From winning the Colombian edition of “The X Factor” in 2007 to earning seven Latin Grammy Awards, Colombian pop star Camilo has steadily risen as one of Latin music’s most exciting voices to watch. Now, with the release of a single that takes aim at artificial intelligence, the genre-blurring superstar is adding yet another layer to his evolving repertoire.
On June 25, the 31-year-old, who has collaborated with superstars like Shakira and Selena Gomez, dropped “Maldito ChatGPT,” a moody pop track that explores the emotional tug-of-war between logic and love.
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The song, which was written in two days with music producer Trooko (aka Jeffrey Peñalva), wrestles with the idea of choosing someone who “may not make sense on paper” and doing so with your heart, even when AI says otherwise.
That very dilemma played out in real life just before the song was written, when Camilo jokingly asked ChatGPT to list the traits of his “perfect” partner. But when the AI platform spit out its answer, he quickly realized the qualities were the exact opposite of his wife Evaluna Montaner (whose name puts a sparkle in his eyes every time she was mentioned).
“When I used [ChatGPT] to ask about my perfect partner, it suggested a person that is not the person that I’ve been with for 10 years,” Camilo says. “So that contradiction…I loved it. And I think it was like the first seed of this contradiction that I wanted to portray in this new song.”
To accompany the single, Camilo has released a music video — directed by his wife and Sebastien Andrade — which pays homage to the 1999 satirical film “Office Space.”
Filmed just days after the song was recorded, Camilo says he rushed home to play the song for his wife. After mentioning that he wanted to film a video, Montaner made a few calls and had a set, wardrobe and full team ready for him in less than 48 hours.
“My favorite way to work in…life is with a deadline and a rush because, I mean, you don’t have time to…clean the corners so much. You [just] put the [project] that you first felt was good, and that’s it,” Camilo says. “So for this project, we really wanted the music video to show a little bit of that cold and silently desperate vibe that you feel when you’re watching ‘Severance,’ for example. And my wife, who is a very talented director, made it possible with the help of our friends super quickly.”
Now that the song has been out for a few weeks, Camilo is gearing up to perform it live for the first time on July 12, when he headlines the SummerStage Festival in Central Park.
“I didn’t know it was possible to perform in Central Park, so when I [got the call]…I couldn’t believe it. It’s iconic s–t,” he says. “My daughters are here. My wife is here. I have a lot of friends traveling from Miami, my whole band, my whole crew, my family. I know it’s gonna be something that we’re gonna remember for the rest of our lives.”
While wardrobe details for the performance remain under wraps, Camilo hints that he’ll be stepping out in something unexpected, though his signature swooped mustache isn’t going anywhere.
“My wife [had] a lot of fun designing the outfit that I’m gonna wear [for] that performance on Saturday. It’s something that I haven’t [worn] before. It’s more of a middle ground between something very me and something a little more formal,” he says. “And if it gets too hot, I’ll just start taking pieces off.”