Presented by Billboard Argentina.
Florencia Mauro, the editorial content director of Billboard Argentina moderates a conversation between Argentianian artists Kenia Os and La Joaqui on how friendship and camaraderie between them became the driving force of their international success at Billboard’s Latin Music Week 2024.
Florencia Mauro moderada un conversación entre artistas argentinas Kenia Os y La Joaqui sobre la unión, camaradería y constante colaboración entre artistas argentinos y la constante colaboración entre ellos se convirtió en un aporte fundamental para el éxito y la globalización.
Florencia Mauro, the editorial content director of Billboard Argentina moderates a conversation between Argentianian artists Kenia Os and La Joaqui on how friendship and camaraderie between them became the driving force of their international success at Billboard’s Latin Music Week 2024.
Florencia Mauro moderada un conversación entre artistas argentinas Kenia Os y La Joaqui sobre la unión, camaradería y constante colaboración entre artistas argentinos y la constante colaboración entre ellos se convirtió en un aporte fundamental para el éxito y la globalización.
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MusicTranscript
00:00Just that song was the most stuck, I mean, for all Tik Tok and when she tells me, you know what, I have the remix and I want you to be there, I mean, I couldn't believe it because I'm a super fan of everything she does, as I already mentioned, and this song was also super viral and I loved it and after our collaboration, our first collab,
00:21both of us started to have very nice things happen in our careers and in Mexico and that we have the opportunity to make a second song, I think it's incredible and especially like this genre that I'm more in pop and I love to go this way and I feel super alive and it empowers me a lot to do this genre too.
00:40Welcome to the Bilbao Argentina panel, my name is Florencia Mauro and on behalf of the entire Bilbao Argentina team, I want to thank Leila and Hanna for giving us the opportunity to be part of this celebration.
01:05Well, without further ado, I want to welcome our guests. In principle, La Joaqui, who comes from Argentina, is a reference of the RKT genre in our country. On the other hand, Kenya Oz is also Mexican, she is a reference in the Latin pop genre.
01:32Both of them have just released a second collaboration, the first one was Kiri on the Kenya album and this second one is Santurrón Remix. Girls, hello to both of you.
01:45To start, I wanted to ask you how you see the camaraderie, the friendship and all this that has been happening over the years between the artists. Argentine artists have traveled a lot, they are being referents in what friendship is, as they do in our country.
02:08Also, international artists have joined this trend, so I want to know how you see it.
02:15Well, I am very happy to have been able to forge such close friendships. We are in an industry, in a world, I dare to say, in which, especially when you are a woman, many times you are involuntarily exposed to competing for a position.
02:37It is expected that women are treated as a competition. When you see a comparison of a statistic published by any website, it is that such and such artist surpassed such and such artist, when, however, those two female artists surpassed ten male artists, but it seems that the gaps are limited.
02:59However, women are making disasters lately and it brought me a lot of relief, especially when I collaborated with Kenia. I collaborated with her because I was totally Kenini. I think I have every right to say that I can be the president of the fan club number one, because I am her total fan.
03:17You and your babies.
03:18And also my daughters. It's a family thing. In fact, I wrote to her one day and said, well, it doesn't matter, I'm her fan and I'm tired of pretending I'm not. And I said, I'm your number one fan. I mean, my dream is to meet you.
03:33So she replied, I'll send you a ticket and come to work with me. Not only did she send me a ticket, her whole team did. They gave me a ride. I met Los Angeles thanks to her. She opened the doors of her kingdom, of Mexico too. She let me in with her sound, which is a whole new world for me.
03:55And I was very afraid of these connections because there was a taboo about closeness. It's like there always has to be one better than the other and I feel there's always room for the different. And in my case, I love making friends, I love chatting, I love gossiping. And it was a genuine connection.
04:17That's why I think it went so well for us, because the energies are integrated in the songs. And when you build from a real affection, it's much easier to express yourself.
04:28Now comes the question, Kenya, why did you say yes?
04:32Huge parenthesis, I was also her fan. I mean, bad. She had a lot of songs that had already sounded a lot in Mexico and I admired her work. I loved everything she was doing.
04:44And when she wrote to me, for me it was the same. It was super difficult to work with other women because it just didn't happen, it didn't coordinate, it didn't happen.
04:54Because I think that, especially in my country, the media and others make women compete with us a lot and I couldn't have this connection, you know, making music with a girl.
05:07And my first collaboration was with Joaqui and I told him, you know what? I love what you're doing, I'm planning my new album, I'm in the studio, I've been here for about 15 days.
05:17Why don't you come? We'll make music and, well, let's see. I mean, there's more than anything to meet and vibrate and be together.
05:23And we entered the studio and I think from day one that we met, it was like a very genuine connection. We entered the studio to have fun, to make music, to create.
05:34And it was incredible. And since then we've been there. Apart from that I love her, I love what she does, I admire her a lot, I respect her as a person, as a woman, as an artist.
05:44And well, her babies are Kenini's number one and what can I say? I mean, I want to take them to Mexico and I want them to go to all the shows.
05:51They both have a common denominator, which is authenticity. That is indisputable and I want to know how easy or difficult it is to sustain it.
05:59We agree. I think it's super important for all the artists who are starting to maintain this part of being authentic in what they say, in their songs, in their lyrics, in the way they create.
06:18For me, it has obviously been a process of finding myself because I started my career at a very young age, at 18, and I was finishing that teenage process and becoming a woman.
06:31And people had to see this growth. And what can I tell you? I mean, it's been complicated because suddenly I can say, I love this, I'm fascinated.
06:42And maybe having millions of people, millions of eyes around you and they really make you doubt your authenticity and your essence.
06:52But I think what has worked for me the most is being super real, loving myself and showing people what I'm made of, being super faithful.
07:03I think that, based on what I said before, it affected me a lot that I saw the statistics of numbers or reproductions or tops 50,
07:17in which we exceeded the ratings of a lot of our male colleagues, who have helped me a lot. I adore them.
07:24The problem is not with them, zero, but rather with the place they give to the woman there.
07:31It's like, since we were little, we grew up that there is one in the class that is the smartest, there is one in the class that makes us grow a little with this chip.
07:41So when I was flirting with the cumbia and discovering what I wanted to do, but at the same time I came from the world of rap,
07:49the reality is that, well, I grew up with my mom, my single mom, we did the best we could,
07:55we didn't have the resources to acquire music classes or singing classes or anything.
07:59So I didn't have those previous training to say, well, I want to sing a Luis Miguel song.
08:05No, honestly, I didn't have the tools to do this, so I felt I could do better with rap.
08:11And I started flirting with the genres until I found the fusion of RKT, which is a bit of rapping on cumbia.
08:18RKT is something very simple.
08:22It's very simple because it's the sound of the smallest place in the smallest neighborhood.
08:29It has a punch, a saturated snare, a sample, and so on.
08:35And it's a song that sounds broken, that it's weird that people understand it,
08:39that most people think it's badly done or that it sounds bad,
08:42when in reality the magic is to do a lot with little.
08:47And I felt that for the first time there was a place where I didn't have to compete with anyone to make it mine.
08:53I felt that it was the place I could develop to be Joaquina.
08:59And I even demanded myself, or I self-margined myself a lot
09:04because of the characteristics that I lacked to feel like a real artist.
09:08I said, I don't know how to dance, I don't know how to sing, I don't know how to speak many languages, I don't know how to do this.
09:14And when I found what I wanted to do, which was something that I was doing on my own,
09:20I felt that it was a space where it was good to be me,
09:24where they wouldn't judge me for being me.
09:26Obviously, when you do something new, there are many criticisms about it
09:30because it's like when a new fashion comes in,
09:34but how are they going to wear those wide pants?
09:36And after two months, we all have wide pants.
09:39The new always comes in as a shock, as breaking, as hitting.
09:44I knew that I had come to this world to break things.
09:47Yes, when I grew up, I found the consequences of breaking things,
09:52which are sometimes inevitable and difficult.
09:55Obviously, sometimes it's complex to get up and understand that there are millions of people
10:00who don't empathize with what you do, or don't understand it, or don't like it.
10:04But at the end of the day, I like what I do.
10:07So I will always be able to defend it.
10:10Joaquín.
10:16Well, speaking of that defense, we have a little song that we want to hear.
10:21Which one?
10:22Santurrona.
10:23I didn't know that.
10:38The remix.
10:39It's our song.
11:08I think it's amazing that we have the opportunity to make a second song.
11:11And especially with this genre, I'm more into pop, and I love going this way.
11:17I feel super alive, and it empowers me a lot to make this genre too.
11:21I'm going to say something.
11:23I have an anecdote.
11:24No, I'm not going to tell you.
11:25I was actually going to tell Kenya, but it has to do with the neighborhood of La Boca.
11:30You mentioned the neighborhood.
11:32What did it lead you to eat?
11:34Tell the audience.
11:36What was the name of the place where you took me to record Kitty's video?
11:40La Boca.
11:41La Boca.
11:42It was there.
11:43She took me there, and you don't know the experience of recording that video there.
11:48Because the people were so affectionate with us.
11:51They were recording us, giving us a lot of support all the time.
11:54We were there.
11:55We just got there, and we left without security, without anything.
11:59I told her, I really want to go record a video in Argentina.
12:03To the core, I want to live the whole experience.
12:07And I think this is the perfect song.
12:09And the best thing was that we were wearing pink outfits.
12:12I mean, super alive and everything.
12:15And the people treated us super nice.
12:17We were there recording the video all day.
12:20And it was an incredible experience.
12:21Besides, they also gave me food.
12:22What's the name of this food?
12:24Choripan.
12:25Yes.
12:26They gave me choripan.
12:28Incredible.
12:29Incredible.
12:30And there.
12:31The lead in the video eating that.
12:33We had an incredible time.
12:34It was like two hours of recording, and we even had a few drinks there.
12:39Incredible.
12:40The experience I lived in Argentina.
12:41Which of the two is more Santurrona?
12:47I think I'm directly Turrona.
12:49Kenya is the real Santurrona.
12:51Because you see her like this, all angelic and everything.
12:53And she knows me.
12:54She catches on.
12:55And what do I know?
12:58Yes, I think she's right.
13:00I think the magic...
13:03I felt, in particular, when I had released the EP of Tu Patrona,
13:06that the song that was best for her was Santurrona.
13:09And I needed to put it together for her,
13:11because at the time I released this EP,
13:13it had come at a time when I hadn't released music for a long time.
13:17And songs prior to that had been hits.
13:20And I felt involuntarily exposed to what made it work.
13:24And I wanted it to work anyway,
13:26because if not, everyone was going to say,
13:28stop working.
13:29Your time has passed.
13:30That's it.
13:31The magic is gone.
13:32And I felt a little like...
13:34The feeling I felt was like the magic had left the world.
13:38And I didn't know where to go running,
13:40or what I wanted to do,
13:41or what people expected me to do,
13:43or what they were going to play,
13:44or what I like they're not going to like.
13:46And she came with this new door that opened for me,
13:49and I met new sounds and new cultures and new things
13:52that opened my mind a lot,
13:54and led me to build Santurrona.
13:56So, for me, the boss was Kenya,
13:59so I couldn't put another person other than her.
14:02And also, without mentioning that
14:04all the songs I filmed in Tu Patrona
14:06are made in the lower neighborhoods of my country.
14:09I grew up in an environment or in a place
14:13where they make you believe
14:15that you're destined to stay there forever.
14:19It's beautiful to be there.
14:20When I say to stay there forever,
14:22I mean the shortcomings.
14:25It's like, it doesn't matter how well your life goes
14:28for a part of society,
14:29you're always going to be that person from that place,
14:32poor, uneducated, marginal.
14:35And Kenya, who is the princess...
14:37I mean, I think she's the most princess girl
14:39I know in the world.
14:41She said, I want you to take me to film a neighborhood.
14:43And I said...
14:44For me, it was a dream.
14:46But I said in my head,
14:47this girl must not have the dimension
14:50of the emotional hug
14:52that she's giving to the misery of childhood
14:54that she chooses in my place.
14:56It's like, for the first time,
14:57everything that had made me feel less in life
15:01or feel that I wasn't going to have the chance
15:03to achieve what I achieved,
15:05was what she chose from me.
15:07And it was something, emotionally,
15:10a madness for me.
15:11Because I was always very neighborhood for some places,
15:14I was always too much for some things.
15:17Or, no, but Joaquín...
15:19No, but she says bad words to me.
15:21No, but this...
15:23And I felt like a little hurt with the world
15:25for the fact that people felt uncomfortable
15:27with my rebellion,
15:28but I didn't have any uncertainty
15:31of knowing why I was so rebellious.
15:33Nobody asked me why I was so angry
15:36or what I needed to show
15:38or why I needed the world to know
15:41that I needed to break.
15:43And she came to me and said,
15:45well, let's go and film,
15:46but my condition is that you take me
15:47to a neighborhood in your country.
15:49In Los Angeles.
15:51I mean, eating in a top place...
15:53We were making the song.
15:55No, no, no.
15:56I said, I want to record this song.
15:58No, no, and I said, it can't be.
16:00In fact, I couldn't...
16:02I didn't think it was going to happen
16:04until it happened.
16:05When my manager tells me,
16:06no, we're really going to look for a place like this
16:08because Kenya wants to know this culture,
16:10wants to know this side.
16:12And it's like,
16:13there are neighborhoods where it never happens.
16:15Sometimes the water doesn't even get there.
16:17And the pop princess wanted to walk there alone.
16:21So it was like a hug
16:24for a lot of wounds of discrimination
16:26that a lot of girls like me
16:28have suffered all our lives, I think.
16:37Kenya, what are, or are,
16:41actually, those collaborations
16:43that you're going to remember forever?
16:45I think so.
16:47The collaborations I have with Joaquin
16:49have been unique experiences.
16:52And besides, it was my first collaboration
16:54with someone from Argentina,
16:55which for someone from Mexico
16:57is a super difficult audience.
16:59Because I always tell them that
17:01Argentines listen to Argentine music.
17:03It's also very difficult to enter.
17:05And also, the fact that Joaquin
17:07gave me the opportunity to enter a country
17:09where his music, let's say,
17:11is not so easy to enter,
17:13especially with a pop genre.
17:15Yes, he has brought me super nice things
17:17from Argentina, and from the culture,
17:19and from all the experience we lived.
17:21And, well, I think that
17:23all the collaborations that came
17:25after my album,
17:27from my previous album, Pincaura,
17:29have been incredible.
17:31I have a song with Peso,
17:33who is also an artist
17:35that surely everyone here knows from Mexico.
17:37He also gave me the opportunity to be in his album
17:39and it was incredible because, you know,
17:41in Mexico this doesn't happen that much,
17:43to collaborate and to support each other and so on.
17:45And someone being so global and from the region
17:47and so on, who came
17:49and told me,
17:51let's collaborate.
17:53I really started my career collaborating more
17:55with artists from other countries than from my country.
17:57I mean, first I had to collaborate
17:59with Joaquin,
18:01with Bella Poarch and other international artists.
18:05And now I'm doing more collaborations
18:07with Mexicans,
18:09which makes me super excited
18:11because right now, in my country,
18:13incredible things are happening,
18:15and not only in pop,
18:17but also in reggaeton, mexa,
18:19in the Mexican regional.
18:21And it makes me very happy to see that
18:23now these new generations are supporting
18:25and making things change.
18:27Because, really, many things that didn't happen
18:29in the industry in Mexico were because of him.
18:31Because there wasn't so much support between us
18:33and now these new generations are supporting us.
18:35It's beautiful to see,
18:37and the genre is growing.
18:39Joaquin, in a red carpet
18:41at the Gardel Awards,
18:43which is a very important award in Argentina,
18:45I told you that it was very difficult
18:47to keep up with the pace.
18:49From there to here,
18:51which happened in a very short time,
18:53I couldn't keep up with the pace.
18:55Tell us a little about how your career is going.
18:57Oh, everything happened.
18:59The truth is that
19:01I'm still digesting it.
19:03Sometimes it's like
19:05I don't feel that it happened.
19:07I don't know how to explain it to you.
19:09But I feel that
19:11it's as if it were all for the first time.
19:13Every song that comes out,
19:15the days before, it's like
19:17I eat everything or I don't eat anything,
19:19I get up, I don't sleep, I dream,
19:21I say, oh, I dreamed that I was doing well,
19:23I dreamed that I was doing badly.
19:25It's like every experience feels like the first time.
19:27So I don't feel like I go through everything.
19:29It feels like
19:31it's like when you have a puppy in your house
19:33that you see it growing every day and you see it the same.
19:35But maybe your friend comes and says,
19:37oh, how big your puppy is.
19:39The same thing happens to me
19:41with my music.
19:43It's like I say,
19:45damn, when am I going to make it,
19:47when am I going to make it,
19:49when is it going to happen to me?
19:51And maybe I meet people and they tell me
19:53how beautiful everything that is happening to you is.
19:55The dopamine of success
19:57becomes very addictive
19:59and it makes you feel
20:01that you always need five more
20:03for the weight, as we say.
20:07It happened to everyone.
20:09And what I'm sure of
20:11is that many times I thought
20:13that everything was going to end at the same time,
20:15that it was over,
20:17that I wouldn't get up from this anymore.
20:19And I got up better.
20:21So what I rescue the most
20:23from that time until now
20:25is that
20:27when things went wrong for me,
20:29it's when I learned
20:31the most necessary things
20:33to survive when things
20:35are going well for me.
20:41Oh, don't clap.
20:43I always love it.
20:45There's a collaboration coming up with Belinda.
20:47Yes, exactly.
20:49Tell me a little bit.
20:51Yes, as I was telling you,
20:53it's been a long time
20:55talking to Belinda
20:57and we were looking for
20:59the perfect song
21:01to collaborate
21:03because we knew it was going to be the collaboration.
21:05And this year, for me,
21:07it was like, wow,
21:09making a song with someone so big
21:11in my country and with an incredible
21:13trajectory.
21:15So we were very specific,
21:17so to speak,
21:19when looking for the song and the sound.
21:21And we went to the studio one day
21:23when we were both in Mexico City
21:25and I said, you know what, I'm here,
21:27I'm with my team, come.
21:29And she said, I think I have the song,
21:31but let's go listen.
21:33We went to the studio
21:35and I loved it, it's a pop song
21:37and I love it because she's now
21:39making another type of music
21:41and for this song she's going to come back
21:43to the pop world with me.
21:45We recorded the video and what can I tell you,
21:47she's an incredible artist,
21:49I love her, I admire her a lot
21:51and it's been incredible to work with her
21:53and especially because, as I mentioned,
21:55the media in Mexico
21:57and all the people in Mexico
21:59are surprised that this type of collaboration
22:01is happening
22:03because it had never been seen before.
22:05And I think it's a great song
22:07with an incredible artist
22:09and I hope
22:11you can listen to it very soon.
22:13It's coming out in three weeks
22:15and I hope you like it.
22:19Joaquín, what are the next steps
22:21for your expansion or to continue
22:23your international expansion?
22:25Oh, I was going to ask you
22:27the same thing.
22:29Where did I start?
22:33Well,
22:35the truth is that this year
22:37with everything that happened
22:39and the collaborations that have taken place
22:41I felt until last year
22:43that
22:45I had to do
22:47something
22:49more mainstream
22:51or more socially accepted
22:53to be able to get out of my little puddle.
22:55But well, people like
22:57Kenia came, also Obi.
22:59Obi helped me a lot to get out.
23:01The truth is that I thank him a lot.
23:03He was one of the first people
23:05to bet on my international growth.
23:09And they got me a little
23:11the idea in my head
23:13that there was a possibility
23:15that I would take the sound of my neighborhood
23:17all over the world.
23:19So my way of expanding today
23:21is simply to create from our places
23:23and not having to lose
23:25my identity
23:27to be able to
23:29travel a long journey.
23:33To finish, I would like
23:35each of you to tell me
23:37how important is
23:39friendship in music?
23:41How many times did you stay
23:43and a musician told you to go ahead
23:45and how many times did they tell you
23:47no, this is not it.
23:49But well, the message I want you to leave here
23:51is your conclusion
23:53about friendship.
23:55Yes, for me
23:57I think that a friendship
23:59is born genuinely
24:01when people connect and say
24:03you know what, I love it, I get along really well.
24:05But I think that especially in collaborations
24:07and in general in the industry
24:09being responsible and respectful
24:11with the other artist. It has happened to me many times
24:13that the artist simply
24:15doesn't show up or leaves the song
24:17two days before recording the video
24:19and this kind of situations
24:21that even though
24:23we have a team that is aware of us
24:25and maybe they say yes
24:27to everything, you have to be
24:29super responsible and respectful with the other
24:31artist and be there
24:33when we commit to something.
24:35In my case, when I commit to being in a song
24:37I try to give my 100%
24:39and if a friendship is born genuinely
24:41it's much better, right?
24:43But I think that the most important
24:45as artists
24:47beyond going down
24:49like all this rockstar world and so on
24:51at the end of the day it's work, it's an industry
24:53many people depend on us
24:55and I think that what we can give
24:57is
24:59responsibility and respect to the other artist
25:01and if it genuinely happens
25:03have a great friendship like the one I currently have with Joaquin.
25:05Joaquin.
25:11I think it's crucial
25:13to move in an environment
25:15where there is an impunity
25:17or a freedom that is believed
25:19that because you do something public
25:21people have the right to mistreat you
25:23hate and virtual harassment
25:25are very hyped.
25:27It's normal that a person tweets
25:29your music is shit, I hope you die
25:31which seems crazy to me
25:33Sorry, I'm losing my words
25:35but I'm always sent a Joaquinada
25:37it's a bit my cliché
25:39but I see it as very common
25:41lately
25:43the mistreatment
25:45but it's no longer an opinion
25:47it's a mistreatment
25:49I wish you bad, I wish you pain
25:51I wish you this
25:53and you're just getting up
25:55and doing what you like
25:57because I think all the people
25:59who are communicators
26:01we are people who for a long time
26:03we feel like they haven't listened to us
26:05for some reason we have this need
26:07for so many people to listen to us
26:09it's my theory, I hope a psychologist
26:11doesn't tell me I'm wrong
26:13because it's just my hypothesis
26:15friendship is everything
26:17because going on stage
26:19is smiling
26:21and dancing and singing
26:23especially for me
26:25I make music for parties
26:27so people assume I'm always happy
26:29I don't want to be partying
26:31I like to drink tequila
26:33and read a book and light incenses
26:35it's my passion
26:37I'm a lady lately
26:39I'm more Zan than your Rona
26:41but friendship is everything
26:43because there are pains
26:45that we have to swallow
26:47behind the camera
26:49it's like the real fake-dementia
26:51and there comes a moment
26:53when you pretend so much
26:55that you become a little crazy
26:57no, how did it go with your release?
26:59no, how well you chatted?
27:01no, how good it stuck?
27:03no, how are you?
27:05how do you feel?
27:07are you ok?
27:09I feel like we have to put on a mask
27:11where we pretend everything is ok
27:13and most of the time I'm not ok
27:15I cry once a week, believe it or not
27:17and having friendships in the industry
27:19has helped me to have a place
27:21where I can put my shoulder
27:23when I need to cry without being seen
27:25so I really support this exposition
27:27of genuine connections
27:29in fact, I recommend
27:31that you make real friendships
27:33to make songs
27:35because a song with a genuine feeling
27:37is not a hit
27:39because that feeling is integrated
27:41and when you listen to a song
27:43you say, I don't know why
27:45but this song makes me happy
27:47it's because people created it
27:49feeling happy
27:51like songs, you listen and say
27:53I was like that when he did it
27:55so I support
27:57and I campaign
27:59so we can all become more friends
28:01and less business
28:03I hope so
28:05thank you girls
28:07we are going to go ahead