Eladio Carrión on His New Album Sauce Boyz and How He Plans to Conquer the Industry

You might not think that a kid who moved to Puerto Rico at age 10 without speaking Spanish would then release his first reggaeton album in that language, but Eladio Carrión just did. “It’s been in the works for a couple years,” the artist tells People CHICA. “There are songs on Sauce Boyz I did maybe three, four years ago. I just tried to put the dopest songs I had that I thought would go with the concept of [the album].”

Born in Fort Riley, Kansas, Carrión grew up with a father in the military and moved around a lot, to places like Hawaii, Maryland, New York, and Alaska; the family settled in Puerto Rico once his dad retired. Growing up all over the U.S. didn’t influence his sound as much as his older sisters did, though. “I have a very American hip-hop and rap background because of them,” he explains. “I grew up listening to Nas, Jay-Z, Kanye, Eminem, Big L — all that.”

Carrión’s fans have been super supportive of Sauce Boyz, which was originally supposed to be a six-song EP but morphed into a full album with features from artists like Jhay Cortez, Brytiago, and Miky Woodz. “All the songs were already made, so if I made a song and visualized someone on it and in my mind it was dope, I just hit them up: ‘Yo, I got this track for you.’ Since I used to write, I kind of know what each artist liked, so every song that I sent them they sent back with their verse because they loved it so much.”

He hopes to one day be able to work with artists like Daddy Yankee, 50 Cent, Travis Scott, Cardi B, Maroon 5, and Justin Timberlake, to incorporate them into his unique sound. “My sound is different, brave, because I’m never afraid to try new things,” he says. “I’m always trying to be the best one to do something.”

Before he got into music, Carrión was a great swimmer and even qualified for the Olympics; he also tried his hand at comedy. “I’ve always had to work twice as hard as everyone else,” he says. “I was an influencer, so it was hard for people to see me as an artist. I just kept on working. I never paid attention to anyone except people who had good things to say about me.”

The release of Sauce Boyz, which debuted last month, is clearly the start of something big. “Sauce Boyz is just the beginning,” he declares. “It’s my first step into the music industry. … I’ll try a little bit of everything. I try not to keep myself doing one thing — I’m open to everything.”