Its always exciting to hear people you know being called out as a Grammy nominee ...ones that have been in it for a minute... ones who are great artists, songwriters and especially those who have never been recognized in the Recording Academy cause they're achieving "The Dream".... you grow up watching the academy award show every year, imagining yourself with your hair brush winning the award and giving your speech in front of your mirror ... oh wait ...is that just me?.... LOL ...well i'll carry on.
As you get older and learn the business, what happens is you start seeing things for what they are....coming from being a signed artist (twice in mainstream pop world) to now rocking the "Indie World" in the "family space", for 11 yrs now... I'm here to say for me, its been a constant, daily tearing down the walls.. I've been met with resistance for my sound and look by the gatekeepers in Radio and PR.
I've heard everything from, "Are you gonna be releasing more of that main stream poppy stuff".. as to say that writing, producing, singing and performing pop- rock- edm- hip hop is less than and not up to par with someone who is singing and playing a guitar, singing indie folk.. when in actuality my songs always start out as just that. (a melody on guitar or piano).... just cause the category in the family world is "INDEPENDENT KIDS MUSIC", that doesn't mean that everyone does "indie folk" music. I've always stayed true to what is authentic to me, what I LOVE doing... not that I can't sing jazz, my dad was a jazz trumpet player.. not that I can't do traditional latin music, thats all I grew up with in my home...not that I cant belt out a theatre tune, I grew up belting every Babs, Judy and Liza song and had a successful career in musical theatre.. and not that I can't write and sing acoustic music, I can do all that in a heart beat but I just LOVE pop, edm, rock, hip -hop, reggeton.. edgier MAINSTREAM music just with positive messaging.
I also recently have privately reached out to some radio and fellow artists when leaving me off "Bilingual/POC" play lists ... I MEAN CLEARLY I'm super colorful (LOL).. but in all seriousness, I'm a proud LATINA - "Peruvian Romanian American Jew".. My mom immigrated here from Lima Peru. I'm first generation.. my first language was Spanish and with dual citizenship I went back and forth to Peru before my grandparents and uncle officially moved here (The United States) to live with us..... sooooooo, when people assume I'm not Latin cause I'm not the stereo type of what you think a Latin person is supposed to look like ..well, that is a tad bit ignorant.
Growing up in show biz I've had to deal with this my whole life.. not dark enough, not white enough etc .I spoke spanish at home and was raised with every Latin culture.. it oozes out of me. I grew up with so many friends who have spanish last names and couldn't speak a word of Spanish.. people would instantly speak to them in Spanish cause of how they looked and they would be like "oh, I don't speak Spanish but she she does."
I'm what they call Latinx!
I see and hear a lot of posts about POC -different ethnicities.. some from peeps who are 2nd generation or even 3rd generation but I will continue to remind people I'm first generation American.
I've been singing in Spanish and recording in Spanish waaaaaaaaay before I even entered the family space..Ive been making a name for myself, always singing in both English and Spanish so, no.. I didn't learn Spanish to jump on board the new "IN THING".. being Spanish is WHO I AM... With that being said, just because someone is latin doesn't mean they only have to do traditional cultural music from their heritage, LATIN people listen to ALL types of music especially American music .
Now, i'll get to the reason I've been so verbose... had to put all that out there before this part....In the Recording Academy "childrens category", what I've seen and have been seeing for the last decade as a voting member is, its the same people every year, or every other year who are always nominated and who win the Grammy.. I saw a lot of chatter about the nominees not being diverse in ethnicity... true, VERY true. Also, just ONE WOMAN nominated??... ALL other were men.. (no offense guys) BUT I know there were other women that were on the first round ballot! This being an "acclaimed music competition", what is lacking and screaming loud and clear is, there isn't diversity in SOUND and in Musical Genres !!!!
It's always "indie folk" style! Where is the Hip Hop? Where is the Pop? Where is the Country Rock ? Where is the Jazz? Where is the Musical Theatre? Where is the Standard? Where is the R& B, Funk and Soul? Where is the Reggae ? Where is the Punk, the Grunge ,the Electronica ?
There is none of that being represented.. and it doesn't matter what your skin color is thats doing any of the above styles or genres if its authentic to you and what you LOVE doing cause authenticity transcends to every audience! I was so happy one year, that I privately wrote an artist when they won for "hip hop album for kids".. but haven't seen it any other time. I thought finally who ever this clique of "inside voters" are, they get it! There is HOPE! For the most part ALL the people nominated are ALL previous winners, ALL have the SAME publicists, and ALL are with the "gate keepers"! Some people cant afford PR and they're doing it truly "indie style" cause PR is costly, especially during a pandemic, but that doesn't mean the artist is less then. Sometimes an artist (like myself) gets turned down by a PR company, even when they have the money to pay for their services, cause you don't fit "THEIR" musical preference. I know the talent that was out there this year for consideration cause I actually listened to all the children's albums this year, and there were stellar albums in country- pop- rock- hip hop- R&B etc, in the family space.
I've read some posts about getting involved "BTS"(Behind the Scenes) of the Recording Academy to learn the process and run for positions or committees... I did that for a hot second years back when I was less busy, but if you're truly are an "indie artist" and this is your sole livelihood AND your significant other's sole livelihood, you don't have time to attend Recording Academy meetings cause you're touring, gigging, booking your own shows, marketing your own albums & upcoming shows, creating content, recording, filming , social media etc,.. so if you're lucky enough to have a publicist and booking agent, that frees up SOME time to actually attend meetings and be a part of this "clique".... So, here me out .... in a year when I saw so many posts and movements being created, lifting up others... what this years' nominations still showed me is that it's all about the amount of voters one knows = friends and colleagues voting for friends. If people really took the time to really listen to an entire album, not just the first and second track but the whole album, you'd see and hear a lot of raw talent...some that have music degrees and some who don't. This shouldn't matter, but in the last decade this also seems very apparent in the "clique".. Some who have never been given the break from the "CLIQUE" or, some who are brand new and don't know yet that there are mountains that they're gonna have to climb no matter how good of an artist or how amazing their album is.
If you read the liner notes, which I do, you would see that a lot of artists did their albums all by themselves or, maybe with one or two people listed.. what I've been seeing over the years is lots of nominees and winners do collaborative albums with many previous grammy nominated "guest stars" to help increase their voting chances.
So, as someone who has been in the family space for almost 11 years, and prior to that was a billboard charting, gold record recipient in main stream world, signed to Disney/ Hollywood records, I want other artists to know.. I'm someone who still has NOT been played on Kids Place Live Sirus Radio..Im constantly grinding and having to prove myself to the "gate keepers" BUT proud to say I make my sole living from being an "indie" family "touring" artist and not just me but my hubby, writing partner, the guy BTS who is also a billboard charting, gold record recipient and former major label artist!
We as indie artists all have to make noise and hold people accountable! I'm a firm believer in "gotta walk the walk" and not just "talk the talk". Covid made my life slow down immensely by the fact that Im not touring on the daily so I've been super present. I've gotten to know so many of you, which I would've never had the time prior BUT due to covid, it has made me quickly rethink and re brand for the time being..Im rolling with the punches and listening to whats out there. I never listened to others before, not cause I didn't want to, but I just didn't have the time..I only listen to Bruno to work out or to Bubble to relax lol ...but now that I've created a platform where I highlight others, I listen to everyone's music and I do genuinely want to offer a platform to highlight and lift all during these times..Not just for my community, but for those who haven't been exposed to all types of music in this very important genre.
Until I can start touring again I'm gonna keep my live stream/podcast going, to educate kids of all ages about appreciating all genres of music from independent artists, just like WE need to do cause thats whats lacking in this very "acclaimed music competition" in the children's field. It cant just be about voting for who you know but taking your voting membership seriously and taking your own musical preference out of it.. and remembering YOUR favorite artist that inspired YOU, why YOU got into music and what made YOU fall in love with becoming an artist. I'm pretty sure we all walk to the beat of our own drum and we gravitated to music cause it was the best way to express ourselves.. and because being apart of the arts is about accepting and being inclusive to ALL! In this genre I've experienced for the most part everything but INCLUSIVITY! People looking from the outside in, who don't know much about the family indie space, would think only handful of artists exist in this genre and that all children's artists make similar sounding music.. that is NOT a true representation of this space and most importantly that's not having a clear understanding of who and what children around the world are listening to and like.
Since I've been highlighting other musical artists on my daily #TTLOL live stream I decided to put together a list; my Top 10 Songs of 2020... a true representation of ALL musical genres, artistry and performances that my live stream audience, "kids of all ages" from around the world, connected with and loved. List will be announced on Monday, November 30th, 2020 #TTLOL 2pm (pst) on my YOU TUBE channel #TwinkleTime