started getting requests from other artists

to write a Despacito. You know, How did you go through that? How did you handle every artist being like, well, we want our despisito? Yeah. I tell people, you know, each song is different and comes with a different mission. I had this before with a song called Cinco Minutes in Land America that was like 52 weeks in a row in the top 10 of the billboard charts. and people would tell me,

can you do another Cinco Minutes? And I would say, no, it's one of a kind. I can do another song that if, you know, flies away the way this previous one did and finds the right, you know, the right interpreter and the right promoters and the right everything and clicks with people, it might become a phenomenon.

But not all of them become a phenomenon, even if they're great. So I can't do another despisito, because it's not doing the it's not copy-pasting something it's that they come with their own energy and they do whatever they their mission is it's different and with this one like every planet aligned we didn't ever you know think that this would be a crossover song like i was pursuing a crossover by writing in english not by writing in spanish so it was a total surprise it started being a snowball that never ended I thought of seven Guinness records. It's crazy. It's crazy. You can't, you try to explain to people.

You want them to, when you talk to a young writer, you want them to be disciplined and try to write their best song every day and to do all that. But to try to create the strange situation that would create a song from guitar vocals. No, you know what. in a room to being a worldwide hit. If you're aiming for that worldwide hit, I can guarantee you there are rooms all over the world doing that.

Literally, that's what you're proving. It's like you can be anywhere in the world writing any genres speaking any language. You could not predict that. You cannot predict that. And to tell your truth, whenever there's interest behind, I don't see it the same as when there's love in it.

Like when you're loving what you're doing and you really don't care what's going to happen. after that, you're doing your very best, you know? Energy just flows. Maybe I'm too idealist, but I see it like that. Like energy just flows and it goes wherever it has to. When it has the pressure of this has to be this, you know, it's like whenever you're a little boy, would you do, you ask me, would you, were you thinking about being a doctor?

I would have hated being a doctor, though I respect doctors very much. what I wanted to do was to sing and write, you know, and was the total opposite of my dad and mom. But then they encouraged me to follow my dreams and I did it with my heart and look what has happened, though it's been hard at the beginning, of course. And it's never totally easy either because this is a very difficult industry, especially for women. But you get to achieve it. And whenever you pass your hours doing whatever you love, it doesn't feel like you're working and you do this, you know. So whenever you're like really doing things from the bottom of your heart, there's a magic thing in there.

There's special energy that just flows and goes in an imaginable roads. One of the things that you do that's amazing is you've been a global ambassador for the Special Olympics, along with a lot of things that you've done, that has nothing to do. that's not being a host, that's not being an artist, that's giving back. What is the connection to Special Olympics? What was making you want to be a part of that? Yeah. Since I was little, my mom and dad, they're doctors because they want to serve, you know. They want to give love through their profession and change people, transform people's life.

So I grew up saying that and they also raised us, my sister and me, with a lot of social purpose, you know, thinking about the common good. My mom would always tell me you have a talent, you have to use it with love and excellence towards a common good. So always think that this is not your talent. You're an instrument that uses this talent and you become a bridge in order to get to others, you know, and transform other people's lives. So I started with my own foundation in 2009, which is called Ports Avivitas. We have a great project called Talempro that has already impacted positively 15,000 kids and young people. And we educate people. We send them all over the world to study their college.

We restore schools through this big platform called Talempro, which means talent with a purpose. So through that and everything that I was doing, I got to meet the people from Special Olympics as well. And they approached me to tell me, you know what? We see that you're very committed to everything you do towards social and philanthropy, social work and philanthropy. Would you be our Latin global ambassador within the organization? And I said yes automatically because I do believe in inclusion. And what I want to do in everything that I can and in every way that I can, is to use my art for the coming good.

That's what really, you know, fulfills my heart. And I think that that's the real mission that we all have. You know, use whatever we have to make others people, others' lives, other life of people better. Sorry, I got twisted. Your English is a lot better than my Spanish. I basically knew how to say a stadio de football, and then that's about it.

Well, I love that because you included me in there. Yeah, I mean, you know, it's what Translate does wonders. Okay, so, you know, not that many artists get to be part of, not that many songwriters get to be part of an artist's journey, like the real journey. You know, I mean, I guess there are a couple artists that have had songs on a few of their albums, but most of mine are, you know, it's, it was a moment in time. I got to work with that artist during that album cycle and then that was it, you know.

But you have relationships with these artists that clearly run very deep. So that will inspire our next segment, which will be five for five. I'm going to just list five things. And I just want to hear what you have to say about them because there's such otherwise we'll spend the whole time talking about these different artists. So let's start with Fonzie. You've been there. You've been on so many albums with that guy.

Yeah. For a long time. Yeah. I try to build relationships, you know, because I think that this is like making a baby. Making a song is like making love to bring a baby to the world, you know? And I like to become friends of the people that I work with and understand them as much as I can in order to do the best.

job that I can. So we've been friends for a long time, a long, long time. And I think that he's a gentleman. His wife is amazing as well. He has built an amazing family. He's a warrior. He knows what he wants in life and he fights for it. And he's such a disciplined and, you know, committed artist. How about Cheyenne? Chayenne was my big break. And also someone that I've always strengthened. about writing for him because since I was little, he was one of those big albums that I would, you know, autograph like I was him telling myself, Erica, thank you for your songs, signs, I mean, Cheyenne, you know, signature and everything. So it was a big thing for me too. I love the way he, not only how he performed

his songs, which were great songs, but also he was called the Michael Jackson of the Latte's, Latino world because he would like really know how to move and we were all like in love with him. All girls were in love with him. So it was very special for me to get my first dick caught through him. Gloria Trevi. Oh, she's a warrior. She's been through so many things and I really admire her because whenever you get to the button of your life and your career

and you go back like a Phoenix how do you call it Ave Fennix? Yeah that works yeah sure Phoenix Bird she's back she's someone that can show you

how big her heart and soul is and how you can you know go back to the sky and fly higher than you did before this one's a little abstract but I put you down

as you the artist from you the songwriter what it's like to be on the journey with you know Erica the artist Erica the artist is what you see like I'm not a character I am what you see always like up on stage and down here and what I really want to do and be

is the best that I can and get to connect with people's hearts that's my main main mission and my passion to make sure that beyond any award or anything, someone can tell me, you know, Erica, as people have done before, my son is an artist and artist is how you call, right, autista? Yeah, sure. And he sings whenever he listens to your songs or he dances to your songs or someone that was thinking about committing suicide

and maybe heard Sigo Caminando and re-planned a new whole life. You know, those are my biggest prizes. Or someone that tells me, thank you for your song, because I propose to my wife and we're happy now. Like those are my biggest prizes, and that's what the artist tries to do. Beyond some writer that goes through other voices in order to get to people, whenever I'm doing it, I really want to make a difference in other people's lives.

Let's put the last one as your parents, especially because of now knowing about their journey, we have to go with your parents as the last for the five for five. They are everything to me. They're my structure. They're my treasure. I couldn't be who I am without them. And they made sure that me and my sister have the most love we could. They exposed us to all these cultures and made us.

proud of every single thing that was part of her family and her roots. And because of that, I think that I see the world the way I see it. I see just one big home with different rooms. You're in the room, L.A. I'm in the room Miami. There's people in the room Brazil or in the room Europe. But at the end, we all share the same house. We have to take care of the common areas. And we have to understand that it doesn't matter the color, your ideology, your philosophy,

we're all made of the same and we all need the same basically. So I have to thank that to them among a bunch of other things. They've been calling me like crazy because we have another interview again too. Okay, I'll let you go. Thank you for doing this. You know, being a woman who's, you know, all the records that you've set, being part of the, you know, the youngest woman, part of the Latin music, Hall of Fame or Songwriter Hall of Fame or music Hall of Fame, whatever it is.

To be accepted by your peers like that is incredible. I know I got my first prominent Latin cut was being the English translation of a song on Fonsi's last album. And I was so excited that I looked at the credits, the same sort of thing and being, man, I'm with these legends. So to get a chance for us to spend time together on this is very cool. Thank you so much for doing this. And good luck with your next interview.

Thank you. And good luck for everything you're doing. And let me tell you something. Thank you for thinking like that. But we all are ordinary people that are capable of doing extraordinary things. And that depends on us. So I'm pretty sure you're extraordinary as well. And thank you for this time.

All right. Bye. Bye. Thanks for listening to this episode of And The Writer is. If you want to hear music from this songwriter, I just interviewed, be sure to check out our Spotify playlist or visit our website at and the writer is.com. If you like what we're doing, please subscribe to us.

You can also like us on Facebook and Twitter. And The Writer Is is produced by Joe London, edited by Miles Bergsma, and published by Big Deal music. A special thanks to David Silverstein from Mega House Music and Michael White. Until next time, this is Ross Golden.