Best known for his roles in This Is Us, Good Girls and DMZ, Marcel Mendoza is an emerging singer/songwriter and pop artist, with a unique voice and style. When Mendoza was 16, he wrote and recorded his first song “Impossible,” with Portuguese DJ and production duo Club Banditz, a pop/EDM track that landed at #2 on the Portuguese charts. That early success led him onto the stage at El Paso‘s Sun City Music Festival, where he performed the song in front of thousands.

Mendoza is gearing up to release his debut EP, an effort that will reportedly embrace a variety of genres and styles including Latin Urbano, R&B and pop while reflecting his evolution as an artist and his commitment to creating music that transcends boundaries.

His debut single, and the EP’s first single “Apretadita,” is a loving homage to El General‘s “Rica y Apretadita,” that sees Mendoza reimagining the beloved song by modernizing it but while preserving the essence of the original: While being a sleek and breezy, club friendly banger that sounds like a bilingual synthesis of Drake, The Weeknd and Bad Bunny, the song seamlessly blends elements of hip-hop, dancehall, reggaeton, R&B and contemporary pop paired with Mendoza’s delivery, which alternates between hip-hop swagger and plaintive R&B croon.

“’I chose ‘Apretadita’ as my first single because I believe it best showcases what I am capable of doing as an artist,” Mendoza explains. “I have such a diverse multicultural background and I felt like this was the perfect blend of genres that I will cover for upcoming songs.”

Mendoza goes on to explain that the song’s chorus pays homage to El General’s “Rica y Apretadita” and that his take incorporates his Caribbean roots — he claims roots in Puerto Rico, Cuba and Costa Rica — while remaining true to himself and drawing inspiration from his hometown of Atlanta.