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The Latin Grammy might need, momentarily, slipped out of the palms of multi-award-winning singer Gina Chávez, however her need to make a optimistic distinction within the lives of Latinx girls, particularly Latinx queers, continues to achieve floor.
The bilingual artist from Texas, as she defines herself, obtained a Latin Grammy Award nomination for her 2020 launch of her first album in Spanish, “La Que Manda,” within the Greatest Pop/ Rock Album class. This was the primary Latin Grammy nomination for the Latin American singer — and she or he was the one lady nominated on this class and one of many few this 12 months total on the Latin Grammy Awards.
Bilingual Texan broke glass ceiling as a feminine Latin Grammy Greatest Album nominee
In case you haven’t listened to her songs, Chávez’s music is deeply private, and she or he wins reward for her distinctive sound — a multi-ethnic richness of folk-pop — and most of all, for her brave excessive profile as a married lesbian Catholic in Texas.
Chávez at present lives in Austin along with her spouse, Jodi Granado. Collectively, they co-founded Chicas Arriba, a school fund that provides full scholarships to a non-public Catholic school for women in Soyapango, El Salvador.
Chávez’s sound has sparked curiosity from nationwide tv and radio reveals within the US akin to “NPR: First Pay attention,” “All Issues Thought-about,” and “Tiny Desk Concert events.”

Simply in time for the Worldwide Day for the Elimination of Violence in opposition to Girls on November 25, Chávez launched the music video for her first single “Ella,” honoring survivors of home abuse. The video, that includes a global assortment of dancers, was made in partnership with the Austin group Survive2Thrive, which supplies assets and assist to victims of home violence and abuse.
Along with “La Que Manda,” the artist has launched two different albums that present her versatility as a songwriter and performer: “Up.Rooted” (2014), and her soul/ R&B EP “LIGHTBEAM” (2018).
I not too long ago spoke to Chávez, in Spanish, with the English translation that follows.
KARMINA L. FONSECA: They are saying {that a} nomination is an achievement in itself. What was it prefer to take part within the Latin Grammys?
GINA CHÁVEZ: I’ve been on the music scene for a few years, and for me it was like an arrival, an arrival of who I’m as a complete. Receiving this sort of worldwide recognition is an achievement and a dream come true, particularly since I’m an impartial artist.
FONSECA: Apart from being your first album in Spanish, what characterizes “La Que Manda?”
CHÁVEZ: It’s a feminist album, of my manner of being as a lady. Not simply as a singer, additionally as an activist, as a queer and homosexual, as a Catholic… it looks like a fruits of all that I’m.
FONSECA: Normally, how do you outline your new album?
CHÁVEZ: My music has many sounds and numerous genres. In “La Que Manda,” there may be quite a lot of Afro-Cuban inspiration and it’s like an exclamation of being me, like a promise. The opposite songs discuss love and the album talks about themes like freedom and dwelling with all of your soul.
FONSECA: What challenges did you face in making this album?
CHÁVEZ: I’ve been engaged on a number of the songs on this album for years, and it’s a battle to get the message out of my chest and out of the recording studio in one of the best ways attainable. The album has been a battle to complete in the course of a pandemic.
FONSECA: Does the video for “Ella” have a particular which means for you?
CHÁVEZ: It’s an inventive illustration of the battle that girls face day-after-day in opposition to home violence. This 12 months we’ve lived collectively however aside. We live in an historic second and we’re combating, however I additionally assume the Me To motion is to hearken to the feminine voices which were silenced for a few years. For me, that is the which means of the album.

FONSECA: What are you grateful for?
CHÁVEZ: Being who I’m at this second in historical past looks like a blessing. I’d not need to reside in another period as a result of I’m homosexual.
FONSECA: Has being Catholic and homosexual brought on you battle? What do you consider Pope Francis’ assertion on same-sex unions?
CHÁVEZ: I’m very glad and in addition in a little bit of a shock. For me, that is the rationale that I can proceed to be Catholic, and proceed going to my parish with my spouse subsequent to my mother and father. As a result of the decision of Christ is to not choose, it’s to like, and that’s the message of the pope.
GINA CHÁVEZ | “La Que Manda” | ginachavez.com
This interview first ran in Spanish in Homosexual Metropolis Information’ sister publication noticiali.com. To enroll in the Homosexual Metropolis Information electronic mail e-newsletter, go to gaycitynews.com/newsletter.
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