In USA TODAY’s The Essentials, celebrities share what fuels their lives, whether it’s at home, on set, or on the road.
As far as Prince Royce is concerned, the mark of a great song is that it “lasts a lifetime.”
The multiplatinum Latin pop star, who broke out in the early 2010s with his charming bilingual rendition of the Ben E. King classic “Stand by Me,” is tipping his hat to the greats once more on his latest album “Eterno” (out now). The singer reimagines pop standards from the likes of Elvis Presley, the Bee Gees, Backstreet Boys and others with his signature bachata style.
But for Royce, it’s about more than just throwback jams: “As an artist … you want to put out music that could go through generations and that can fit in other genres and rhythms and hopefully can just cross the globe.”
Royce, who grew up in a Dominican family in New York City, says these tropical-infused covers not only “show love and respect” to the original hits but also allow him to share a slice of his bicultural heritage with fans of varying backgrounds.
“I grew up listening to American music, but I also grew up listening to Latin music in Spanish and English, and that’s just my upbringing, all these rhythms in one place,” Royce, 36, says. “And I kind of can bring that mix of my upbringing to (Dominican Republic), to American people, to people who know both languages.”
Music isn’t the only esencial in Royce’s life. The singer dishes on some of his beloved staples, from video games and daily workouts to action-packed TV.
Prince Royce stays fit with ‘old-school’ workouts, ‘sweet’ dog Ruby
Who needs a gym buddy when you have man’s best friend?
Royce stays in shape with a series of daily workouts that span “old-school” weight training with metal free weights to outdoor runs and golfing. As for warming up, the singer gets his blood pumping with morning walks with his Belgian Malinois dog Ruby.
“The physical aspect just forces me to be healthier, to wake up early,” says Royce of his exercise regimen. “Subconsciously, I wouldn’t stay out drinking all night because I know I got to walk my dog and go to the gym, get up early and grind.”
Royce, who’s “never really been that much of a dog person,” gushes about his canine pal. “It’s like a military dog,” he says with a laugh. “She’s like 70 pounds. It’s my first big dog, but she’s a sweet girl.”
“Originally, it was more like, ‘let’s get a dog to protect the house’ type of vibe,” Royce adds. “We kind of got lucky. … We read all these things online that said Belgian Malinois are crazy and they’ll eat up everything in the house, but she’s been good so far.”
Prince Royce is all about the action for gaming, TV faves
Royce doesn’t play when it comes to his screen time.
A self-described “big gamer,” Royce often turns to video games as a travel pastime during long flights and hotel stays. Some of his favorites include the action franchises Call of Duty (“It’s always the game that never ends”) and Assassin’s Creed.
The singer’s love of gaming extends beyond the console. When it comes to TV, Royce has been watching video game adaptations such as “The Last of Us” and “Fallout,” with the latter blowing him away with its faithfulness to the game.
“The way that they would play classical music while they’re blowing something up and people are getting shot up, that’s how the game actually was,” he says. “Those things kind of hype me up.”
Additionally, the Prime Video series’ canine protagonist CX404, a Belgian Malinois, was the catalyst for Royce getting his dog Ruby. “It’s also the same dog from ‘John Wick,’ and I like ‘John Wick,’ too. So then when I saw it in ‘Fallout,’ I’m like, ‘That’s it. I’m getting the badass dog.'”
Prince Royce is grooving to deep house and this Drake album
For Royce, there doesn’t have to be a party to keep the beat going.
The “Stuck on a Feeling” hitmaker has been listening to the pulsating grooves of deep house, a subgenre of house music known for its ambient and soul influences.
“I’ve always liked it,” Royce says, adding that the genre is perfect for “chilling by the pool on a Sunday or on a boat or just at home.” “It’s kind of chill vibes but still up-tempo.”
Royce’s playlist is also bumping with Bad Bunny’s reggaeton banger “Velda,” taken from his latest album “Debi Tirar Mas Fotos,” as well as the Drake and PartyNextDoor collaboration record “$ome $exy $ongs 4 U.” “I’m a big Drake fan in general,” he says. “That album was pretty cool.”
Prince Royce nerds out with self-help books, documentaries
Royce isn’t one for passive entertainment, whether it’s the pages of a book or his channel-surfing destinations.
The Latin Grammy-nominated singer recently finished reading “Be Water, My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee” by Shannon Lee, a self-help biography he says he appreciated for its “motivational” exploration of the late martial arts icon’s Zen philosophy: “You put water in a cup, and it just transforms into whatever shape of that cup. It kind of molds into whatever situation.”
“If I’m going to listen to something, or if I’m going to read something, I really hope that I’m reading something that can make me a better person or better my business or family,” Royce says.
Royce’s thirst for knowledge also influences his viewing choices, citing documentaries as a favorite film genre.
“I like learning something,” he says. “I’ll watch random animal documentaries on the History Channel or something, and those things sometimes interest me more than regular movies.”
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