Three years after giving his life to Jesus Christ, Daddy Yankee says he plans to “make music with purpose.”
Yankee, who now goes by Ramón Ayala, is the reggaetón star credited with bringing the genre into the mainstream.
“Everyone who’s inside the faith has to go to the world and preach the gospel,” the artist recently told Billboard Magazine.
“I can’t simply convert and stay silent, you know? This isn’t simply making Christian music; the challenge is to make the kingdom part of pop culture,” he explained. “My vision [in the past] was to transform the industry when they told me I couldn’t. Now I’m in the same situation with a different purpose: revolutionize and reinvent.”
As CBN News has reported, Daddy Yankee decided to retire from music in 2022, telling fans he was ending his career and giving up his professional name.
Billboard reports he released his last album, Legendaddy, that year. Despite grossing more than $197 million and selling 1.9 million tickets for the tour, Ayala walked away for a bigger reason.
“What good will it be for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” he said quoting Mark 8:36 at the final show of his farewell tour at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico. “That is why, tonight, I recognize, and I am not ashamed to tell the whole world, that Jesus lives in me and that I will live for Him.”
“All the tools that I have in my possession such as music, social networks, platforms, a microphone — everything that Jesus gave me — is now for His kingdom,” Ayala told the crowd at the time.
Now, the 49-year-old is following through on that commitment.
He is making his official return to music during this week’s 2025 Billboard Latin Music Week.
For the first time in three years, the Puerto Rican star best known for his songs like “Gasolina” and “Despacito,” will perform in his first televised performance on October 23rd. It comes days after the release of his album Lamento En Baile (Mourning Into Dancing) on October 16th.
He told Billboard the album features tracks with Christian themes and is inspired by Psalm 30:11, which reads: “You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness.”
He also told the outlet the album is also inspired by a season of learning to rely more on God and worship him even during life’s greatest challenges. For Ayala, that includes his recent divorce from his highschool sweetheart after more than two decades of marriage.
“I never thought I’d be in this situation, but I found myself in it,” he shared. “And the strength I found to record an album full of joy in the most unexpected moment of my life is what helped me regain my strength.”
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“When we’re in the middle of a crisis, one of our biggest fortitudes lies in adoring and praising the Lord because it brings joy,” Ayala added.
He released his first song off the album back in July. The song titled “Sonríele,” which means “smile (at life)” encourages listeners to turn to God and rely on Him in trials.
“This isn’t about a comeback. It’s about connection,” he reiterated. ” “Life’s not perfect, but we have to smile through it. This song was born from what we live everyday – it’s my way of telling people not to give up, to appreciate the little things, and never let anyone take their joy away.”
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