Image Source: Katelina Ecleston
For sisters Keisha, Fiona, and Fiorella Sanchez, music is one thing that has at all times been part of their lives. “We come from a family of musicians on both sides,” Keisha, the oldest of the siblings, says. The sisters fortunately recall the childhood vacation reveals they’d placed on for his or her relations, singing Christmas carols in each English and in Spanish for hours on finish. Yet regardless of placing on these jam periods for his or her relations and receiving formal singing, music, and dance coaching, the considered teaming as much as pursue their ardour by no means occurred to them — till the COVID-19 lockdown, that’s.
“We’ve always sung together, and we would record covers and stuff, but we never said, ‘Oh, let’s make the group,’ until the pandemic because we were all locked inside and we were like, ‘Well, what do we do now,” Keisha says. And so, Musas was born. But not like our passing obsession with banana bread, the New York-based group are extra than simply the product of pandemic boredom. Taking a cue from the lady teams of the ’90s and early 2000s, like TLC, Xscape, SWV, and 3LW, Musas are able to carry their eclectic sound to the lots.
“So at the beginning, we were like, ‘Let’s just make music because we love making music.’ But then it shifted because we’re doing something that’s been done before, so we needed to figure out a way to put our essence and cultural background into it,” Keisha says.
That various cultural background led the Colombian-Argentinian sisters to develop a sound that attracts inspiration from genres like reggaeton and salsa, in addition to a variety of artists equivalent to Alicia Keys, Nicki Minaj, and Aretha Franklin, to call just some. For instance, their newest launch, “Patience,” is an Afrobeat made in collaboration with Colombian producer DJ CrisBoy, Nigerian producers Davidace and Young D, and Colombian violinist La Lulu. Similarly, for his or her debut single, “Destino,” the trio tackled the rising style of ritmo exótico with assist from one in all its pioneers, Luis Eduardo Acústico.
When requested what style they may wish to incorporate subsequent, the reply comes out with out hesitation. “Drill,” Fiona, the resident rapper of the group, says. “Like not a completely drill song, but at some point just switch it up. I think that would be really cool,” she continues. She additionally mentions doing a reggaeton tune sooner or later, ideally by collaborating with one in all that style’s up-and-coming artists. Of course, together with up-and-comers like themselves, the sisters even have their record of dream collabs starting from R&B stars like Alicia Keys and Chloe x Halle to reggaetoneros like Rauw Alejandro and Bad Bunny to boundary-pushing artists like Mabiland and ChocQuibTown.
But the group’s willingness to collaborate with different musicians and producers goes past only a easy seek for attention-grabbing genres. Identifying as Afro-Latinas, the women use collaboration as a strategy to shine a light-weight on a tradition and individuals who have contributed a lot to trendy music however are sometimes omitted of extra mainstream conversations.
“[We want to] give the genres and the people who came before us their flowers and celebrate Afro-diasporic beauty. That’s really what it is. It’s in our blood. Those are our roots. And if we can celebrate it, we will. That’s important to us.”
“[We want to] give the genres and the people who came before us their flowers and celebrate Afro-diasporic beauty. That’s really what it is. It’s in our blood. Those are our roots. And if we can celebrate it, we will. That’s important to us,” Keisha says. As light-skinned Afro-Latinas, Musas perceive that a part of their accountability to their tradition is checking their privilege with a view to contribute to and spotlight the achievements of their friends in a respectful approach — one thing they felt they achieved with the video shoot for “Destino,” which featured numerous artists from their dad’s hometown, El Pacífico Colombiano.
“All the dancers in our video, even the choreographer, they’re also from where my dad’s from. So he came up with everything to incorporate our talents but to still keep it original and fresh,” Fiona says. Their eagerness to focus on the contributions of Afro-diasporic artists and collaborators is balanced by persistence (no pun supposed) on the subject of their very own musical journey.
“The more we develop in this industry, I think we’ll find our own spot in it and make a sound for ourselves where people will be able to recognize us.”
“The more we develop in this industry, I think we’ll find our own spot in it and make a sound for ourselves where people will be able to recognize us,” Fiorella says. However, the sisters additionally perceive that recognition takes time, particularly on the trail they’ve chosen.
“We’re also a girl group. We’re not solo artists, so it’s a little bit harder as we’re in a place where there are not really a lot of people. But I think we can influence people to pursue it as well,” Fiona says. Besides being a bunch act attempting to make it in an business dominated by solo artists, Musas additionally should take care of the identical challenges that have an effect on many ladies within the music enterprise. But even when the challenges they face as a younger, upstart lady group are quite a few, Musas discover power in numbers and the truth that they’ve their sisterly bond to fall again on. And they’re assured that their imaginative and prescient will repay.
“There are so many women in the industry who are so talented, and that should be the thing that shines through. But you have the people on top who can make or break you. But I think that when you have a vision and like a set goal, it’s possible to break through and make a name for yourself,” Keisha says.
In the meantime, the sisters simply proceed to do what they love: make music that individuals can vibe to and that represents their tradition.
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