The Mexican singer/actress is as much a part of your childhood as your mami's favorite dish, or your first date. Well, get ready to get all the feels and more on her latest album, Latina, a bombastic fusion of everything you've come to expect from the lovely Thalia. Now, say her name, "T-H-A-L-I-A". Don't you feel better, already?
We caught up with the gorgeous superstar to talk all things Latina, what annoys her about living in NYC, her alter ego and more.
How do you stay atop of what's next?
I always find the radio station in my soul. I just tune into my inner soul, my spirit. What I want to sing. What I want to share, with whom. Right now, when you turn on the radio, you can find every single sound in the world like everything right now is available. It's so easy to get influenced around sounds and in my world that is pop, Latin, maybe make some new fusions with urban or with some regional or some salsa or some mariachi sounds and make it fresh. Music right now is very adventurous. It's a big adventure. So, that's what I love about this and I'm always very open to listening to the people I'm working with, in this case with Sergio George the composer. He has a lot of great ideas.
Why did you name your album, Latina, and not Mexicana?
In this moment Latin culture is powerful. It's like everybody wants to understand it. Everybody wants to hear us, hear what we have to say, need our votes, need our music to feel happy and to feel good and free. It's like a big Latino movement right now in the world. It's like that need to know more about us. We recorded the tracks in Mexico, Los Angeles, Miami, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and New York, in so many places.
You've lived in New York City for many years. As a New Yorker what annoys you the most about living in the city?
It annoys me that everybody is walking in the street looking at their phones. That is very dangerous. It's always crowded, it's always people walking, but everybody right now is looking at their phones. So, that to me is just like a big no-no. I can't do that.
What's your favorite guilty pleasure as a New Yorker?
Classic [New York] hot dog. Knowing that the little cart is dirty and when they put it away at night at the parking lot, and all the rats probably go in there and eat all the crumbs. I mean, I think about that yet when I'm in front of the hot dog stand I want one of those or a pretzel with the mustard. But I know that at night all of those little mice and rats go in. I know that!
Everyone always comments about your youthful appearance. Do you think Latinas and African American women age more gracefully than other women?
Totally! It's something about our skin. It's something about our DNA that we have that we age gracefully. So, I'm lucky, thank God. But I take care of my health a lot. But two days a week I go crazy with all the fast food that you can imagine or all the crazy snacks or whatever. The rest of the week, I'm totally on a decent plan with my diet and I drink gallons of water. I think that makes a difference.
You released a self-titled English language album in 2003. Why haven't you done more?
It's just too stressful for me. It's just too stressful to sing in English. I'm always aware of my pronunciation like "Oh my God, my grammar." I'm always nervous with that. I'm just telling you I'm always nervous about that. When I sing, it's just a big headache to have a whole album in another language. I feel free when I do it in my own language or singing in Spanglish like in this album. I have two songs in Spanglish and I like that. It's more me.
You're iconic in telenovela history. Which one is your favorite?
Maria la del Barrio. I love that character because she was always so intelligent and so sharp. She was herself and she didn't care what anybody thinks and I love that. I love her. I always play "Maria la del Barrio" in my social media because sometimes when the haters say certain things. Sometimes with those haters, Maria answers. She answers to them and it's Maria not Thalia. It's Maria the one that answers #LaDelBarrio. She's always there defending Thalia.
Speaking of haters, recently Mexican actress, Carmen Salinas, said some disparaging things about your Lyme disease condition.
I don't have any problem with her. I love her. I have a problem with the interviewer who so careless with the awful question. That's what makes me angry because I see people suffering. I see people dying about this. I see people in wheelchairs. I see people that lost their sight, their way of thinking, etc. They lost everything and to me it's no joke. Make a joke about me and about Thalia, about the way I sing, about my personal life, about my appearance, make a joke about me. I don't care I can take that and more, but do not make a joke about an illness.
You recently shared a rare image of your children at the beach on social media. Why have you decided to keep your family life more private than other celebs?
I'm the one famous here. They didn't choose to be famous. When they decide in the future, "You know what mommy I really want to try" or "You know what that's not for me," it'll be their choice. Babies change every week, they're different every week. I introduced my babies to my fans, but now they're 8 and almost 5. I just don't do that. Occasionally, I do that, but it's not something that I promote a lot.
