Ross

from when I was going through some relationship difficulties,” shares Rossemberg, who divides his time between London and Cancun. “I thought to myself ‘What if I run with the concept of being a bad guy?’”

That epiphany was almost like if a door slightly opened, and Rossemberg gleefully slipped through, embracing an alternate universe where he could leave the trappings of genre concerns and conventional morality. He created a devil’s den with his 13-song sophomore album, A Bad Guy, which winds through lurid tales of romance, dirty secrets, and moments of pure soulful vulnerability. Rossemberg began his career accidentally, as a carefree teen belting out songs at a social gathering in his birthplace of Villahermosa, Mexico. He grew up steeped in music as culture and music as a family experience. Early on, he had a family band which consisted of him on drums, his brother on bass, and their father on guitar. When his brother grew out of the band, and his father became too busy, Rossemberg found himself the lone passionate musician in his family. Consumed with music, he studied guitar, piano, and began singing and songwriting. Though it seemed like his hard work paid off with music industry interest after an impromptu performance, Rossemberg decided to forgo the opportunity. He saw the cookie cutter pop path that it could lead to and, in a powerfully mature move instead, he decided to forge his own musical path. Rossemberg has previously released a Billboard-charting debut R&B album which yielded two smash singles in Mexico, and he’s issued multiple EDM singles. He's collaborated with acclaimed producers and engineers including Latin Grammy winner Gael Hedding (Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Janet Jackson), and Grammy-nominated Blake Eiseman (Justin Bieber, Outkast, Curtis Mayfield), among others. For A Bad Guy, Rossemberg worked with Grammy Award-winner Dave Pensado (Jill Scott, Peaches, T-Pain, Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey), Johannes Rassinna (Justin Bieber, Miike Snow), Alex Wharton (Paul McCartney), and 12-time Grammy winner Rafa Sardina (Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello & The Roots, Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson). He also recorded at the famed Capitol Studios in Los Angeles and legendary Abbey Road Studios. Informing his music and his artistic perspective are his pursuits of knowledge and self-development. Rossemberg speaks six languages and is truly a global citizen having spent meaningful time in Japan, Germany, France, the U.S. the U.K., along with his birthplace, Villahermosa Mexico. He’s also an accomplished producer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist, proficient in many instruments including the drums, guitar and he is self-taught on the piano.

“I like learning—I’m always studying history and mathematics, among other disciplines. I love being out of my comfort zone,” Rossemberg shares. “The moment things get comfortable I have to mix it up.”

Those words about comfort prefigure Rossemberg’s daring album, A Bad Guy, which is a dizzying spinning wheel of sounds and stories tied together with his pop sophistication and his playful panache with lyrics. The loose concept is how a good guy with lots of money stops trying to be a good guy and fully embraces his inner pl***oy. Fancy cars, fly girls, private planes, Michelin-starred restaurants, and a behind-the-velvet-rope lifestyle abounds. The listener is granted privileged access to the penthouse or the nightclub to revel in all the posh debauchery. The title track opens the album. It’s an irresistible slice of sensual R&B that introduces the album’s protagonist and announces that this album is a unique entry in Rossemberg’s oeuvre. The album is almost a culmination ofRossemberg’s journey, returning him to his multi-instrumentalist roots as he revisits his love for R&B, and reprises his multi-instrumentalist role performing guitar, drums, piano, among various other roles on the album. A Bad Guyalso touches on Motown, pop, EDM, hip-hop, rock, and various modern and vintage aesthetics. The album’s narrative arc takes flight on the second track, the cheeky horn-driven pop R&B of “My Secret.” The pop-rock of “It Won’t Slow Down” is the most autobiographical track on the album, speaking directly to Rossemberg’s breakup which was the catalyst for the album. The track also showcases some interesting influences seldom revealed by Rossemberg in his sleekly modern profile— namely, his interest in BB King, Oasis, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones. These influences fed through Rossemberg’s prismatic artistry come out as an invigorating track that could be played in nightclubs or arenas, mining the lost art of rock as dance music. The album’s thematic story is laid out like a puzzle with songs that are meant to go together deliberately spread apart to allow for fun investigative work for the listener. But even if one listens to the album purely for aural pleasure, setting aside any sensual sleuth work, there are a bevy of sonic treasures to delight. Some other highlights include the silken soul ballad “Left Right,” the rugged hip-hop of “Eat It Too,” and richly layered boogie funk of “Wild Side” which evokes Motown, Off The Wall-era Michael Jackson, and 1980s Prince. The majestic closer, “Unsafe,” leaves the listener with something of a cliffhanger: Will the bad guy continue to be a pl***oy? Will the love interest in the album grow? The other powerful question “Unsafe” hints at is: Will this be the last song or album from Rossemberg? Or will he come back and return to his EDM style? After three painstaking years of work on the album, and endless nights in a hotel while tracking, he says: “I’m not sure what’s next. I could just stop or take a break. One thing is for sure if this is the end, I left behind an album that’s 100% me.”