Carlos Arroyo is a good basketball player, and his best achievement on the court was undoubtedly at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, leading Puerto Rico to defeat the U.S. men's basketball team, giving the opponent the first defeat in 16 years.
Arroyo then began his NBA career. Although the data is average, in the 9-year career, he averaged only 6.6 points per game, but his performance in many cases is still remarkable. In the 2010-11 season, in James' first year with the Heat, he was the starting point guard for Miami at the time.
But after the Heat era, Arroyo's career went downhill. In the spring of 2011, he came to the end of his NBA career. Although the NBA is difficult to stand on, he continues to play basketball around the world. Last summer, he also appeared in the unusually popular BIG3 League, reappearing in the public eye.
At the same time, Arroyo also discovered another talent of his own, that is, in the field of music. And the style and field he targets is "reggae music". In March, Arroyo collaborated with the famous duo Zion & Lennox on a single called "Balia Reggaeton." And this is not the first time he has crossed the border to sing, Arroyo first released a single, dating back to 2010, his most popular song, on YouTube has 4.6 million views.
"People initially saw me as a basketball player," Arroyo said, "and I'm excited to show you that I'm far more capable than just on the court." ”
In Arroyo's upbringing, music played a very important role. Arroyo's father was very fond of music, and from an early age he took Arroyo and his 4 siblings to listen to American rock and pop music. As Arroyo grew, he also began to have his own preferences.
At first, Arroyo became obsessed with rapping, and many rappers, including Jay-Z, caught his ears at once. Then, like many Puerto Rican teenagers of that era, reggae music became their favorite. A group of reggae singers, represented by Yankee Daddy and Vico C, opened the door to Arroyo's new world in the field of music.
It was also at this time that Arroyo began to disagree with his father over musical tastes. "He would always say, 'You shouldn't listen to songs with lyrics like this.'" Arroyo recalled, "So, a few of us would wait until he went to work before we started playing out loud." ”
Limited by the way music spreads, Arrow is able to better appreciate his favorite music, often using a tape recorder to record songs played on the radio and then listening to them repeatedly. It was also at that time that Arroyo began to show good musical talent among his friends. He would write his own lyrics, although from the current point of view, the lyrics were not refined enough. "Most of them are 'disease-free groans,'" Arroyo said self-deprecatingly, "like going to clubs, hanging out on the street, and talking about girls." ”
In 2008, after playing in the NBA for eight years, Arroyo signed with Macabi Tel Aviv, a strong Israeli basketball team. During the days of his life in Israel, he had more free time than ever before. In the NBA, it used to be possible to play 4 games a week, but in the Israeli league, there were no more than 2 games a week. In such an environment, Arroyo also needed a way to spend his extra free time.
So he discovered a local recording studio in Tel Aviv and began composing music. The engineers there were particularly unprofessional, and on several occasions they really me off, Arroyo said. However, he still did not stop his musical creation. At the end of that season, Arroyo was offered a contract from the Heat. So Arroyo took his basketball skills and musical achievements to Miami.
After returning to the United States, especially in a big city like Miami, Arrow had more opportunities to contact musicians. It was in Miami that he met pop musician Yomo, the two collaborated on a song, and at one point made it onto the Latin Digital Songs chart, reaching a highest ranking of 45.
Miami is located in the southern united states, and it is right by the sea, so it is also a gathering place for Latin Americans. Arroyo is here and can find a home away from home. Even in the Heat's locker room, Arroyo often plays various Spanish songs with his teammates. When they are happy, everyone will even dance in the locker room.
The atmosphere is so contagious that even team president Pat Riley sometimes joins in. "Pat was really good at dancing," Arroyo recalled, "but if you let him dance with reggae, that's a different story." ”
During his time in Miami, Arroyo was constantly approached by musicians and people in the entertainment industry to seek cooperation with him. But at the same time, he didn't go so well on basketball. Because the contract with the Heat was non-guaranteed, he was cut by the team in the spring of 2011. Although the Celtics subsequently signed him, they did not choose to renew his contract after the end of that season. In the years that followed, he rarely had a chance in the NBA, so he continued his basketball career in local leagues in Turkey, Spain and Puerto Rico.
"Basketball was my means of making a living, and I wanted to be able to stabilize in that area," Arroyo said, "so at the time, I didn't really want to make music." I felt that I would only do it if I had time and could make music in the right way. Arroyo's wife, Theo maya Escobar, is well aware of this: "He's a very methodical man," Escobar said, "and he never throws himself recklessly into anything." ”
In 2016, Arroyo ended his basketball journey and settled in Miami with his family. This time, he met and became friends with a large number of Latin music artists. Arrow dates and invites them to his house, where they play basketball and music in the backyard.
Although the journey of professional basketball is over, Arroyo's life is still full. He had to take care of his three children, and he had to take care of his work at the Puerto Rican Basketball Association. At the same time, Arroyo is planning the next step in his basketball career.
"I always say, 'I'm going to do something more in the summer, I'm going to do something more next year,'" Arroyo said, "and it just goes on and on, and I don't do anything until the end." ”
In the field of music, although he has made a breakthrough and released an album, in fact, the whole process from production to release is his own money. This kind of musical composition of the nature of the ticket, so that Arroyo is not satisfied. "I didn't want to do that anymore," Arroyo said, "and I told myself that if I were to do something like that, I would just want to release an album that made it to the charts." ”
This way of exploring is no stranger to Arroyo. Aro has about a twin brother, and in order to pursue their NBA dreams, the two left their hometown together and came to Georgia, where they found a host family. They hope that in this way, more NBA scouts will notice themselves. But two weeks later, my brother was homesick and returned to Puerto Rico. Arroyo, on the other hand, persisted.
"Because my dreams are always more powerful than fear," Arroyo said, "I feel that when you sacrifice so much and give so much early, you are ready to give everything for it." But I never had any regrets, and I didn't want to look back at my life one day and say, 'XX, I've found so many great artists to work with, and I haven't produced good works just because I'm too timid.' ’”
In this way, Arroyo strengthened his determination to enter the field of music. In 2020, he signed to a record label and embarked on a new journey in a whole new field. He would be in daily contact with the people at the company, and he would invite producers to his backyard and talk to them in detail about his musical goals. Even when the world is suspended by the new crown virus, he has not stopped working.
"I hope that this is the starting point for great music," Arroyo said, "but I've been waiting for this opportunity for 10 years, so I'm not in too much of a hurry." ”
It was against this background that Arroyo collaborated on the song with Zion and Lenox. According to Arroyo, they recorded the song very quickly. Arroyo first recorded a demo himself, then on a Friday he found Zion and Lenox and showed them. And then on the Wednesday, the three of them walked into the studio together and finished recording the entire song.
As soon as the song was released, it immediately caused a hit. Every time the hits exceed the 1 million mark, Arroyo's daughter finds her father to celebrate. "She's only 14 years old this year, so if she doesn't like the song, she'll definitely tell me honestly," Arroyo said.
And when he became a father, he also remembered his father. Today, Arroyo has become the pride of his parents. "But now in my head, I can still hear my dad shouting at me to turn off this music." Arroyo said with a smile.