The Cuban artist Wampi revealed this Wednesday on Instagram that the only collaboration on his new album You Need to Be Happy —released this Friday— is with the renowned Cuban musician Alain Pérez, in a song titled “Alócate”.
"The only featuring on this album had to be special. What a privilege to share music with the maestro Alain Pérez, my uncle," wrote the artist, whose real name is Dasiel Mustelier Oruña, when announcing the collaboration to his followers.
In the advertisement video, Wampi described Alain Pérez with words of deep admiration: "This gentleman you see, my uncle, as I affectionately call him, is truly a genius. An excellent musician in every sense of the word and a great person. Someone I respect and admire very much."
The artist also explained the personal significance of the song: "This is the only collaboration on the album, and I feel it is a very special song for that child who one day heard the words of this teacher at the Madre Rodríguez Conservatory. That child who never stopped dreaming, that child is going to go happy."
The reference to the conservatory is not coincidental: Wampi studied saxophone for nine years at the Paulita Concepción conservatory, and his academic training has been one of the defining features of his career within the Cuban ensemble.
Alain Pérez, bassist, singer, songwriter, and producer with a career that includes a decade with Paco de Lucía's band and collaborations with figures like Chucho Valdés and Isaac Delgado, responded to the announcement with a revealing comment on Instagram: "A few years ago, I was asked who I would like to collaborate with, and I answered without hesitation: El Wampi... ever since you arrived, I’ve been keeping an eye on your steps, your integrity as an artist and as a human being. No beating around the bush... Ladies and gentlemen! This is to make you go crazy. Amazing vibe, my nephew!"
The announcement comes at a time of significant momentum for Wampi. Emilio Frías, the leader of El Niño y La Verdad, publicly pointed him out as the Cuban artist with the greatest potential to win a Grammy, during an interview with content creator Yoslin. "There is one artist who I believe is a different story... Wampi," stated Frías, who also shared the studio with him.
Wampi made his artistic ambition clear in a second video posted on Instagram: “I don’t want to have the most popular album in the distribution. I want to have the album that others will have to surpass.”
You Need to Be Happy is the second album by the artist following The King of Havana, released in October 2025 under the Virgin Music Latin US label, which Billboard listed as one of the best Latin albums of 2025 and included Wampi among the 26 Latin artists to watch in 2026.
In June 2024, the repartero became the first artist from the Cuban repartO to join as a voting member of the Recording Academy, the organization that awards the Grammys, a milestone that reinforces the institutional recognition of a genre that was born in the popular neighborhoods of Havana.
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