3MEN2 KBRN

“I manifested the fuck out of this,” Eladio Carrión tells Apple Music about his new album and its dream lineup of features. The Puerto Rican trap star’s *3MEN2 KBRN* boasts no shortage of formidable rapper guests. Yet the appearances by icons 50 Cent and Lil Wayne, in particular, come after years of him visualizing this moment, so much so that he attached their respective names to the song files well before they’d even agreed to contribute to the record. Though originally intended as a deluxe edition of his 2022 mixtape, *SEN2 KBRN, VOL. 2*, the project soon evolved into a proper album. Carrión likens the resulting *3MEN2 KBRN* to a round of golf, its 18 tracks an intentional, albeit subtle, numeric Easter egg of sorts. Less understated are his vocal guests, a veritable vanguard of hip-hop hitmakers in both English- and Spanish-language spaces, including Future, Ñengo Flow, and Quavo, as well as the aforementioned legends. Though it breaks from the overarching series’ solo-only ethos, Carrión wanted the final volume to achieve something a number of his Latin music peers have strived for. “Sometimes, people do songs with American artists, and they don’t do the right song,” he says. “It’s all about having the right track for the right person, and for them to understand that the music does work on our side.” To that end, he worked largely with the same producers who got him to *3MEN2 KBRN*, namely Foreign Teck, Hydro, and Bassyy. “We really did this bridge between American and Latino artists for the first time. There hasn’t been an album like this before.” Read more about some of Eladio Carrión’s favorite *3MEN2 KBRN* tracks below. **“Padre Tiempo”** “It’s basically me having a conversation with Father Time, asking him for more time. Every time I go on tour, when I come back, I see my parents; they are older with more gray hairs. It’s me trying to say, ‘What can we do?’—trying to negotiate something. It’s just a really powerful track; my intros are known for that. That’s one of those songs you’re going to have to run back like, ‘Damn! He said that shit!’” **“Gladiador Remix” (feat. Lil Wayne)** “Lil Wayne really made me understand how important it is to drop bars in music. So, this is a really big one for me. ‘Gladiador’ was the intro for my last album. I didn’t think that song could get better. Wayne killed the song. It means a lot, just to know he got on it. I manifested it so much, so it’s a beautiful thing. It just talks about, no matter what happens, whatever the obstacle, you have to keep on going.” **“Mbappé Remix” (feat. Future)** “Future was on the top of my wish list, trapwise. You know that is one of my biggest inspirations is trap. Meeting him was super dope. To see his reaction in the studio, and to see how he really fucked with the song, it was super cool to have his blessing on that side. I didn’t see him do the verse. I met him and he went, probably, to the club, and he came back. I got the verse back at like 10 am. So, I think he recorded at like 8 in the morning.” **“Si Salimos” (feat. 50 Cent)** “When I got the 50 verse, I cried like a baby. I knew exactly how he was going to do it. I had manifested and visualized it so many times that, when he sent me the verse, I said that ‘yeah 50’ at the same time \[as him\] because I knew he was going to do it. It’s funny because I went to go see him perform for the first time like two weeks before he dropped the verse. I was right next to him. He was looking at me like, ‘Who the hell is this guy with the big ol’ chain?’ If only you knew, Curtis, I’m your biggest fan. That’s my hero. I’m just rapping with my favorite rapper right now!” **“Cuevita”** “This is more on the pop side. It’s still trap, but it is more commercial. Shout-out to my producers, Hydro and Bassyy. I always try to put one in there, just to see what happens at the shows. That type of vibe, they always do well for shows. I always like to imagine the second my DJ presses that button. That is definitely a festival song.” **“Coco Chanel” (feat. Bad Bunny)** “Me and Bunny haven’t done a song since ‘Kemba Walker.’ That’s why we have been kind of hesitant to drop a song. But when you hear the beat, you’re going to be like, ‘OK, yeah, I get why they chose this song.’ When the hook comes in, that’s when it bops. That’s one of those, you know, fun little tracks that I be doing, him and I.” **“Peso a Peso” (feat. Ñengo Flow, Quavo & Rich the Kid)** “I had this Rich the Kid verse for like a year and a half. I met him in LA, then we met up in Puerto Rico. When he was recording the verse, he was like four bars in and then, out of nowhere, Quavo just walks in the door. I didn’t even know Quavo was in Puerto Rico to begin with. He just pulled up and dropped that in like 15 minutes. It was amazing to watch. I put Ñengo on it to make the best of both worlds on it, and he came in with a super OG verse. That’s just me trying to make those correct collabs and make it sound right.” **“M3” (feat. Fivio Foreign)** “We hit hard in New York. That’s how we got Fivio, we got Lil Tjay, we got 50. Fivio is such a great guy. In the studio, it was so easy to do this because he was just so cool off the bat, like when we met. He went super hard on that one. He did it so fast, too, in like 30 minutes. I said the first words, started in Spanish, and he just went off. That is the only thing I told him.”