Niko Rubio knew she at all times needed to be a singer. The onerous half was determining what she needed to sound like.
The 24-year-old singer-songwriter, who was born within the Los Angeles South Bay and is of Mexican and Salvadoran descent, was at all times inspired by her household to pursue her creative ambitions. When Rubio was a preteen, her maternal grandmother even pushed her to audition for “La Voz Kids,” the Spanish offshoot of “The Voice” for singers beneath the age of 15. She wasn’t picked for the present, however it reaffirmed her perception that she was meant to be a singer.
“I’m the first generation that is allowed to sing, that has the opportunity to really not have a baby,” she mentioned. “To say ‘Grandma, grandpa, I’m not going to go to college. I’m going to go figure out how to be a songwriter.’”
Niko Rubio launched “Ring Ring” on July 15.
(Lea Garn)
Like many kids of immigrants in Southern California, Rubio grew up listening to music in English and Spanish. Her grandfather Sergio would play Pedro Infante and Shakira, whereas her mom, Vilma, uncovered her to the likes of Elegant and No Doubt.
Rubio, who’s very near her maternal grandparents, mentioned they needed her to sing conventional Mexican music, however it was a bit of recommendation from her mother that relieved a number of the stress she may need been feeling.
“I wanted to make them happy,” she says. “Then my mom was like, ‘F— that! Do whatever the f— you want.’”
In “Ring Ring,” she does precisely that. The four-track EP, launched July 15 on Atlantic Information, is an expression of her upbringing and explores what it means to develop up bilingual and first era on this nation right now. Devices which might be staples of conventional Mexican music underpin catchy pop ballads sung in Spanish. “Baby,” the EP’s first observe, opens with the accordion earlier than Rubio’s sultry voice kicks in. In “Quisiera Saber,” Rubio beckons to somebody she wishes however can’t have in a dreamy intonation, channeling Lana del Rey and backed by percussion and strings reserved for boleros romanticos.
Rubio started her profession on this planet of alt-R&B and alt-rock. At 19, she signed with unbiased label Sandlot Information, based by songwriter Jacob Kasher, who has written for Britney Spears, Selena Gomez, Maroon 5, Dua Lipa and Girl Gaga. She seems to be again on her early work fondly, however acknowledges she was nonetheless studying who she was as an artist.
“I was so young,” she says. “My first EP [2021’s “Wish You Were Here”] is sort of a very pop, alt-rock mission that I like and I’m very pleased with, however I used to be simply too afraid. I didn’t have the data or actually the understanding of myself.”
And although the EP did embrace a observe in Spanish — ”Amor” — her sound was lacking a key part: her Latino roots. She needed to seize a mixture of the California she grew up in.
“I had this idea of making this alternative Mexican California beach rock-meets-mariachi romanticos kind of album,” she mentioned.
“I told the whole f—team, I told my whole label: ‘I’m making two projects in Spanish. I’m taking a break from English. This is what I have to do for my family. This is what I have to do for myself.’”
She agonized over what it might sound like.
“I didn’t want to just be another Latin artist that was making another thing for the void that wasn’t going to be special, or say anything, or tell the right story,” she mentioned.
She ultimately discovered the proper collaborator in Grammy Award-winning producer Lester Mendez. Rubio says she admired how Mendez tapped into Shakira’s Lebanese and Colombian influences in her 2005 album “Fijación Oral, Vol. 1.” She needed one thing like that for her personal work — an eclectic mix of non-public influences.
The 2 labored on “Mar y Tierra,” Rubio’s first Spanish-language EP launched final September. It options the standout observe “Sirena,” a bossa-nova-influenced romantico duet with Hawthorne-based singer Cuco.
“Ring Ring” was initially slated to drop in June, however then masked federal brokers descended on Los Angeles, finishing up immigration raids and terrorizing immigrant communities throughout the nation. Like the remainder of the world, she was in shock — a lot that she postponed her album launch present. She rescheduled it to July 15, donating 10% of all her merch gross sales to the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, the immigration advocacy group that gives authorized help and coverage organizing.
“My first headline show was the most epic amazing special sweet perfect night,” she wrote on her Instagram after her present. “I’m just the luckiest girl in the world.”
In some ways, Rubio was impressed to see folks combat again in opposition to the immigration raids and proud that Southern California introduced itself as a unified entrance.
“It was amazing to see everyone come together for the protest, and how the city of Bell stood up to ICE agents was incredible,” she mentioned, referring to a mid-June protest.
“We need more of that. This is a fight that isn’t equal because people are afraid to stand up and become the next target, so those of us who need to speak up. I’m proud of my generation speaking out; it would be easy to turn a blind eye, but we won’t. We were raised by and around immigrants, and we won’t allow for this disturbing abuse of power.”
When requested what it means to sing in Spanish at this second, Rubio is unapologetic about her roots.
“I think right now, more than ever, it is so important to be proud of being Mexican and Salvadorian,” Rubio mentioned. “It is so important to speak our truth. It is so important to honor our culture, honor our heritage, honor the fact that our families worked so hard for us to be here, and we deserve to be here, and we are. We are here. We’re here.”
