On Jan. 30, a dancing crowd braved the cold and gathered in a full house under the #PEPCITY Dome for a special performance of Prince Royce. The Mega 97.9 DJ played reggaeton oldies like Cuentale and new Dominican hits like Cuchucha prepped the cheerful crowd to welcome the prince of bachata.

Royce opened the night with the hit song and Daddy Yankee collaboration, Ven Conmigo, and a warm welcome to the fans. “There are so many beautiful women out here!” He then switched to a slower beat with Stand By Me as the second song. It made all the female fans singing along the classic lyrics. Even though bachata is usually slow paced, the band members were seen swaying along with the lead singer and even dancing bachata in perfect coordination.

Te Me Vas was the third song. It was performed with a passionate and a melancholic attitude that drove the ladies crazy. To stir up the crowd even more, Royce got a red rose and began singing Incondicional while he decided which lucky fan would get the early Valentine’s Day gift. When girls were about to start fighting over the fragile flower, Royce surprised the audience by grabbing two more roses and sitting down on stage to begin singing El Amor Que Perdimos.

He then shouted “me duele el corazón,” “My heart is hurts,” to close up the performance with a true theatrical bachata mood.

We spoke with Prince Royce before the concert. Check out what he had to say. 

Q: Tell us about working on the Pepsi commercial for the Grammys.

Prince Royce: It was fun! It was fun to hang out with Dion and all the rest of the crew. It was a very fun commercial! I think that’s what I love about Pepsi, you know? They are innovative, they do new things, it was fun to be there and to see the crowd and see the performance. I think it was great and for me. It was a pleasure working with Pepsi. It is such a big brand that has worked with many successful artists, so definitely just being a part of it was something big for me.

Q: Who are you rooting for in the Super Bowl?

Prince Royce: It’s tough! You know I am a New York fan, so I got no problem; I am out of the battle right now. I think it’s looking good for both teams. I am excited that it is actually here in New York, I think the New York crowd is going to have fun. It’s going to be cold out, but I definitely wish both teams the best. The Giants aren’t playing, so it’s all good.

Q: What upcoming projects are you working on?

Prince Royce: Well, right now we got a lot of things going on. I just released my third Spanish album my first single “Darte Un Beso” it’s been ten weeks number one on the Billboard chart. I just released my second single and I am releasing the video next week. I am also going on tour around the summer time, so that’s going to be good. I have been working with Pepsi so we have more stuff coming up with Pepsi and that’s going to be cool. I am also working on my first English pop album, which I think that it’s going to be great! We have some collabs and it’s going to be an English pop with a flare of Latin, some Spanish and a little bit of urban, pop rhythm. A little bit of everything. I am also a coach for “La Voz  Kids” (The Voice Kids) with kids from the ages 7 to 15. We are starting the second season it has been good. For me, I get to mentor these kids and talk to them. At that age I wish I had someone to tell me what to do or how to do it, how to get better, so it is very exciting and there are a lot of cool things this year. It is a busy schedule.

Q: What was your inspiration behind the lyrics and tunes for your hit single “Darte Un Beso”?

Prince Royce: I think for me I just wanted to do something different with bachata. That’s why I came up with the whole ukulele and reggae vibe. I am a big fan of the Marleys and reggae and I love English music, I love pop, rock, so I always try to combine them with bachata and I wanted it to be a song like… giving somebody a kiss can be something so easy, but yet also so difficult. That’s really what the song is about. How something so simple can be so difficult and how to go about it. At the same time when it comes to rhythm I wanted something that would be real summer real beach, so I think we got to complete that and I am proud of this song. It has been one of my biggest hits yet.

Q: How was working with children in La Voz, versus working with adults for the Latin The Voice version?

Prince Royce: I was a mentor in The Voice Mexico, which was with adults and I think it is a whole other vibe with kids. With kids they are innocent so you see true reactions. It is also difficult because you have to watch how you talk to them, you don’t want to hurt their feelings or make them stop singing. So it is definitely a positive show where all the kids win and no kid leaves without an experience. We are shooting in Universal Studios, so they are having a great time there. With kids it’s a whole another ball game, but you have a lot of fun and they are here to have fun not to make money. They just want to be on stage singing and learning and that’s what we are doing.

Q: What can we expect from you tonight?

Prince Royce: It’s going to be great! What I love about this is that it has intimacy; you can be intimate with the fans. It is a small crowd, and at the same time given out tickets for free to me it’s very important. A lot of the fans don’t get a chance to see the artist and through Pepsi we get this opportunity to do this concert and I think it’s going to be fun!

Check out our photos of Prince Royce performing live inside the #PEPCITY dome at Bryant Park’s Winter Village as part of Pepsi’s early Super Bowl celebration and appreciation to the residents of New York and New Jersey

-Estefania Garcia-Correa