The industry didnt want the bilingual artist to sing in Spanish, but she did it anyway.
Orquideasis out January 12.
Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
Its success was clarifying.
Its a path that has always come with some risk.
Did you know you were going to make another Spanish-language album?Yes.
I have so much to express when it comes to not just the different languages but also the genres.
This is probably the most cohesive and sonically solid album Ive ever made.
It has an eerie yet still classic, feminine, luxurious quality.
You surprise us with this one.
Two of the singles, Te Mata and Munekita, dabble in classic bolero, reggaeton, and dembow.
It had a bolero single, but it was not a bolero album.
You had me going back to listen to La Lupe.
Now I can pinpoint things both of you are doing in your own ways.
Thats a big part of what I want to showcase when I make an album in Spanish.
Its fun for me to write music in Spanglish.
I grew up reading and writing in Spanish before English.
I had the bicultural experience, and its deeply embedded in my writing process.
The biggest challenge is not creative; its when marketing and capitalism come into play.
The question is always Where are you from, Colombia or America?
Im a dual citizen.
Dual citizen, okay, but what genre are you doing?
What language do you speak?
Its hard for people to wrap their head around it.
That is the challenging part of it.
I had a song in Spanish onIsolation,but they felt it didnt do well on the album.
You have After the Storm.
From a business perspective, it makes sense.
We think everybody knows who Selena is, but a lot of people in London dont even know her.
So Spanish-speaking music was really hard to cross over into Europe.
When I was makingSin Miedo,it wasnt a popular thing to do the way it is right now.
Its gotten a lot more mainstream.
All of that was a factor for why they said, Youre on your own.
Youre not going to get any support.
Were not going to promote it.
For me, that didnt really matter becauseIsolationwasnt a commercial album either; it was a critically acclaimed album.
I never cared about first-week sales.
I didnt have promotion.
I was never this artist who was thrown down peoples throats and promoted everywhere.
I had my niche fan base.
Thats cute you made your little thing for yourself.
So condescending.I dont think anybody saw me as someone able to sell my music or myself as an artist.
I dont think they saw the vision.
So I honestly wasnt concerned.
I was just like,Oh well, you guys arent supporting what I do anyway.
Fair enough.Thats not why I started creating music.
Its the ultimate luxury to be able to wake up and do what makes you happy.
Thats the main reason I chose to do this with my life.
I am not an artist because I wanted to be famous or superrich.
So it didnt bother me when they said that.
God made me what he made me.
These are all the sides of me.
So I just went for it.
With this album, it is a different situation because were with Interscope Geffen now.
In general, theyre just more supportive.
Do you ever feel out of place?
I dont know the real reason why people acknowledge or dont acknowledge certain artists.
I worked with Karol G recently.
It put eyes on me for certain people that might not necessarily be my demographic.
Certain people dont put respect on your name.
They dont realize theres a whole world outside of the music they listen to.
And I have built so much of my career outside of Latin music.
But thats a part of why I do what I do.
They dont have to confine themselves.
Shakira is probably the only person who would make English and Spanish albums.
So it wasnt like she was carving out an entirely different world in English and another one in Spanish.
What Im doing is very different from that.
I saw a lot of people doing Spanglish afterSin Miedohappened.
Ive even seen Latin artists trying to incorporate more Spanglish into their music.
How did your world change with telepatia?It broke records in a way I had never experienced.
Who knows if Ill ever have that again.
I was just like, No, its fine, radio doesnt have to take it then.
I didnt change the music, and radio ended up taking it anyway.
Its a song I didnt compromise on, and it was able to do what it did.
It wasnt a single; it didnt have a music video; it wasnt being pushed.
It did it completely on its own just because it was able to touch people all over the world.
Its interesting how that song really popped on TikTok.
We didnt have social media when I was a kid.
I remember when Facebook and Twitter first started.
Some scary shit.Whoever likes to do that, no shame to them.
But I dont understand the pressure from labels, which want us to be influencers, too.
That is a separate job.
But in reality, its putting so much evil on you.
What are you trying to give yourself that attention for?
Youve used them in such different ways.
Youve embodied them yourself and seen them in others.
I wonder about the utility of those images for you.
Why do you return to them?Thats where my mind always goes when it comes to classic imagery.
Sometimes we end up seeing the world in a very black-and-white way when really theres a balance.
Not everybody is all good or all bad, and there are so many different sides to every person.
Do you consider yourself a spiritual person?I consider myself more spiritual than anything.
As a kid, I always knew I felt happiest out in the sun and lying in the grass.
And that was when I felt closest to God.
I dont focus on which book or which teachings or which anything.
But whats most important over anything over money, over being successful, over accolades is your soul.
Thank you for subscribing and supporting our journalism.
