5 Latina Artists Share How Motherhood Reshapes Their Music
Motherhood can inspire a number of profound changes, not only personally but also artistically. For many singers, becoming mothers affects their creative approaches, priorities and overall messages.
With Mother’s Day just around the corner — the second Sunday of May in the United States and other countries, May 10 in Mexico — new mothers in Latin music enlighten us on how motherhood has inspired their creativity.
(See also our list of “25 Latin Songs to Celebrate Mother’s Day”.)
This year, for example, Kali Uchis released Orquídeas, her fourth studio album. The production pays homage to Colombia’s national flower, which symbolizes beauty and resilience, but is also a celebration of femininity in which the artist shares her reflections as a new mother. Uchis revealed her first pregnancy with longtime partner, rapper Don Toliver, in the music video for her double track “Tu Corazón Es Mío” / “Diosa.”
Another touching story comes from Colombian couple Greeicy and Mike Bahía, who chose the music video for their 2022 single “Att: Amor” as a tender announcement of their impending parenthood. The song’s refrain, “Whenever there’s love, we’ll be witnesses of the most beautiful creation,” resonates with their fans.
Cazzu, another key figure in the contemporary Latin music scene, caused buzz when she announced that she was expecting her partner Christian Nodal’s child. During a concert at the Movistar Arena in Buenos Aires, she dramatically dropped her white coat to show her baby bump, turning her performance into a personal moment.
Below, Kali Uchis, Yuridia, Greeicy and more women in Latin music share how motherhood has expanded and deepened their creative process, in their own words.
Additional reporting by Ingrid Fajardo and Jessica Roiz.
-
Greeicy
Many beautiful things have happened to me in my life, but my No. 1 is definitely being a mother, because children elevate your life a thousand percent in every way. At the level of challenges, at the level of feelings, at the level of emotions, at the level of dreams, at the level of everything.
For me, as an artist — and I think it happens to all human beings, that what we develop begins to be born and built from another place, from another reality — music today is definitely born from another place. I always feel that my music has been born from very beautiful and very deep places, [but] today I feel that I have new beginnings. It’s like I have feelings that I haven’t felt before and that allows me to want to say other things, to be able to tell different things, and I feel that is the most special thing.
And the tours. The tours today have that touch of that new reality that I feel connects a lot with people. And I feel that the moment in my shows where I play this song [“KAI,” dedicated to my son] — where I talk about this deep love, this beautiful love, people, regardless of whether or not they are parents — connects in a different way. So I feel that children definitely make life much more special.
-
Hanna Nicole (Ha*Ash)
I feel like when a human being steps out of themselves and is for someone else, it’s the best version of a person. Because you have the opportunity to be seeing for someone else, caring for someone else, thinking about someone else — and I feel like a better version of you comes out. You also look at the world differently, like being a child again, with wonder.
Tours have changed, because now I travel with someone else, with my daughter, and I want to show her the world. That forces me to go to museums, to parks, to leave the hotel — to get out of routines that when I’m not with her we tend to [fall into]. And that makes me enjoy trips much more, having someone to share that with.
When it comes to composing, I have also become more sensitive. There is nothing that excites me more than finishing a song and feeling proud, and knowing that my daughter can also feel proud of something I do makes it even more exciting.
-
Jessi Leon (Periko & Jessi Leon)
Image Credit: Ricardo Vidal Becoming a mother changed my life, and filled me with a renewed energy and fierce determination I never knew existed in me, and it propelled me to new heights in the industry. It’s as if a whole new world of inspiration has been unlocked, allowing me to explore themes of love, resilience and growth in my art in ways I had never imagined before. Today I live motherhood to the fullest, and I thoroughly enjoy sharing everything I’ve accomplished in my career with “Milo,” he’s a true artist as well, and the music connects us so much.
-
Kali Uchis
Becoming a mom has been the most magical and transformative rebirth. My soul is happier, my heart is stronger, my mind found peace and joy that nothing else in the world could bring. Our son is living proof that dreams do come true.
-
Yuridia
For me, music has always been the love language between me and my children. I enjoy what I do more and more, because they accompany me wherever I go, and now that my oldest son has become a musician and plays bass on my tours, life in general is even sweeter.
