Michaël Brun Details Uniting Beenie Man & Bounty Killer on New ‘Touchdown' Single
Out Friday (Jan. 31), 'Touchdown' — the Haitian star's new anthem – features Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper J Balvin, Jamaican dancehall legends Bounty Killer and Beenie Man, and rising Jamaican singer-songwriter Tasan, the daughter of reggae legend Papa San. Izy Beats, who helmed Koffee's 2018 crossover hit 'Toast,' helped co-produce.
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A celebratory anthem, tailor-made for major sports victories, 'Touchdown' beautifully marries the already closely intertwined genres of dancehall and reggaetón, using their shared DNA to combine contemporary Latin superstars with dancehall giants of eras past. J Balvin first premiered the track on ESPN as the network's Monday Night Football ambassador, marking a rare usage of Caribbean music on the iconic sports brand's broadcast. The cross-genre collaboration served as the official promotional anthem for the 2025 NFL Wild Card Weekend games.
'Touchdown' previews a busy year for Brun that includes his first-ever arena show. On June 28, Brun will mount his BAYO Festival at Brooklyn's Barclays Center. The festival's steady growth over the past half-decade is just one segment of Brun's efforts to uplift Caribbean music around the world.
'I actually was part of the [Grammy] committee for best global music performance,' he exclusively tells Billboard hours before 'Touchdown' hits DSPs. 'At Spotify, I curate the 'Haitian Heat' playlist and help them with other Caribbean stuff.'
Last year, Brun prioritized collaborations, joining forces with artists spanning genres and generations, including Keyon Harrold ('Playa Noche'), Charly Black ('Jessica') and John Legend ('Safe'). With an ever-growing festival and new music on the horizon, Michaël Brun caught up with Billboard to break down the making of 'Touchdown,' his favorite Haitian artists and who he thinks will win the Grammy for best reggae album on Sunday (Feb. 2).
How did 'Touchdown' come together?
This process has taken a couple of years. I've known J Balvin for years, and we've worked on a lot of projects together. My first platinum records and a lot of my No. 1s were with him. [Brun co-produced and co-wrote J Balvin's Ed Sheeran-assisted 'Forever My Love,' which topped Latin Airplay in 2022]. In the process of making some new songs together a couple of years ago, we started talking about the influence of dancehall in reggaeton and how much dancehall artists have influenced and shaped the global sound.
Then we had the idea to do something that honored [the songs] we used to listen to at parties. 'Touchdown' came from the idea of that link between everything that's happened in dancehall history and the way that Haiti has been influenced by the Caribbean, Latin America and our own local sounds.
Once we made that initial concept, I knew I wanted to tap in with some friends and icons from Jamaica. I reached out to Tasan, who sings the hook, and Beenie Man and Bounty Killer, who are two iconic dancehall artists from Jamaica. I also reached out to Izy – who produced iconic dancehall songs like Koffee's 'Toast' — to co-produce the song with me.
This is the first time in a decade that Beenie Man and Bounty Killer have been featured on a track together, which is pretty monumental given their history. What does this moment mean to you as a dancehall fan?
I think that it's really representative of what I believe in: [the power of] bridging different cultures and people. I want my music to make people feel good. I want you to feel that the culture is enriching you. I think that both of their careers have been incredible and have been so influential… not just in Jamaican sounds, but global sounds too.
We actually cut their verses around the time of their Verzuz battle [in 2020], it was literally that week that we started the process. It was really special. I'm grateful that we also got to link in Kingston and Miami. That's all I care about: genuine cultural unity and authentic cultural portrayal.
Do you have any plans to get this performed live anytime soon?
I have BAYO coming up, and that's been so much fun for me because it's rooted in Haitian culture and history. I started it in Jacmel in the South of Haiti, but the music that I play and the artists that pop up for the show are from all around the world. Haitian music is very traditional — we have our genres like konpa and rara — but we also play music from everywhere. I've already had a couple of the artists on 'Touchdown' pop up in past shows. We might get some really good surprises!
Talk to me a bit more about how BAYO has grown over the past five years.
It's been wild. The very first New York show we did was at Music Hall of Williamsburg, and there were about 500 people or so. BAYO was such a crazy twist for me because, up to that point, I was a DJ doing electronic music and I wanted to set up this festival concept to bring the sounds that I love from the Caribbean and all the different global diasporas to New York and different parts of the U.S. Now we're hitting Europe and Canada too. The energy at that first show was so special; it made sense to me as a concept, so to see it go from Irving Plaza to Brooklyn Steel and then to Central Park and Prospect Park has been a dream come true.
And the feedback I get from everybody that comes – whether it's people flying from different cities or people in the New York community — is that it feels like a family. The show is the embodiment of my music. This is my claim, but BAYO is the best party in the world!
Every festival has its own approach, but, personally, I love to be surprised. I work hard every year to surprise people with the lineup. We never announce who's performing, so when you show up you might see Maxwell or J Balvin – anybody can pop up! This festival is my pride and joy.
It's interesting to have a song like 'Touchdown' arrive amid the . How do you feel the song honors and acknowledges the musical lineage of these genres?
We're honoring icons for the work that they've done and creating new moments that incorporate different aspects of their lineages. We're bridging culture-holders with modern-day and up-and-coming stars. Having these songs in these global moments is important for people to see. I feel like these cultures are very separate segments for a lot of people and if they're not explicitly shown it, it's hard for them to understand what the links are. This is my way of helping to create that mutual respect across the board and have all of us in community with each other. Everybody on 'Touchdown' actually loves the other artists.
What's the dream sporting event to perform 'Touchdown' at?
Oh man, the Super Bowl! In terms of the song itself, it's the perfect fit, and J Balvin has also already done the Super Bowl [as a guest of Shakira and J. Lo's in 2020]. On a personal level, I really love football (soccer), so the World Cup too. Any stadium sporting event with people chanting works, that's what the energy of the song was from the beginning. It's also so cool to have Caribbean music on ESPN, I think it's the first time they've ever done that! It's pretty amazing to be part of that lineage now.
Is 'Touchdown' leading to a larger project for you this year?
I've been working hard on a lot of stuff. There's more music coming with some very special artists who I've been working with for the past few years, one of which everyone's gonna be surprised about because she had such an insane 2024. I won't reveal too much, but I feel like my entire bucket list has been checked off.
Who are some Haitian artists we should be keeping our eyes and ears on in 2024?
What Naïka is doing on a global scale with incorporating different sounds from Haiti — whether it's twoubadou or konpa – is incredible. Her song '6:45' was pretty massive last year on socials and streaming. On the rap side, Baky is about to drop his new project which I know is gonna be crazy. One other person I think is fire is Rutshelle Guillaume; we worked on a song with John Legend together last year. She's one of the big singers from Haiti. Everybody comes through to BAYO, so you should pop out this year!
Who do you think will take home the Grammy for on Sunday?
Oh, that's a tough one. I think Vybz [Kartel] might take it, man. His comeback is a pretty big deal. It depends on the voter base, of course. What Vybz is doing right now is really important for the culture. I think it will probably go to [the Bob Marley: One Love soundtrack] though because of the movie. If the culture voted, it would be Vybz, in my opinion.
Outside of BAYO and your new music, what else can fans look forward to from you this year?
I've been producing a lot of projects. I'm really close with Naïka; she's working on her debut album right now, and it's a really, really special project that incorporates so many influences from her Haitian heritage. There's a lot of really fun stuff that I've been involved with that I think will be rolling out at different points throughout the year.
On a personal note, my mom passed away in December, which was a pretty crazy journey because she had cancer for three years. With this show and my music, my career is all about honoring her. She was born in Georgetown, Guyana, and she was very philanthropic. I genuinely want to ensure that I'm continuing to honor her through philanthropy and community building. We created the Sharon Andrea Lee-Brun Memorial for BAYO Fund at the end of the year as opposed to people sending flowers and stuff. We ended up donating $12,000 to different education and food sovereignty organizations in Haiti.
I'm in my next life now without my mom, so I'm trying to keep her in mind always.
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is a James Beard Award-winning food and travel journalist, cookbook author, and Senior Editor at Eater. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, Saveur, and others. In 2013, when I was 21 years old, I traveled with my Model African Union team from the University of Houston to Howard University in Washington, D.C. Trayvon Martin's murder the year before had a sweeping impact on me and my classmates — all of us ignited with a charge to have an expert-level understanding of our Black history, and the tools to make the world a better place once we graduated. We discussed these issues with our professor at Busboys and Poets, known as the intellectual hub of D.C.'s Black, immigrant, and progressive community. At the time, this was the spot to be in D.C., according to my professor, and to the coolest and most elite of the progressive 'Chocolate City.' Being in that space made us feel like we were Texas's coolest college students. 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