When I was doing my thing, I was like, “Damn dude, I studied so much about so many different types of music, and now I get to do exactly what I want.” I love this music and I love the styles and I enjoy them from all these different traditions, many of them are rooted in a very machista or male-dominant cultures and systems. I think that as a listener that was a struggle, but when it came time to my own music it was completely liberating. Not to obscure the presence of super-powerful female reggaetoneras, or hip-hop producers, rappers, and MCs, but more to say that in my consumption of those genres you do consume a lot of violence and anti-feminist ideologies. LD I think that I faced that struggle more as a listener. Have you experienced challenges of being a feminist working in hip-hop and reggaeton, which are male-dominant genres? I feel like you are able to enjoy being a woman, while also talking about the struggles, and incorporating that into your lyrics.
#Lyrics to dona dona free#
You might go in a completely different direction, and I think having that understanding and patience with oneself really does make you feel free and happy where you’re at with your practice.Ĥ8H If we look now at urban artists, it’s mostly men, and they’re always talking from the male perspective. What has been important in my trajectory, and also what I think is important for all artists, young artists, is that your relationship to your artform is going to change all the time, and it’s that kind of observance of the relationship-and the dynamism of your craft and of your medium and practice-that makes a sustainable relationship. On the other hand, was I rejecting music just so I can create space from them? Maybe I did like music and maybe I still wanted to play music, but I was just trying to have more space so I could really decide if that’s what I was about. On the flipside, I can understand that I was doing music to please my family and to be doing it with them and to be in community with them. I said, “That’s not what I want to do, that’s not where I have the energy to put in,” so I did step back a lot from it. Then when I was about 17 or 18, I drew back from a lot of it. LD Exactly, and from my position I played music with my family for my whole childhood and adolescence. With doing anything around your art, unless it’s solely for yourself, as a meditative practice or whatever, I think there is always going to be some component of “Do I feel good here? Is this what I want to do? Is this comfortable? Is this positive?” The fact of the matter is it can’t always be that all the time.Ĥ8H I find this so relevant, because how do you know you want to do this for the rest of our lives while not disappointing your parents, but also doing things that you love? It’s a little bit hard especially in our culture. It’s part of a larger movement of energy, and I am at the helm of it. Being an artist now, obviously I have more autonomy than when I was seven. It’s always a mixed bag and I would say that it still is. Just very enthusiastic of presenting with your family, and presenting your cultural traditions and practices. Then you had moments where you’re playing at Mission Culture Center as a Latina or one of the spaces of community and culture, and you do feel very fulfilled and excited, and proud. They were playing gigs so I would hang out with them. We already have those desires, so it’s really hard to interrogate that and be like, “Did I like it? Was it fun? When was it cool, when was it not cool?” Those questions are hard to even think about, because when you’re younger it’s just a way to hang out with your family. We want to spend time with our family, we want recognition and connection.
Are we doing this to fulfill the most human part of ourselves that we already know we need to make connections with people? We don’t really get to decide over everything that we do. you’re starting from when you’re a child and we don’t have that much autonomy over our lives. I think that my experience was only different because it was operating a different arena-but I think that everybody that has a very focused childhood hobby, or sport, or artistic medium and experiences the same thing. Was that when you discovered your passion for music? Or was it just something you had to do as a kid? 48 HILLS At age 7, you started playing with your family in a mariachi band.
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