“Pony is one of those tracks that just never gets old and was able to transcend decades” says Laskaar. “I just wanted to pay homage to this special time in music by translating a song from that area into what it would sound like to me in 2019”, he continues. And so, here’s in exclusive the cover that the Swiss-Spanish singer has made of Ginuwine’s 1996 hit.
Originally released as the debut single of the album Ginuwine…Bachelor, and produced by Timbaland, Pony peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for two weeks; it was a success then and, according to Laskaar, “even to this day, the productions sound current and fresh”. And it’s in 2019 that the singer has decided to release it, although he started to produce it “years ago in Los Angeles but never felt like it was the real moment to release it”, he confesses. The reason? “It was quite faster and not at all melancholic like the tracks from my first EP.”
But after experimenting with more music and, especially, after his first Spanish single, Traición, he “felt like this would be a nice transition” and that “people could slowly start to see more layers of my music and get to know me in this way”. It’s probably true, since the singer has been experimenting as of late and has broadened his musical repertoire, which he avoids labelling. Nevertheless, he grew up listening to R&B and neo soul singers like Aaliyah, Lucy Pearl, Lauryn Hill or D’Angelo, which he says “were a big inspiration”.
In addition to the great song cover, he’s teamed up with Patshuro and Benjamin Muzzin for the visuals – the artwork cover (where he appears as a centaur because he’s a Sagittarius) and the video. “Since they both know my aesthetic and we like each other, it was quite effortless. I love the original but the last thing I wanna do is copy what somebody has done before”, Laskaar says.
