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Saida Dahir

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Saida Dahir's Spoken-Word Debut Is A Powerful Love Letter To Black Muslim Women

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"I wanted to make sure that future generations of girls that put the hijab on aren't scared, aren't worried, aren't sad, aren't getting bullied, because they know they have people to look up to," the teen poet tells the Recording Academy
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
Aug 15, 2019 - 5:51 pm

Saida Dahir has never gone back to Somalia, her native country, which sits on the east side of Africa. But she knows exactly why it is endearingly called the "Nation of Poets."

"A lot of people in Somalia write poetry about the war and about trauma and everything," she enthusiastically says over the phone about the country's centuries-long tradition with the spoken-word format. "Poetry is this thing that has been in my family since as long as time." 

18-year-old Dahir originally emigrated from Somalia with her family when she was three and claimed refugee status in Salt Lake City, but her country's tradition lives on in her work: Dahir penned her first-ever poem at just seven years old.

As she grew older, Dahir found herself at a crossroads with her culture as a black Muslim. "I was out of the norm for every single person," Dahir says. Microaggressions and adversity due to her religion and race caused her to feel different."I went through so much self-hate and so much doubt and wanted to assimilate to the surroundings."

But things changed in the seventh grade when she decided to start wearing a hijab, a traditional head covering worn by Muslim women. "I could either hate the otherness that I had or embrace it," she says of her decision. "I wanted to make sure that the representation that I had, that the future generations of the girls that do put the hijab on aren't scared, aren't worried, aren't sad, aren't getting bullied, because they know they have people to look up to."

Dahir also began to reclaim the way she saw herself through pen and paper. Through spoken-word poetry, she examined her experiences growing up Muslim, female and black in a perdominantly white community in the U.S. "The stranger looks at me funny, like an alien, like some exotic creature that needed to be rescued from its dying habitat, but she didnt know was, I like the same bands as her," she says in her poem "The Thing On My Head."

One spoken-word performance even went viral, when, in 2018, Dahir spoke at the 2018 March Of Our Lives event in Salt Lake City. “How much longer do we have to deal with this sh*t?” she asked the crowd. “Blood pools as we watch innocent bodies get hit/ politicians claim it’s not guns but they need to just quit."

Those experiences make up her powerfully emotive spoken-word debut, The Walking Stereotype, out Saturday, Aug. 17. The album is a way to bring her message of self love to young women who look just like her. "When I started writing poetry, I realized that there is so much darkness that comes with all these identities, but there is also so much light and so much hope," she says. 

Dahir also utilizes her YouTube channel to connect with other young people like her, filming vlogs with tips and anecdotes around everything from fashion to college applications. 

The Recording Academy spoke to Dahir about her spoken-word debut, what her black-Muslim identity means to her, BTS and other music she listens to, and more.

Tell me about yourself. 

My name is Saida Dahir. I was born in a refugee camp in Kenya after the civil war in Somalia broke out. People were very disastrous to my family. We lost everything we knew and everything we had so we fled to Kenya. I was born in one of the little plastic tents in a refugee camp. By the time I was three we were finally granted a green card to seek refuge in the United States. So I moved to white town in Salt Lake City, Utah where I was out of the norm for every single person. That's really what made me who I am and made me do things that I do.

What was your first experience with poetry?

Poetry is this thing that has been in my family since ... as long as time. Somalia's known as the land of poets. A lot of people in Somalia write poetry about the war and about trauma and everything. I started writing poetry when I was seven years old after reading countless poems from my mom and my brothers and getting inspiration. The first poem I wrote was a very trivial ... I think it was just a sappy poem, but that really sparked me to continue and to write about things that I'm very passionate about. That's what brought me to where I am.

Did your family write poetry similar to yours?

Yes. I feel like all of my siblings' poetry has been about social activism and movements and things that they want to see change in the world. I think we use our poetry as a way to inspire people and to inspire ourselves to really want to create change and to keep the feel of power in ourselves.

Sounds like your family has really empowered you. 

They have. They've inspired me. They've motivated me. They've really pushed me to excel in every single thing that I've done.

Why name your album, The Walking Stereotype?

The background behind the album title is very funny. You probably can't know from the phone but I'm Muslim, I'm black, I'm a woman, I'm a refugee. I have so many different stereotypes and so many different marginalized groups that I'm a part of. One time I was mentioning this to one of my friends and he jokingly said, "Bro, you're like the walking stereotype." That has really resonated with me because I really am the embodiment of so much hatred and so much destruction put on the groups that I'm a part of. I ran with that phrase and I made a blog called "The Walking Stereotype." That was my Instagram name for awhile. I knew that if I would ever do anything like this that that would be the name that I would make it [with]. There's so much that I talk about in this album, and it's not just one group that I talk about. I talk about every single group, all of my stereotypes that I walk in every single day.

What you said just now, that you embody so many stereotypes, sounds heavy but you sound so light when you talk about it, like you don't let it get to you.

Mm-hmm. It was heavy for awhile. It was so hard for me to claim it and to really find myself. I went through so much self-hate and so much doubt and wanted to assimilate to the surroundings. When I started writing poetry, I realized that there is so much darkness that comes with all these identities, but there is also so much light and so much hope. And there's so much power that comes behind them and culture and history. So when I talk about who I am, I have to be so happy because I would not want to be anybody but who I am. That's why that phrase ["walking stereotype"] it doesn't bring me sadness. It brings me so much courage because ... a lot of people are a walking stereotype. We can all be walking stereos together and we can use that as our shield against the world. 

You've been through all these experiences. What made you decide to want to make an album?

Like I said, I've been writing poetry for so long and I would just read them to people and that was that. I would record them but I would never post them anywhere or would never have a YouTube dedicated to it. There is so much power that comes from writing things down and sharing things and having them in a manifested form, so I knew that my poetry was something I didn't want to keep to myself.

I didn't want it to be something people read because my poetry doesn't sit on the paper. You can't just read it because when I say it, there's certain phrases that I emphasize or there's certain parts that I slow down. It's like music basically but it's not music. It's words, but the melody and the rhythm of the words that I say, it's what makes the poem. It's what gives it that mood. That's why I decided that the best place would be not a book, it wouldn't be a post. It would be me, my voice, my genuine reactions, and an album was the greatest way to do that.

To reclaim something for oneself can be a huge process. It takes a lot of reflection and you have to deal with a lot of pain in order to first face it and then decide, "I'm going to change this narrative." Do you remember the moment, or maybe it was a series of moments, where you decided, "I want to do this for myself. I want to reclaim my story. I want to love myself"?

I think the first moment that I had that realization of changing my narrative is when I started wearing the hijab. The hijab is the cloth, the scarf that a Muslim woman wears. I started wearing that when I was in seventh grade. Up until that point I was very assimilated to the American culture. I was a very American child but as soon as I put the scarf on, I was different. I was other. I could either hate the otherness that I had or embrace it.

It took so many years and me learning and me moving and countless microaggressions and countless adversity that was thrown my way, but at the end of the day I wanted to make sure that the representation that I had, that the future generations of the girls that do put the hijab on aren't scared, aren't worried, aren't sad, aren't getting bullied, because they know they have people to look up to. Then things just started escalating on the news ... a couple of years ago with the Muslim ban and with the hatred towards a bunch of the stereotypes that I had. I knew that poetry was the way that I was going to use my voice and change the narrative. So I started writing poems about politics and about laws and about things that I needed to see change. I think that me expressing myself is what helped myself learn who I was.

Having listened to your album, I really felt like it was this love letter to yourself, but the more I hear you talk, I feel like this is almost a love letter to the Muslim black woman.

It really is. It's a love letter to every single person that looks like me because they need the love too. They don't get that love in the media. They don't get that love in the press. They don't get that love in the history books that are written. So we got to love ourselves.

Anything else did you want to achieve with the album?

I think what I want to achieve with the album is to show people that look like me that there's so much talent behind your words and so much power that your words hold. I don't know how to sing. I don't know how to rap. I don't know how to do all of these things that people use to express themselves. I don't even know how to draw. I know how to write and I know how to express myself in English and in so many other languages. I think that there is power behind people's words and every single person has that talent if they write things down, if they speak up, if they express themselves. That is where the true power comes from, your words and how you use them. 

You mentioned that you've been writing since you were seven. Has this album been the accumulation of all your writing throughout that time? 

The first poem that I wrote in that album is called "The Thing on My Head," which is a poem about how I started wearing the hijab. I wrote that poem when I was in seventh grade so this is an accumulation from poetry from when I was 14. How old are you when you're in seventh grade? I think 13, 14. So a good portion of my life is on that. A good portion of the life that I remember and the life that I lived and the experiences I have since I started writing.

It's basically your sonic debut. 

Yes, this is. I've never done anything like this before so when I heard the GRAMMYs wanted me to interview me I was like, "What?"

Did you reach out to someone to record the album or did someone reach out to you? 

The record company that I did this album with, they found one of my poems on YouTube that I did at the March for Our Lives. That poem went viral and so they asked me if I wanted to record that poem for another album and I said, "Sure." So I recorded that poem for an album about gun violence. Then a couple of months later they were like, "Why don't you just do a whole album by yourself because you have such powerful poetry?" I was like, "Okay, sure." And that's what I did.

One of your poems is about Parkland. What inspired you to write about the tragedy?

I wrote that poem the day of the Parkland shooting. I found out about it and I got home and I was so distraught ... It was a normal thing. It's a normal thing for us and I was a junior in high school, I had tests to worry about, I had my grades to worry about, but I was immobile because the only thing that was there was just the fear. The fear of going to school and of not coming back. So I did what I do when I'm in situations where I'm so heavily burdened by society, I wrote a poem that day. I've never written a poem in one day before. That was the first poem that I sat down and I wrote the entire thing and I still have not changed it at all because it was the true expression and the true feelings I was feeling that day. The anger and the fear and all of that just boiled down to, "What I can do to make sure that that never happens again?" Then I read at the March for Our Lives and the reaction that I got in the crowd was so many people that said they could relate. There's nothing better than when you can ... people can relate to your emotions.

How does it feel for a total stranger to connect with you?

It's what inspires me to do everything that I do. When I read a poem and after someone walks up to me and says, "No one has ever expressed that before in the way you did and I agreed with everything that you said. It's been something that's in the back of my head," it really just makes everything that I do worth it. If I'm putting people's feelings into words and I'm sharing them and they hear it and they just are like, "I get that," that just is the best feeling in the world.

You sound like a very confident person. Were you ever scared to share your stories with the world?

Yes, I was terrified. Like I said, seventh grade was the pivotal year in my life. The reason why I did the things that I did is one of my teachers, he knew that I wrote poetry and that I never read any of it. He told me that he was going to force me to read a poem at our talent show or he would fail me-

Oh no.

I was like, "Oh no." I was so terrified and I signed up to read a poem at the talent show. I didn't want to do it but I didn't want to fail the class. I knew he was joking, he was not going to fail me, but I decided that this would be an incentive. I went up there and I read a poem and I got a standing ovation. I was just a shy girl and to get that standing ovation was just like, "This is crazy, people like what I did. People like what I wrote."

Then I, of course I was terrified every single time I'd get up onto the stage. I've also walked off a stage and been yelled at and called "terrorist," but I don't think about that. I think about how when I'm on stage, what change I could make and how I can keep the ball rolling.

Is there anything telling your story has taught you?

I think something that telling my story has taught me is that there is so much power behind just being who you are. It's so easy to just think that you can be who you are but it's so hard when the world is so [full of] hate and the world is so exactly how it's supposed to be [with the] status quo. To just say, "No, I'm not going to do that," and just express yourself in every single way that you are and just to love yourself, I think that's incredibly powerful.

The term "refugee" has been all over the news these last few years. People are defining it in different ways. What does it mean to you?

I think it's hope. I think that word means hope. Being a refugee means leaving everything you know, everything you love, your culture, your religion, your background, your language, your food, your home, your family, in the hopes for something better. That's what my family did and that's what the people at the border are doing right now. That's what the people in Syria are doing right now. They know that they're leaving everything they have and their whole universe because they know that something's better and something is waiting for them. When they do arrive to those situations, they're either loved and welcomed or they're pushed out. 

My family was not loved and welcomed but we were not pushed out. We were indifferent, but now people are being pushed out. There's never been love. Once we can figure out how we can solve this problem and greet people, because no one is going to ... No one understands that no one's going to leave everything that they have if they're not pushed out, if they're not killed, if they have no other options. I think once we realize that, we can figure out how we can solve this refugee problem in the world. No one just wakes up one day and is like, "I'm going to cross the river. I'm going to walk barefoot. I'm going to not eat for a couple of weeks for fun." It doesn't work that way.

Is there any poem in your album that means the most to you in any kind of way? If so, why?

I think the poem that has the most meaning towards me is, "Oh, Somalia." I've never been to Somalia after the war. When we fled to Kenya I came immediately here. I wrote that poem because I really have never gotten the opportunity to love my homeland. One day I will, I will go back and I will visit. I have that poem for now and whenever I feel homesick of a home that I've never been to, I read that poem and I think about it. One day I'll be in Somalia, hopefully, and I'll be able to read that poem while I'm there. That's my goal.

Has not knowing your homeland affected you?

I think it's affected me because growing up I was too white for the Somalia kids and then I was too black for the white kids. I never really knew myself. I didn't speak Somalia fluently when I was growing up and a lot of the Somalia kids I knew would make fun of me. Then I would get made fun of by the white kids that I was with. It was very disheartening because I never had that safe haven and that safe space. When you're too black for the white kids and you're too white for the black kids, where do you go? You have to make spaces for yourself.

That's why I try to learn so much about my culture. I study more about my culture than people that live there probably do because I don't have it accessible to me. It's not at the touch of my fingertips so I have to try tenfold just to get that experience of my ... calling my place home.

There's this thing Billie Eilish said in an interview. She said something along the lines of, "People underestimate the power of a young mind." Do you agree?

I 100% agree. I'm at this this conference right now with so many young people. They're geniuses. They are so revolutionary and so innovated. They have so many goals and things they want to change about the world. So much optimism. If we were just heard out, if we were just listened to, if we weren't just called, "Oh, they're just kids. Oh, they don't know what they're talking about," we could bring so much to the table. If we don't have a voice, we're just going to talk. We're just going to be disruptive.

Jeremy Jemmott, who worked with Gil Scott-Heron, worked with you on this album. How does it feel to have someone of that caliber work with you on this project?

I love the Black Panther Party and I love "The Revolution Will Not be Televised." When they told me that he was going to be on the album, I literally was in shock. He's an amazing, an amazing, musician. Just knowing that the power and the history behind his art and his talent with my words, it just proves that it's inter-generational. We've been fighting for causes, we've been fighting for the things that I've ... I'm talking about in these poems, for years and years and years. And it shows because when he was drumming back then we were going through the same sh*t. 

What other music are you into?

I really love soul music. I'm a big K-pop fan. A lot of people don't know that.

Who's your favorite band?

I love BTS. I love good rap music. It's funny because rap music is literally poetry. When I tell people that, they're really confused and I'm like, "No, you're favorite rapper is in fact a poet. They're just putting the beat behind it." Some of the songs on my album have a beat behind it and so I'm basically a rapper.

You're attending UC Berkeley in the fall, which is really famous for its student activism. What are you most looking forward to there?

I'm really looking forward to be able to be in a college setting. I'm a first generation college student so I know that that is a very heavy burden, but I'm really excited to continue this for the generations after me. Having one person in your family be a college graduate just keeps the ball rolling and rolling and rolling. I'm really just excited to learn more and to grow and to find out what my purpose in life is through the academia aspect and just learn.

What kind of career you want to pursue? Do you want to continue being a poet?

For all my life I wanted to be a journalist, and then I wanted to be a lawyer for a couple of months and so that's what I applied to all my colleges through. Now I think I'm going to go back to journalism.

Adia Victoria On Making 'Silences' & The Pain & Love Behind "Different Kind Of Love"

Carla Morrison

Carla Morrison

 

Photo: Esteban Calderon

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Bootsy Collins, Carla Morrison, Rico Nasty & More: GRAMMY.com's Favorite Conversations Of 2020

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Far-reaching interviews with ARASHI, New Found Glory, Nathy Peluso, Grimes, Busta Rhymes, Aluna and others captured the defining music and moments of 2020
GRAMMYs
Dec 28, 2020 - 4:00 pm

While 2020 was an incredibly difficult year, it was also filled with poignant dialogue and tons of great new music. To close out the year, GRAMMY.com is looking back on our favorite interviews and stories, which collectively captured the defining music and moments of 2020. It's impossible to choose all our favorites from the plethora of engaging and informative conversations we've had with artists this year. Instead, we're highlighting some of the standouts for you.

Here are some of our favorite conversations and stories from 2020, hand-picked by the GRAMMY.com editorial team.

Rico Nasty

Rico Nasty | Photo: Jason Carman

Senior Editor John Ochoa's Picks

Welcome To Rico Nasty's Nightmare Vacation

The Maryland-born rapper spoke to GRAMMY.com about her debut album, Nightmare Vacation, the evolution of her sound, the cultural connection between her music and fashion and the new era of women-led rap music.

"I feel like life is dated by what a person thinks they should be. They find themselves in a 'nightmare vacation.' They find themselves surrounded by a bunch of the stuff that they thought they would love once they got it, but they realized that that wasn't what they wanted—it was what somebody else wanted ... 

"A woman's voice, it is what it is. Whether it's rap or whatever it is, the confidence that women give other women, it's unmatched ... I feel like the world needs women's music to heal as well. The early 2000s had so much women's music and girls were so powerful, and the world just felt better. I'm praying for that." —Rico Nasty

Selena Forever: Remembering The Latin Pop Icon 25 Years Later

On the 25th anniversary of her passing, GRAMMY.com honored Selena in an industry round-table tribute featuring the artists, creatives and journalists she inspired through her music and art.

"While Selena's music traveled internationally, her real influence lies in her impact within the United States. Because she was a homegrown star, she was widely recognized both by Latin and non-Latin fans. Selena was an anomaly: Bilingual and bicultural, she not only looked like her fans, she was like them. That relatability was transformative for Latin pop culture.

"Thanks to Selena, for the first time, perhaps ever, U.S.-born Latinas had a role model they could aspire to be. Two generations later, Selena's impact is tangible. Dozens of prominent figures—from Becky G to Jennifer Lopez to Leslie Grace to Selena Gomez—point to Selena as their direct influence. Selena's legacy has been fundamental in creating a new movement of U.S.-born Latin artists who today, 25 years after her death, are collectively reaping success and still naming her as the precursor of their achievements" —Leila Cobo, VP Latin Industry Lead at Billboard

EXCLUSIVE: Wale Pens Personal Letter About His Powerful "Sue Me" Video: "There Are Two Different Americas"

To highlight the urgency and underlying message of change within the timely visual, the GRAMMY-nominated rapper called out the "two different Americas" and explained why he continues "rooting for my people" in his own words.

"It's not that we predicted this racist world with [the] 'Sue Me' [video], because it's been happening for years. We just highlighted it before the sh*t really hit the fan a couple of months ago. Right now, it seems like, as Black people, we are learning to love ourselves a little bit more. I'm reminding myself that I'm good enough. It's been crazy for so long. We lost a lot of hope and too many people. At the same time, a lot of human beings are finally coming together now. That's one thing I am grateful for.

I'm still rooting for us." —Wale

J-Pop Legends ARASHI Talk New Single "Whenever You Call," Working With Bruno Mars And The Exploding Asian Entertainment Industry

ARASHI's Jun Matsumoto told GRAMMY.com about the group's expansion into the U.S. and Western markets and the "mini-reinventions" that have evolved the band for more than 20 years.

"The song ["Whenever You Call"] actually really speaks well to people who are stuck in those [quarantine] situations that, no matter what, there is a way to transcend those barriers, transcend physical distance, transcend racial divides and all of the things that are troubling people around the world. The spirit of togetherness and the spirit of being willing to actually come together is something that is universal," —Jun Matsumoto

How 1995 Became A Blockbuster Year For Movie Soundtracks by Jack Tregoning

From Clueless to Dangerous Minds, soundtracks were big business in 1995, but the year's hits offered no clear formula for success.

Batman Forever (1995) epitomized the big-budget, mass-appeal mid-'90s soundtrack. Spanning PJ Harvey to Method Man, the 14-track set employed some tried-and-true tactics. First, only five songs on the track list appear in the movie itself, ushering in a rash of "Music From And Inspired By" soundtracks …

As 1995 taught us time and time again, nothing traps a year in amber quite like a movie soundtrack. 

GRAMMYs

(L-R): Johnny Ventura, Lido Pimienta & Jean Dawson

Staff Writer Jennifer Velez's Picks

Amid Black Lives Matter Conversations, Black Latinx Artists Urge Non-Black Latinx To Do Better

Jean Dawson, Lido Pimienta, Johnny Ventura and others talked anti-Blackness in the Latinx community and how music can be one of the greatest catalysts for change.

"Whatever is closest or with more proximity to whiteness in sound, in look, in aesthetic. That's the person that we want, and that's the person that's going to get the platform," Lido Pimienta says of the media and entertainment mindset in Colombia, where roughly 10 percent of the population is Black, and traces of the country's only Black president, Juan José Nieto Gil, have been erased from history, including in books and portraits.

The cover of her recently released album, Miss Colombia, dismantles these notions of white supremacy, targeting beauty pageants (which are highly regarded in the country), where only two Black women from the country have won a Miss Universe title. Pimienta protests that reality when she, a Black, indigenous Colombian, stands front and center wearing a crown.

23 Years After Forming, Pop-Punk Patriarchs New Found Glory Look Back On All 10 Of Their Albums

In honor of the band's decade-long anniversary, GRAMMY.com spoke to guitarist Chad Gilbert and vocalist Jordan Pundik, who said they're feeling closer than ever. 

"[Neal Avron is] a massive producer now, but we were his first punk band. We were his first band. Then when Fall Out Boy worked with him, they wanted it to sound like the records we did with him. Then they're a massive arena band, so it's pretty crazy. So that was working with Neal, it was our first time working with a real producer. So that was interesting and we learned a lot from him. I was still in high school … I remember making [New Found Glory] and all my high school friends were still in high school and I was going into the recording studio. It was awesome." —New Found Glory guitarist Chad Gilbert

Carla Morrison Talks 'Renacimineto,' Her Comeback, Performing At The 2020 Latin GRAMMYs & More

The "Te Regalo" singer/songwriter detailed her journey inward and discussed how she hopes her new project is a mirror for people.

"I've always felt like if my music has a purpose, that's the only way it can exist. I love it when my music can give something to people. Ever since day one, when I decided to make music, it was always to give voice to the voiceless. It was always for people to feel like, 'Oh, my God. She just said what I've been wanting to say and I didn't know how to articulate'—kind of like that. And so Renacimiento comes from that and also from telling the story of how, when I went through a very dark time, I still came out in a better way." —Carla Morrison

Nathy Peluso Talks 'Calambre' & 2020 Latin GRAMMYs Debut

The Argentine singer talked to GRAMMY.com about her eclectic album, Calambre, her sound and her Latin GRAMMY debut.

"Being an immigrant, I linked up with many [other] immigrants who brought me closer to salsa, for example, Colombians. Many Colombian friends taught me to dance salsa. I had the opportunity to be in a Cuban choir for many years, learning from Cubans. Then my schooling was at Alicia Alonso's high school, who was a well-known Cuban dancer, and all my teachers were Cuban, too.

"It gave me the rare opportunity, because I was in Spain, to connect with a deeply rooted Latin world because the people who had left their [countries had] roots and had to promote them elsewhere. I learned a lot about the Latin culture and it made me look for a great friend, a great partner in music. Perhaps for a girl emigrating, it is something a bit difficult. Having music always accompanying me [was] like having a faithful friend who never left me." —Nathy Peluso

20 Years After White Pony, Deftones' Chino Moreno Is At His Most Vulnerable On Ohms

The renowned rock frontman talked to GRAMMY.com about opening up on Deftones' ninth studio album, how isolation is treating him, 20 years of White Pony and more.

"I was dealing with a lot of feelings of isolation and working through all that stuff … I'd spent about five or six years living out in the country, away from all my friends and all the people that I've made music with. Before that, I was living in Los Angeles. I was always around music or my friends who make music and I was constantly always filling that creative void.

When I went on my own, I was like, 'OK, well, I'm just going to sit here and I'm going to make a bunch of music,' and I didn't make any music. I literally just—I'd go out to the mountains by myself and I'd hang out, and I liked it at first. But there was no balance there. At some point, I started to long for connection and conversations and just being a part of society again. And so a lot of that stuff made its way into the lyrical content of the record." —Chino Moreno

Bootsy Collins

Bootsy Collins | Photo: Michael Weintrob

Staff Writer Ana Monroy Yglesias' Picks

Bootsy Collins: "I'm Hoping The World Comes Together Like We Did On This Album"

On his new album, The Power Of The One, released Oct. 23 on his own Bootzilla Records, the 69-year-old funk legend thrives in his musical playground.

"It's like everybody's around that one wall and everybody gets that certain frequency all at the same time and that wall will come down. That's the Power of the One. We just have to realize that that's what we got to do, everybody's got to be in sync with each other. Once we began to be in sync with each other, all of this mess that we're going through falls down. I want to get people to realize that we do have that power within ourselves.

"It's really about us getting along and getting together while we're here. This is the opportunity for us. It's just like this album. This album was the opportunity to put all these beautiful people together that are not necessarily supposed to be together on a record. I'm just crazy enough to believe that if we can do it on an album, we can certainly do this in a world like we have today." —Bootsy Collins

Busta Rhymes On Being In A "Beautiful Space" & Bringing Together Generations Of Hip-Hop Artists On Extinction Level Event 2

With Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath Of God, Busta Rhymes' first album in 11 years, the world has finally begun to process what his music has been telling us all along.

"I think for the first time in this career of mine, I've gotten to a place of comfort where I've been able to feel good enough about sharing things on a personal level and in a vulnerable way that I've never had prior to this album. It took years for me to get to that place and once you find that it's a very fulfilling thing to be able to share. You help remind people that they're not alone in these realities that a lot of us are never and will never be exempt from going through. It also reminds people that it's OK to talk about it. I think a lot of the times, especially as Black men, we don't get the opportunity to really be allowed to share when we're hurting or when we are afraid or when we are in need of help.

"I think even more so now than ever, with everything that everybody is going through, we need to make a conscious effort to show people it's OK to say, 'I need somebody to help what I'm going through right now.' Or 'I just need some support. I'm a little insecure about something. I just need someone to listen.' I wanted to share a lot of that. I think that comes with maturity, with growth, with being a man, and understanding what it is to be a man as opposed to thinking you're one." —Busta Rhymes

Aluna On New Album Renaissance & Making Dance Music Inclusive Again

"If it's good enough to be appropriated, then it's good enough to be listened to in its original form and by the original creators," Aluna told GRAMMY.com in a powerful interview.

"I would like every platform and organization that categorizes music to reanalyze what they consider to be dance music. When they're considering that, they need to look at globally and culturally, what do people dance to? The answer is dancehall, Afrobeat, reggaetón, house music and the subgenre of those as well. I think that'll go a long way in bringing people who make dance music around the world together, because at the moment it's really segregated. Really what it comes down to is the listener is being made to jump and go down the back alleys of these platforms.

"This music should be put in the position where they're able to get access to the mainstream ear, because it is mainstream music. The evidence is in the pop songs that use those types of music as their complete fundamental foundation. The evidence is also in white producers using those beats to freshen the sound of dance music at the moment. If it's good enough to be appropriated, then it's good enough to be listened to in its original form and by the original creators." —Aluna

Dua Saleh & Psymun Talk Minneapolis Community Building, ROSETTA & Music For Social Change

The Sudan-born, Twin-Cities-based artist Dua Saleh released their second EP, ROSETTA, executive-produced by Psymun, on June 12.

"I feel like people needed a reminder to recenter, and a reminder to sit with art and to let that flow through their body … There's just been so much death and turmoil that I think people needed a source of healing. Sister Rosetta Tharpe is a huge source of healing for me personally—the person that music historians credit as the inventor of rock 'n' roll is a Black queer woman. Finding her music was a huge source of my personal healing in my journey towards lifting the burdens of life off of my own shoulders. And I wanted to use the narrative of her legacy to entrench into this project [ROSETTA]," —Dua Saleh

Grimes' Non-Violent Utopia

Seven months after releasing the far-reaching Miss Anthropocene, the pop experimentalist talked to GRAMMY.com about her 2020 experience, the frustrating paradoxes of pregnancy and motherhood, humane technology and more.

"I was trying to be provocative at the time I made the album. Because I made it a lot more in 2018, 2019. When I started making it, I was still like, 'Why don't we care about the environment?' And in [the] time since I made it and released it, the world totally changed.

"I still actually like it. When I think about the anthropomorphic goddess of climate change and the anthropomorphic goddess of addiction, those things are compelling to me. I even kind of get anxiety talking about it. To myself, I feel like I made something effective, but I get why people found it to be kind of cruel now. But that's art. It goes back and forth." —Grimes

2020 In Review: How The Music Community Rose Up Amid A Pandemic

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La Marisoul

Photo: Humberto Howard

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La Marisoul's New Solo Album Is A Musical Hug Amid The Pandemic

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The GRAMMY-winning singer talks bringing a musical offering—'La Marisoul and The Love Notes Orchestra Vol. 1'—to her audience in a time of sadness, stepping into a producer role for the first time and more
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
Dec 28, 2020 - 10:17 am

La Marisoul is known as the soulful vibrant voice behind the GRAMMY-winning band La Santa Cecilia. But, this year looked a bit different for the lively singer who is usually seen behind a mic, swaying to the Los Angeles' group's feel-good fusion of cumbia, bossa nova, rock and R&B, among other sounds. Before COVID-19 came and changed the world as we knew it, she stepped into the spotlight with a project that is all her. The result is La Marisoul and The Love Notes Orchestra Vol. 1, a seven-track album in which she covers some of the Spanish language's biggest classics from a timespan that dates back to the ‘50s and ‘60s. 

The album, released Oct. 9, is the first of two installments and comes from a different era—not only because you're instantly transported back in time as she lends her rich voice to classics like "Un Telegrama" interpreted by Monna Bell and "Angelitos Negros" interpreted by Eartha Kitt and Toña La Negra. She recorded the album earlier this year, before the world even learned what social distancing was, with a 24-piece live orchestra. The album packages musical notes with lyrics about different stages of love—from heartbreak to infatuation; A theme which is very much on-brand for the singer who belts out heartfelt romantic ballads with La Santa Cecilia. Yet the album also represents another first for la Marisoul: a producer title.

"I feel it just empowered me to feel that I can do anything and that whatever I want to create," she told GRAMMY.com about stepping into the new role.

The album is also a kind of tribute to her late father who had suggested she should play with an orchestra. "He loved to dance and wear his hat and his suit, and he loved orchestra music. He loved boleros. He was always a huge inspiration for me," she said.

Before the album dropped, the GRAMMY-winning singer spoke to GRAMMY.com about the special project, selecting the first songs to release and sharing the music with her daughter. She, an advocate for immigrant communities and anti-racism, also talks how she thinks Latinx communities can tackle anti-Blackness and more.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length. Parts have been translated from Spanish to English.

I spoke to you, it was in late 2019, and it was with La Santa Cecilia. Tell me, how have you been since then?

Well, I mean, we've been surviving this 2020, right. Surviving this pandemic and these crazy times we're living in, but thankfully, always accompanied by my good friends in La Santa Cecilia and by music, by creativity. And I think that's what's been, at least for me, saving me and keeping me busy. Now, I also have a daughter. I have a four-year-old… We're good. Thankfully, right now I feel it's like a time where you just count your blessings. You count your blessings, you're appreciative of everything that you have, every moment that you have with your family, anything positive you can focus on is what we try to do. And try to feed and to inspire people by continuing to create music, things that'll uplift people.

La Santa Cecilia’s last album had tough themes. Some of you lost your family members during the process of making it. This album is different. It is a little bit happier. How was it different working on this album after that period?

Well, it's different because, yes, the last one for the Cecilia record was a way for us to let go of a lot of emotions and a lot of things, really bad things that we went through, loss and change. And change sometimes isn't easy and isn't pretty, right? But what happened with this project, La Marisoul and The Love Notes Orchestra, was that it wasn't something that I planned. This just happened. In this past February, I was invited to do a performance. They said, "We'd love to host you, La Marisoul, and host you in doing whatever you want to do." And I thought, "Cool, whatever I want to do, as La Marisoul" … it was going to be my dad's one-year anniversary of him leaving us, of him passing away ... I miss my dad, and I remember the things we spoke about, the things we shared, and one of those things was that he always would say, "Hija, you should sing with an orchestra. You should do a show or a record, hija. Como La Sonora Santanera.” He was a man that loved to dress up. He loved to dance and wear his hat and his suit, and he loved orchestra music. He loved boleros. He was always a huge inspiration for me.

So when I got the opportunity to do something as La Marisoul, I thought I should get out of my comfort zone, inspired by my dad, and try this out, you know? And I asked my friend Carlos Ordiano who sometimes plays keys in La Santa ... and he says, "Yeah man, you should do something with an orchestra." He arranged everything, and on February 22, we performed this show called La Marisoul and The Love Notes Orchestra … And it was just a way of being creative, of just finding new ways of just expressing myself and in a way, of course, honoring my father.

So here we are now, with La Marisoul and The Love Notes Orchestra Vol. 1, and mainly what it is, it's just like an offering, man. We're going through such strange times, such sad times, that mainly it's an offering of music, un abrazo musical. (A musical hug.)

Watch: La Santa Cecilia Scroll Down The Feed With "Winning" For Press Play

We know you as a frontwoman of La Santa Cecilia and when I think of you, I think of courage, I think adventurous. You said you were stepping out of your comfort zone on this album. Tell me more about what was uncomfortable about being on your own.

Well, first of all, that it was my idea … it was me like, "Hey, Carlos, do you want to do this?" "Cool, let's do this." And rehearsing with 24 other musicians, yeah, I'm used to rehearsing with my five bandmates, but it's very different to walk into a room with 24 men and attempt to sing this style of music. I sing bolero. I'm a bolero singer, that's my school. That's how I learned how to sing, but with a trio, not with horns and the whole deal. I've always loved that music, but it's something that I had never ever really done, and I didn't have anyone saying, "I'm going to set it up for you." I planned this whole thing. I was like, "All right, I'm doing this," from the idea of it to, "Hey, why don't we just record it to document this?" With La Santa Cecilia, it's like a democracy and it's teamwork … in this case, I was able to just decide everything for myself. From the look of the poster for the show, to wanting the guys to wear red ties when they play.

Then for making the artwork for this album now too. My partner in crime, Humberto Howard, did the artwork. He's my partner in real life and the video. I'm not sure if you saw the video, but it is very much me and it's only me. And I love it because I get to be super girly and funny and kooky and it's just me. I don't have to worry about my bandmates thinking it's too cheesy or too girly or too anything ... And if you see the world that I created in the video of "Un Telegrama," all the little details, those are all things from my house and from my personal life … I'm a woman who is very much connected to her roots, who's very much inspired by traditional music, Latin American music, Mexican music, but I'm also an all-American girl too.

[Points to wall background] So this is why it's all like this here, and this is why here [on this side], I have Toña La Negra, who was a singer from Veracruz. She sang “Angelitos Negros,” which is on the album. [Up here, I have] Celia Cruz. Behind me is Pérez Prado, up here is Ella Fitzgerald. Down here, I have Olga Guillot. What I wanted to do with this, is kind of share with you guys who my inspirations are in this record. These are the women that were singing this type of music, that were just amazingly talented women, but not only that. What empowers me and what inspires me about these women is that these women were women of color. Black women. Or Afro-Latinas. [And] they were bigger women.

They didn't fit the mold, which I feel like I don't at times too, you know? And I wanted to share that because I feel like more than ever now, we need to feel empowered and inspired by women like this, no? Because and I'm sure you know, in media, we don't see that, especially in Latino media. Now more than ever, we're talking about racism. A lot of things are going on about that, and it's been going on for a long time.

Right.

And I feel like in the Latino community, sometimes we say, "Oh, it's racism? What's that? There is none of that here," but [there] is. It's been present forever. The fact that I can't ... How many Latina singers of the past 10, 20, 30 years can I put on my wall that looked like me? These are the ones.

Read: Amid Black Lives Matter Conversations, Black Latinx Artists Urge Non-Black Latinx To Do Better

There were a lot of conversations after George Floyd's death that kind of made the community become introspective. Are you happy that this is finally out? What are some things you think the community should do to continue making space for all these artists that you're speaking of?

Well, I don't think that it is finally out. It's been happening. I mean, I grew up here in Los Angeles. I was a kid when Rodney King was beaten by the police. So, I'm aware and I've been aware of the racism in this country and police brutality, but I do think it's something that ... I saw this a lot and it bugged me, on social media to see artists, I guess, try to become allies, but really what are you going to do? Artists or media? Media themselves, like Latino media? Okay, yes, Black lives matter, but do Black lives matter in Mexico or in Latin America? Do Black lives matter? Do they matter to you? And I'm not trying to blame one or the other, but does it matter to you, Univision, or to you, Telemundo? Or to the magazines and to all those companies that sell things to us and sell them to us with European-looking white people, white Latinos that don't look like us. When I go to Mexico, when I see TV, movies, telenovelas, commercials, posters, billboards, they're all white Latinos. None of them look like me. If you go to Instagram, it's a place of these platforms. It's all white, and I get emotional because … I think it's hypocrisy.

You bring up a really good point. The conversations have been around, but I don't think at this level of infiltrating pop culture. There's all these messages that have been kind of sold to us, like whiteness, whiteness, whiteness. So, do you see that as a positive, it kind of infiltrating at a bigger level now?

I mean, I want to see it infiltrated, but I want to see it support Brown artists, support movements. There's a song that I sing in this album called "Angelitos Negros," which asks the painter to paint Black angels. If you have a soul in your body, why don't you think about black angels? To me, it's the media, all these platforms that have power, and Latino media. So, how are you, the painter, going to support and going to really try to change how things are and how we see ourselves and what you promote to people? Because it's always just white people, light-skinned Latinos that people growing up in Latin America and Mexico see, or me who grew up here in the United States, watching these TV shows with my mother and feeling like I could never do anything like that. [Feeling like] I could never succeed, because I don't look like these people.

I think you're actually helping create space for people that aren't white and, like you mentioned, thin. How do you feel about that?
I mean, if my existence is helping in any way to inspire someone ... that's a positive thing. I guess too, when you have to walk the walk when you talk the talk, but then you have to walk the walk, sometimes it's hard. It's hard because people [maybe on the outside see you] and they say, "Oh yeah, you're an inspiration because of what you look like or who you are," but it's like, "Oh, but I'm living in this skin. I'm living in my body, and I'm trying to find a way of placing myself and finding people that will help me tell my story, tell these stories, of where I come from, of who I am." ...And I guess I get emotional because of that too, because I feel it's hard, man …

I can never compare myself to the things that other people have to deal with and the racism that other people have to deal with. You know what I mean? But I can only try to change and affect and inspire in my little world that I've created or the music … I would like to see this continued to be talked about and not be forgotten in a few months.

Going back to the album, how did you decide that these seven songs needed to be released first?

I mean, they're all my favorite. The first song that comes in the album is called "Como Fue," and I feel like that's just beautiful. That was the way we started the show that night. So these are all songs that I grew up with that I love. "Bonita" is a song that I love, from watching Tin Tan movies. “Mar Y Cielo,” ‘Amar Y Vivir,” these are songs that I learned singing with my dad, that sometimes I didn't even know what I was singing yet until I was able to live these songs.

Are you sharing them with your daughter? Have you played them for her?

Yeah, yeah. Oh man. We had a blast when we started hearing the music. We were dancing in the kitchen, and she was just loving it. And I think mainly that's the whole point of sharing La Marisoul and The Love Notes Orchestra … What this experience was in sharing these recordings is, I know that we're going through a difficult time right now. It's hard, and I find myself trying to go back to the things that made me feel good, so that I can continue to fight, so that I can continue to create, so I can continue because we have to. We have to keep going. We have to push forward, even if the future might look bleak, and we have to find ourselves some way to continue, no? So mainly what this is, it's just like an offering of comfort food. You've heard these songs before. They're songs you grew up with, they're songs that you can remember with your grandma or songs that you can learn to fall in love with, songs that can teach you about life.

You also produced this album. What did that teach you about the album-making process?

I mean, I feel it just empowered me to feel that I can do anything and that whatever I want to create, I can create. And if I want to go up and sing with an orchestra of 24 musicians, I'm highly capable of figuring it out and making it happen. So that just makes me feel more empowered to keep creating, and I mean, why not? If I could be the lead singer of this band and be a GRAMMY-winning musician, man, I could be a producer too and produce beautiful things to share with people to hopefully uplift them. That just inspires me more to want to continue, to tell stories and to share musical magic with people.

Mau y Ricky On Adding Punk To Their Reggaeton-Influenced Sound On 'Rifresh' & Life In A Musical Family

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Jeezy

Photo: Jack McKain

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Jeezy On Why He Met With Joe Biden, Going To War For Unity & ‘The Recession 2’

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The GRAMMY-nominated rapper talks the moment that made him pay attention to politics, his meeting with Joe Biden and why he really battled Gucci Mane on VERZUZ
Keith Nelson Jr
GRAMMYs
Dec 11, 2020 - 5:58 pm

Jeezy’s had enough. 

His latest album The Recession 2, the sequel to 2008's The Recession, wasn’t born from a marketing plan built off nostalgia for a franchise fans would recognize. It was conceived in Jeezy’s eyes, incubated in his soul and birthed through his mic after he watched Black people protest against police brutality in the summer. Ultimately, he felt an intrinsic obligation to help as he did during the 2008 economic recession with The Recession 2's precursor in which he raps about his views on the politics of the time.

"Two or three months into the pandemic I knew this wasn’t going to let up, and I had to do my part," Jeezy told GRAMMY.com. "The week I got back to Atlanta was the week the riots started. It was around the George Floyd situation and right after the Ahmaud Arbery situation. I was like, 'Whoa.' I wasn’t even in Atlanta for a week before there was rioting going on. It was unreal."

In and out of music, Jeezy sees himself merely as a vessel for communication—a gift divinely bestowed upon him to impact the world. While politicians' economic relief talks have obfuscated people on whether they will get more help during this unprecedented pandemic, Jeezy communicates the frustration of the masses and hits on the truth for many of those still left struggling with the government's first stimulus check.

"I made $1,200 Friday evenings when I was 11 years old. How in the hell am I, as a man, supposed to wait on the government to send me that to take care of my family and be ok?" he asked. That’s why The Recession 2 is a militant call to action for Black people to relinquish that which doesn’t serve their best interest—racist luxury brands, trapping, personal beefs—and unify against a government he fully believes is trying to start a war. 

"From the beginning to the end, it is more militant. I don’t think people understood why they see me in the beret [on the album cover]. That’s what the strong Black men looked like when things were at its worst," Jeezy said alluding to the Black Panthers. "That car on the cover symbolizes where my uncle would play Al Green, Marvin [Gaye] and Curtis Mayfield, and I just looked at him as the strongest man in the world because he knew what was going on and it didn’t stop him."

Jeezy is making this push for unity across many platforms, not just the songs people can choose to listen to or not. Before the world heard a single song from The Recession 2 or knew when it would be released, Jeezy discussed helping others on his new Fox Soul talk show "Worth A Conversation." During his VERZUZ battle with Gucci Mane, an archrival of his since he put a bounty on his head in 2005, Jeezy set an example of unity for the more than two million people watching by ending the battle with the first performance of their song "So Icy" in over 15 years.

In a recent chat with GRAMMY.com, the Atlanta rapper discussed why he's trying to bring people together, meeting with Joe Biden, what he wanted to accomplish with his VERZUZ battle and more.

You pulled a Jay-Z on us by announcing you were retiring in 2018 and then returned this year with The Recession 2. So, tell me, are you retired?

[Laughs.] I was never retired. I was using a tactic to negotiate a better deal and it almost didn’t work, but we’re here. I was doing the Hov.

Your new album really addresses the turmoil the world has been under during this pandemic. What songs were recorded directly after you saw something in the news?

All of them really. "Oh Lord," which has Tamika Mallory, was one those. I saw her speech and I was blown away. In bad times, there is always someone who rises to the top who knows how to communicate to the people. That’s her. She’s that person. Her speech made me want to do more. It put me in a place where I was like, "Ok, somebody gets it." I felt like she embodied everything that was going on and spoke on it on a major platform. It was like, oh, now we’re mobilizing. I never forgot it. I called her and told her, "You said somethings I will never forget and I don’t want our culture to forget them either. If you give me your blessing, I would love to use you on a song." She was like, "Bro, you got it." That’s how we started the album off, by putting everyone in the mind frame of "These are the things happening to us." They’re trying to turn this into a third world country and turn us against each other. That’s their goal. If we don’t mobilize, that’s going to happen.

How has your political activism and involvement in voting changed since you debuted in 2005 with Thug Motivation 101? 

Back then, I wasn’t a taxpayer, so I didn’t have a lot to say. Actually, I was avoiding Uncle Sam, if I’m honest. [Laughs.] The first Recession came about because I was sitting in a room with some business people [talking] about doing a business venture they weren’t going to let me do. [They] looked at me like [I was] some dude off the street. [But] they saw my worth in my celebrity at the time. I was [there] listening to these people talk about how the economy is going to be messed up. They were concerned about money and I knew, at that time, they had more money than me. I was thinking, "How could the world be short on money?” I asked them about it and they started talking about different things. I immediately went home, broke out my computer, and started to go through these things and do my research. I was blown away. I was thinking, "Let me put my cars up, my jewelry up and get into grind mode and also tell my culture about what’s going on. If it happens and we don’t know, how are we going to survive?" The Recession came about from me wanting to tell what was going on in the world. I had to go educate myself in order to speak on those things because I didn’t know anything about politics. 

At that time, I was seeing this guy Barack Obama who walked the walk and talked the talk. I’m all about communication. If you know how to communicate with people and your team, you’ll make it far in life. I watched that and became an advocate to try and help however I could. That was one of the first times I voted, so I got as many people together as I could. I started organizing stuff with the radio stations to have people who couldn’t drive take buses to the polls. When I was recording The Recession, I felt in my heart he was going to win, so I recorded "My President Is Black” four months before he won and then he won. We all know that one person isn’t the end all be all and I hate when people say he didn’t do what he was supposed to do. He did enough because he got there. 

So, when I saw this whole other regime come in, I sat back and watched. When I saw it was on some divide and conquer, it was like a company that was doing well but the CEO is toxic and divides the team. I was watching our country go through this turmoil and I was thinking, "What am I going to do? What am I going to say?" Again, I’m not a politician, but I want to know. So when [Joe] Biden called and wanted to sit down, I was like, "Ok, let’s sit down because if you’re going to be the next president, I want to know who I’m talking to." He’s not the end all be all either. We have to go out and vote and participate because every bit counts. Y’all see what y’all did? Y’all turned Georgia blue. That’s y’all. So, you have to know, going forward, if you all mobilize and do what you’re supposed to do, we can get results. Together there isn’t anything that can stop us if that’s what we all want. 

You seem big on unity these days and you shocked everyone by doing a VERZUZ with rival Gucci Mane. How did that come about?

If I’m honest and I keep it solid without saying too much, it was more about the win. The shift has to happen somewhere. This is a step in the right direction to see where the shift is. Every little bit counts. For me, without saying too much because I don’t know all the details, it was more about the win. Here you go again with something that exploded during the pandemic — this VERZUZ platform. Now, it can be used as a tool for something else. [Laughs.] That’s as much as I can say. 

Even with unity, you want to protect your name. On "Back" you said, “They say that I'm irrelevant, it ain't no way in hell.” That seems to be addressing Freddie Gibbs calling you irrelevant earlier this year. When you heard him say that, what were your thoughts?

If I’m honest, I mind my business. I hear things and I’m like, "Nah, I’m forever Young." Somebody in the penitentiary talking about what I did for them and their family and how I held them down, right now. There’s somebody right now whose mother’s mortgage I took care of. There’s somebody right now who I’ve done something for that couldn’t do anything for themselves. Somebody’s opinion about me is none of my goddamn business. [Laughs.] You know what I’m saying? It’s not my reality. If I walk out this door, the respect is there. Jeezy has nothing to do with this music. Those are two different people [Laughs.] My music will be forever, so there’s no way I can be irrelevant. You’re telling me because Tupac isn’t here, he’s irrelevant? There’s no way in hell. He’s Tupac. He left what he left for the people. Martin Luther King isn’t relevant? You see what’s going on? Who are they talking about? Who do they go back to speak on their marching?

When you look at trap music and all that sh*t they’re doing, how do you think they even got into this game? Who opened that door? There’s no way in hell someone can answer that without saying Jeezy. As a man, I’m not going to hold myself to music. I’m not going to put myself in a position where you can box me in and say because you feel like it isn’t what it should be, I’m less of a man. It’ll never happen. 

This pandemic forced everyone to slow down and sit with their thoughts. What thoughts of yours surprised you that you had to sit with?

We all had time to reflect. When you have time to reflect, you think about your triggers; you think about the things that are traumatic; you think about post-traumatic stress. You think about all of these things because you’re wearing it. It’s on your shoulders. When you have time to reflect, you have to turn the world into your therapy session. Just hear me out, this is how I feel. I don’t think you knew that.  People put you in this space where they think nothing affects you. So if you go see a therapist and start talking, they can automatically see where you’re coming from and know what your triggers are. For me, I wanted to lay on that couch and let the world be my therapist. I feel better [Laughs.] I don’t know who I owe for the session, but I feel better.

Busta Rhymes On Being In A "Beautiful Space" & Bringing Together Generations Of Hip-Hop Artists On 'Extinction Level Event 2'

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Mau y Ricky

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Mau y Ricky On Adding Punk To Their Reggaeton-Influenced Sound On 'Rifresh' & Life In A Musical Family

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The Venezuelan singer/songwriters tell GRAMMY.com about the creation of their new album in quarantine, how proud they are of their brother-in-law, Latin GRAMMY-winner Camilo, and more
Lucas Villa
GRAMMYs
Dec 9, 2020 - 6:01 pm

Mau y Ricky are reinventing themselves on their aptly-titled new album Rifresh. Finally finding success as artists with their blend of pop and reggaeton on their 2019 debut LP Para Aventuras y Curiosidades after songwriting for years, the Venezuelan-born brothers used their time in quarantine to revamp their sound and image for their sophomore album. A little over a year after releasing their debut, the punk rock and '80s influenced Rifresh, released on Nov. 20, takes them to an edgier place musically.

On the new album’s vibrant cover, Ricky sports his Cruella de Vil-like black and white hair as he playfully kicks Mau in the groin, leaving behind the calm, cool and collected rock star demeanor displayed on their debut. There's a looser vibe on the album as well as the brother duo bounce around on rambunctious bangers like "Fresh" and "Mi Moto." It’s clear: They're enjoying the ride this time around and showing it.

"I feel like right now we're obsessed with evolving and doing new and different sounds and concepts that not only differentiate us from the rest, but most importantly, differentiates us from what we've done in the past," Mau tells GRAMMY.com over Zoom. "I think that's the beauty of evolving."

The evolution didn’t come fast for the singer/songwriters—it took them nearly a decade to find themselves as artists. Mauricio "Mau" and Ricardo "Ricky" Montaner, Jr. are the sons of Ricardo Montaner, the GRAMMY-winning Argentine icon who received a Latin GRAMMY lifetime achievement award in 2016. They began their careers as balladeers, following in their father’s footsteps when they began to make music as MR in 2011. But after not quite breaking through, they shifted gears into songwriting, penning hits like Becky G and Natti Natasha's 13-times Platinum "Sin Pijama" and Ricky Martin and Maluma's "Vente Pa' Ca," for which they received a Latin Grammy Song of the Year nomination in 2017.

In 2018, they found their pop groove as Mau y Ricky with their reggaetón-influenced breakthrough single "Mi Mala'' featuring Karol G. A year later, their debut album followed with Platinum success. They have become go-to collaborators featured on hits by Mexican superstar Thalía, Argentine pop princesses Lali and Tini, and Puerto Rican reggaeton OG Nicky Jam. They went global this year when they were invited to sing in Spanish on the remixes of John Legend's "Bigger Love" and JP Saxe's "Hey Stupid, I Love You." They have also brought GRAMMY-nominated singer/songwriter Camilo, who married their singer/actress sister Evaluna Montaner earlier this year, to the forefront on their multi-Platinum singles "Desconocidos'' and "La Boca."

Now with their new sound, Mau y Ricky are “exploring the possibilities and showing the people that there is no limit,” Mau says.

The guys chatted with GRAMMY.com about Rifresh-ing their career with the new album and life in a musical family.

What's the experience like to work together in Mau y Ricky as brothers?

Mau: As brothers, it's a beautiful experience. We learned that our relationship is actually our biggest strength, and our connection as brothers I feel is what differentiates us from the rest of the people.

Has your dad Ricardo Montaner given you guys any advice on the industry?

Ricky: Throughout our entire life, we've seen his example. I think being grateful is the biggest advice. To always look at everything as a gift. Being able to write songs and do what we love for a living, I think that's beautiful. And appreciating every single step of growth. One is always focused on the end goal, but we tend to forget the small steps that it takes to get there.

The "Mi Mala" remix with Karol G, Lali, Becky G, and Leslie Grace was your first big hit as Mau y Ricky. How did your lives change after that song?

Ricky: That song definitely changed our lives. We did "Mi Mala" and the remix. Both those songs kind of set ground for us to start building off of that. We were able to grow a lot after that—and knowing that we played, even if it was just a small role, in this Latin women movement by having all these beautiful and talented artists on one song: Becky, Karol, Leslie, and Lali; It was the first song in Spanish to have that many women on it—To know that we were a part of that, I feel like that's a dream come true. We didn't do it intentionally. We just thought it would be really dope. It's beautiful and really set the way for everything that happened after that.

There are notably no artist features on rifresh. Why did you guys decide to do that?

Mau: When we decided to make this album, one key decision we made was to have no features. The beauty of a feature is that it's kind of [finding] that middle ground; having to surrender to certain things and the other artist doing the same and meeting in the middle. In this case, we were very clear on what we wanted, in our minds and hearts, to communicate on this new album and what we wanted to happen in our career, that evolution and that growth. We had to make sure that that message wasn't scattered. A lot of times when you work with other people, your message has to take a back seat, so that you're able to work as a team. It doesn't mean we won't do that in the future. We already started working on features on some upcoming projects.

Manuel Turizo has uncredited vocals at the end of the song "Dolería."

Ricky: That was a dope surprise we wanted to do for our fans. When we did the first arrangement of the song, we pitched my vocal down. We put it low so that it sounded like Manuel Turizo. It was a little bit of a joke. Then we thought it would be really cool to actually have him on it. The day I proposed to my girlfriend, [Stefanía Roitman], I was so nervous that I needed to get out of the house and ended up going to the studio with Manuel an hour before proposing. I was in the studio recording his part.

Mau: Rick was so nervous. He didn't even tell me. I called him like, "Yo, where are you?" Because we were an hour away from him proposing. He's like, "I'm at the studio." And I'm like, "What in the world are you doing at the studio? You're about to propose!" He's like, "I'm cutting Manuel's vocals." I'm like, "First of all, you're about to propose. No. 2, what the heck? You didn't let me know that you were cutting his vocals."

There's a punk rock influence on songs like "Pápas" and "Fresh." Where did that inspiration come from?

Mau: It comes from the music that we grew up listening to. It's this kind of hint of an influence, which I love. Most of it is in the album's aesthetic or in our music videos. We wanted to explore the possibilities of reggaeton music being combined with music like punk rock. We feel like people didn't think that could happen. We're here exploring the possibilities and showing the people that there is no limit. Anything can happen if you do it with excellence and love. If you actually believe in and be genuine to who you are, it'll sound dope.

You worked with Bad Bunny's main director Stillz on your wildest music videos for rifresh like the creepy "Ouch." How did those collaborations come about?

Mau: During the quarantine, we found out Stillz was Rick's neighbor. We ended up reaching out to him. We started creating all the concepts together. It was a creative, awesome relationship growing through these videos. Most of the videos have come out already, but there's still some that haven't come out. In our opinion, they're some of the greatest music videos out right now. Stillz is one of the top directors. It's a huge honor to be able to work with him. He allows us to be extremely crazy with our ideas. We allow him to go crazy as well with his. We fit together.

What did you think when John Legend invited you guys on his "Bigger Love" remix?

Mau: We had two crossover moments, which are wild, in this quarantine: John Legend, like you're saying, and JP Saxe. Those two are our favorite collabs we've done. We went straight to the studio to write our part for that song. We sent it. They loved it. John actually asked us to do more, so we went back to the studio to record some more. It's crazy to me because he's an artist we've admired for awhile. JP Saxe is our favorite artist in the world. We've become friends with him in the past year. We have a beautiful relationship. He invited us to become a part of that remix and it's our favorite song.

How did you feel seeing Camilo win the Latin GRAMMY for Best Pop Song for "Tutu"?

Ricky: So excited! I busted my lip celebrating it. I'm still in pain. So much pain. We've all gotten nominated, but he's the first one in our family to win one.

Mau: It was this family moment, we all celebrated as if it was our own win. It does feel like it's our win. We're proud of him. He deserves it. Nobody works harder than him.

What can we expect from you next?

Mau: After "Ouch," there's two new videos coming that you're going to freak [about]. They're crazy and also with Stillz. There are a couple songs that we'll be releasing with other artists. One in particular comes out very soon with our entire family, which is a surprise that I wasn't supposed to tell, but because it's you, I'll tell you. It's our first song as a family that we're ever going to release together. It's one of my favorite songs in the world.

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