Earlier this year, Feid received a Grammy nomination for best música urbana album with FERXXO VOL X: Sagrado—an album he produced and composed entirely himself. The experience, which he describes as “overwhelming, stressful and really hard,” is what ultimately led to the creation of his new project, FEID VS. FERXXO, out Thursday (March 19).
“Being alone in the studio helped me immensely in approaching and starting work on this [new] album, because my perspective had shifted by the time I set out to tackle a song—whether regarding my melodies, the skills I had already developed as a producer, or simply sitting down to convey to someone how I wanted a track to sound,” Feid tells Billboard over Zoom. “For this album, I wanted to sit down and record specific instruments with specific producers. It was a more collaborative effort, because, at the end of the day, that’s what music is all about: teamwork.”
On the seven-track EP, the Colombian artist teamed up with his longtime producers Jowan, Rolo, Wain and Sky Rompiendo; the creative approach, however, was different.
“This was the first time I actually sat down, took a deep breath, and focused on working on something,” he explains. “The last time I found myself sitting still—albeit under duress—was after my accident [in 2021], and I was in recovery working on ‘Feliz Cumpleaños Ferxxo.’ But this time, I wanted the year to be one of deep reflection: to understand the pulse of the market, to see what is needed from me, to figure out what I wanted to do with the future of my career, and to determine the direction in which I wanted to head.”
That reflection and observation is what he precisely delivers on FEID VS. FERXXO—the first installment of a four-part full-length album set to be released this year.
Intuicion Creativa, Manuela Villada, Jorge Mario Villada Velez
“There has always been a healthy debate regarding the distinction between the two: ‘Is this a Feid track? Or is it a Ferxxo track?’ I realized how much I enjoy reading and understanding exactly what my audience wants whenever I’m about to release new music,” he notes. “This time around, I sensed that they were longing for something that, perhaps, they no longer felt was present in my newer songs.”
On the EP, Feid is represented through chill reggae tunes (“Que Vuelta Vos”) and romantic boleros (“Boleritox”), whereas Ferxxo sounds on progressive Afrohouse beats (“La Mejor Música”) and hard-hitting perreos (“Trancaito”). The previously-released “Se Lo Juro Mor,” which became the artist’s 12th No. 1 on the Billboard Latin Airplay chart last December, perfectly combines both worlds.
“I feel that writing is always about offering an opinion on a situation—how I would react in the face of heartbreak, or when missing someone, or when saying, ‘I killed it; things are going really well for me,’” he elaborates. “I feel that the two personas have very different personalities. It’s through the songwriting process that I’m able to determine whether a track leans more toward Feid or Ferxxo.”
FEID VS. FERXXO marks the artist’s debut release under his own record label Grabaciones Los Poderosos, where he will have full ownership of his masters and long-term control of his catalog.
“I’m absolutely fascinated by it; I feel like it’s going to be the best project I’ve ever released in my entire life—though I’m not sure if it will be the definitive one, since right now I’m in such an amazing headspace—working hard, taking so much in, and constantly learning,” Feid says. “I just hope God keeps granting me the creativity to keep surpassing myself and evolving… but as of right now, it is the most complete, most incredible thing I’ve ever done.”
