The Mexican launches "Thalía's Mixtape" , an album of covers of mythical songs that comes accompanied by a documentary that follows the musical journey of the pop star's life.
Digital cover for this article from Vanity Fair (Spain)
Thalía is positive energy in its purest form. Chatting with the Mexican is an injection of joy, optimism and good vibes. "Delighted to start with you! How cool!", she tells us with her characteristic smile as soon as we connect via Zoom with her in what is her first interview in Spain for the launch, this April 28, of Thalía's Mixtape , an album of versions of the songs that have marked her life that is accompanied by a three-episode documentary from Paramount Plus. Since she began her career in the 80s with the children's group Din-Din and later as a member of Timbiriche, Thalía is one of the great Latin divas with six telenovelas as the lead, more than 15 studio albums and 25 million records sold. We chat with her about her adolescence, her role as her mother and a possible collaboration with the Spanish singer Rosalía.
UHQ
Thalía, Mixtape collects the songs that marked your youth. Why now an album in the form of a soundtrack of your life?
It is a very ambitious project, it comes from Paramount Plus with three episodes. It is a musical docuseries where I am going to take people to revisit these great classics at the hands of their original heroes, the royalty of rock in Spanish, the music that moved entire generations. It's a fan project, I'm the fan looking for them, the fan asking them to explain to me what was behind each song, how the lyrics came about and hopefully even sing those songs with them.
How do you remember those teenage years in your room with a Walkman and what song was always playing on it?
Definitely the mixtapes of my life were all based on rock songs in Spanish. It couldn't miss Hombres G , it couldn't miss Soda Stereo, Miguel Mateo, Nacha Pop, Mecano, Aterciopelados, La Maldita Vecindad, Los amantes de Lola... even Los Toreros Muertos! (laughs)
Are you seriously listening to Los Toreros Muertos? Wonderful!
Oh yes! La agüita amarilla, please (laughs) It's as if my idols from the posters I had in my adolescent room or from those photos I pasted in my notebooks, got out of those posters and came to tell me everything. It is a very cool trip in three episodes and I also investigate the evolution of music from vinyl to Web3, what Artificial Intelligence is. It's very interesting and it's a totally family project and it comes with a disc. I am fascinated and happy with this project.
UHQ
On the album there is a version of Devuélveme a Mi Chica, by Hombres G, a song that has marked our adolescence for many. How did the collaboration with David Summers come about?
(Lets out a cry of happiness) Oh, I swear you telling me his name and I'll go crazy! (laughs). David Summers was my first crush and suddenly when I contacted him and started talking to him, I explained the project and that I wanted to be the bridge between generations and that we amplify the whole message. When he said yes, I hung up and (screams again), I started screaming, I went crazy (laughs). Now I can tell you that I have a great friendship with him and that is something so invaluable. In addition, also I told him as a fan: "David, you owe it to me and millions of fans to destroy the white Ford Fiesta!" (laughs). We made a video with a guy in a yellow jersey and when he lit the match... you can see little stars in his eyes (laughs).
In the song you have removed the word 'marica' (faggot). What did David tell you about this? He has always commented that he would never change his songs.
Everything has been with the approval of David and my great heroes. This is for me a project of theirs totally. I explained to David that I am the faggot, the great ally of the LGBT community, I have always been in all my projects, in all my songs, I have always been supporting the community. I wanted this project to be able to reach all audiences without there being a little bit of censorship of something. And you see that right now we are living in a society with a lot of censorship, with a lot of cancellations and I didn't want a song to be canceled for a word in this project, so David understood it perfectly. He told me: "This is your project, do what you want, honey, I am here to support you". It has been a great adventure.
On the album, there are two other versions by Spanish artists, Me Cuesta Tanto Olvidarte by Mecano and Lucha de Gigantes by Antonio Vega, what do these songs mean to you?
I included Mecano because they are a great reference for good music, good lyrics, they broke with concepts and stigmas and they have been an iconic group. I have a great admiration for many years with Nacho Cano and Ana Torroja that I have always seen as "Wow" (she makes a gesture of astonishment with her hands on her face). I remember that once in Mexico, I was in makeup and hairdressing for a show on television and suddenly she arrived, she sat next to me and they began to touch her up. And me, with my heart going a thousand miles per hour (interprets the heart gesture at a fast pace) and I'm like this... and I saw her and she had her high ponytail so typical of her, with a dress like latex and her muscles, do you remember? And she suddenly turned around and said: "Hello, nice to meet you." And me: "Hello", all nervous (laughs). So for me those are the images that I keep when I interpret these versions made with respect, with love and affection of a fan.
Now women are very empowered in music, although you have been since you started in music. On the album you sing Para No Verte Más, a song sung by a man, and she sings it together with Kenia Os, how did the idea of having two women sing it come about?
It has been a very fun, very organic version, once again for me in this project, in addition to the great original heroes, it was also worth the idea of being able to understand that music is now distributed through digital platforms and that now the artists can also go out on the platforms like TikTok or YouTube. So for me, having these artists who have come out of there like Bruses, like León Leiden, like Ben Carrillo or like Kenia Os, has been an important part of telling the story of the Mixtape. So with this classic that is Para No Verte Más, by La Mosca Tsé-Tsé, when I told Guille of La Mosca the story, he told me that he loved the idea. And then sing it with Kenia... I love teaming up with young female singers who are up-and-coming, I've always liked those collaborations, from the beginning and as a precursor to that, I've done it with Becky G, with Sofía Reyes, with Ana Mena, with Lali Espósito since they started, having new girls in music is great.
Thalía is synonymous with joy, always smiles, is pure of positive energy, but you have always been a warrior woman from the beginning. How do you see the role of women in music today?
My love, I feel that the word empowerment is not the word. I feel that women have power and they have always had it, only today we have the amplification of finding our groups and talking about uncomfortable topics on digital platforms, in podcasts and social networks. Right now you can join your niche, you can easily find it thanks to the digital age, something that didn't happen to me when I started my career. We lived in a structure and to be able to get there and plant you was really an odyssey. Today I see it much more pleasant and much more fertile for women to express uncomfortable topics.
HQ
You are one of the great Latin divas and in Spain we have a great diva that is Rosalía, would you like to do a collaboration with her?
Yeah! My love, I love her so much. She and I text each other a lot. She is a 'layer', she is such a complete woman in everything, extremely talented and I love it, I admire her very much. Obviously a collaboration with her would be something fantastic, I like it a lot, I like everything she proposes.
In addition to being an artist, you are also the mother of two children, one of whom is a teenager. What is Thalía like when she comes home and is a mother of two?
I can be very funny and like I play with them, we skate, we do homework and everything is very cool... but I can also be very mom (laughs). Very mom to send things, to structure because ultimately I have to prepare them for life, they are not mine, they are beings that came into my life so that I can give them the best of me with the tools that I have right now and that when they take flight they know what to do with life.
You have an exceptional career. What do you think is the song that has marked your career the most or your favorite of all?
Oh how bad you are! (laughs)
It's just that I have many of yours, Amor A La Mexicana, Rosalinda, Arrasando...
Excellent! I like a lot! I like Piel Morena, Amor A La Mexicana, Arrasando, Entre El Mar y Una Estrella. I love the new ones No Me Acuerdo, Desde Esa Noche. Many! Don't limit me! (laughs). The good thing is to continue enjoying them.
Source: Vanity Fair Spain
