Image Source: Katelina Ecleston
For sisters Keisha, Fiona, and Fiorella Sanchez, music is one thing that has all the time been part of their lives. “We come from a household of musicians on each side,” Keisha, the oldest of the siblings, says. The sisters fortunately recall the childhood vacation exhibits they’d placed on for his or her members of the family, 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 members of the family 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 all the time sung collectively, and we might document covers and stuff, however we by no means stated, ‘Oh, let’s make the group,’ till the pandemic as a result of we have been all locked inside and we have been like, ‘Well, what will 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 convey their eclectic sound to the lots.
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“So initially, we have been like, ‘Let’s simply make music as a result of we love making music.’ But then it shifted as a result of we’re doing one thing that is been accomplished earlier than, so we wanted to determine a solution 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 pulls inspiration from genres like reggaeton and salsa, in addition to a variety of artists resembling Alicia Keys, Nicki Minaj, and Aretha Franklin, to call only a few. 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 need to incorporate subsequent, the reply comes out with out hesitation. “Drill,” Fiona, the resident rapper of the group, says. “Like not a totally drill tune, however in some unspecified time in the future simply swap it up. I believe that will be actually 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 listing 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 solution to shine a lightweight on a tradition and individuals who have contributed a lot to fashionable music however are sometimes not noted of extra mainstream conversations.
“[We want to] give the genres and the individuals who got here earlier than us their flowers and have a good time Afro-diasporic magnificence. That’s actually what it’s. It’s in our blood. Those are our roots. And if we are able to have a good time it, we’ll. That’s necessary to us.”
“[We want to] give the genres and the individuals who got here earlier than us their flowers and have a good time Afro-diasporic magnificence. That’s actually what it’s. It’s in our blood. Those are our roots. And if we are able to have a good time it, we’ll. That’s necessary 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 manner — 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 additionally from the place my dad’s from. So he got here up with every little thing to include our abilities however to nonetheless maintain it authentic and recent,” Fiona says. Their eagerness to spotlight the contributions of Afro-diasporic artists and collaborators is balanced by endurance (no pun supposed) with regards to their very own musical journey.
“The extra we develop on this trade, I believe we’ll discover our personal spot in it and make a sound for ourselves the place individuals will have the ability to acknowledge us.”
“The extra we develop on this trade, I believe we’ll discover our personal spot in it and make a sound for ourselves the place individuals will have the ability to acknowledge us,” Fiorella says. However, the sisters additionally perceive that recognition takes time, particularly on the trail they’ve chosen.
“We’re additionally a woman group. We’re not solo artists, so it is slightly bit tougher as we’re in a spot the place there aren’t actually lots of people. But I believe we are able to affect individuals to pursue it as nicely,” Fiona says. Besides being a gaggle act making an attempt to make it in an trade dominated by solo artists, Musas additionally should deal with 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 ladies within the trade who’re so proficient, and that needs to be the factor that shines by. But you’ve gotten the individuals on high who could make or break you. But I believe that when you’ve gotten a imaginative and prescient and like a set objective, it is potential to interrupt by and make a reputation for your self,” 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.
