Puerto Rican singer-songwriter RaiNao is the subsequent Latin artist to enter the COLORS studio. The genre-less artist presents a charming rendition of her new single “sofocón,” reinventing her sound whereas mixing plena with digital sounds and reggaeton.
“I create music very freely, so I feel lots of my songs are genreless. Greater than a music, “sofocón” is a mix of my influences and the sounds I’ve been exploring over the previous 12 months,” she tells Hypebeast earlier than her debut. To enhance her eye-catching look made in collaboration with native designer Juan Pablo Vizcaíno Cortijo and Daniela Fabrizi, she presents “sofocón” in opposition to a daring purple backdrop. The only represents her evolving musical output, making it clear that she is an artist to observe in 2025.
We sat down with RaiNao to study extra about her COLORS debut, her reference to vogue, and her in-depth inventive course of.
Hypebeast: Your COLORS efficiency of “sofocón” was mesmerizing. What was the inspiration behind the best way you approached this efficiency, and the way did the distinctive setting form the best way you delivered the music?
“I’ve been manifesting this efficiency since I found COLORS, in order we are saying en bajita (on the low), I used to be preparing for the second. “sofocón” could be very me, but in addition very Puerto Rico — from its sound to the best way my senses imagined it. I wished that feeling to come back to life in my efficiency, so even my garments carry a message of how I see “sofocón”: a scorching day on the south coast of my island, dwelling a love story.”
The mix of reggaeton and R&B in “sofocón” offers it a singular really feel. What influences form your music, and the way do you incorporate completely different genres into your work?
“I create music very freely, so I feel lots of my songs are genreless. Greater than a music, “sofocón” is a mix of my influences and the sounds I’ve been exploring over the previous 12 months. In essence, this music is guided by the rhythm plena, combined with digital sounds derived from Afrobeat and reggaeton, and formed by melodies from two of my favourite devices: the saxophone and the trombone. I make music by mixing the issues I like collectively — together with individuals — and “sofocón” displays that.”
Your model has at all times been distinct. How does vogue play a task in the way you current your self as an artist, and the way did you resolve in your search for the COLORS efficiency?
“I like the concept of carrying messages on my garments. There’s an important individual within the (r)evolution of my model, and her title is Daniela Fabrizi. We share a love for vogue and for our planet, so the concept is at all times to remodel items of clothes as a substitute of going loopy purchasing. This time, she reworked an outdated bodysuit into a bit that displays our roots. I wished to make my very own interpretation of a Vegigante de Loíza, a cultural character that tells the story of our African ancestry. The intense colours and the coconut tree horns are two of the weather we used, in collaboration with Juan Pablo Vizcaíno Cortijo, an artist from Loíza, Puerto Rico.”
Are you able to inform us about your inventive course of when writing and recording music? How are you aware when a music is able to be shared with the world?
“I’m very grateful to say that my inventive course of has no limits. I create very freely with folks that I like and love. Songs can come from a transparent concept, a deep emotion, and even from a joke, a picture, or a noise coming by the window. The one rule is to make the try. Mi corillo (my crew) retains me grounded, and I hold myself conscious. I write on daily basis — even when it’s only a phrase or a thought — so once I write songs, I’ve all these random ideas in writing as sources. With regards to recording, one thing I treasure loads from my theater research is that I get into character; I take advantage of that technique to really feel and transmit my feelings. I sing with my complete physique. I imagine my songs are full when the world hears them. I do know a music is prepared after we handle to achieve the sound that I like to listen to from myself — and that makes me excited for others to listen to. That’s why curating my music is without doubt one of the processes I take pleasure in most, and one which takes the longest.”
You’ve been evolving as an artist for some time now. What do you hope to discover subsequent in your music, and the place do you see your self pushing boundaries?
“I feel I’m a continuing boundary-pusher, largely with myself. I at all times really feel like I’m within the means of difficult myself, studying, rising, and altering — and with music, it’s the identical. I like to strive issues, as a result of even when what I’m searching for doesn’t come up, I uncover and evolve. I see myself taking my artwork to minds and locations which can be completely different from mine, as a result of that’s the magic of music: we don’t at all times perceive the why, however it makes us join and really feel.”
Your COLORS present was such a particular second. How did it really feel to deliver “sofocón” to life in that setting, and what made that specific efficiency stand out for you personally?
“I’m in the course of a inventive course of the place I’m exploring loads and doing issues in another way to see what occurs. “Sofocón” is the door to that new universe I’m in, and I’m very excited for the chance to point out it to the world by a COLORS session.”
Along with your music, you’ve been acknowledged in your distinctive aesthetic. How do you suppose your visible id influences your music and the best way your viewers connects with you?
“You already know, I don’t suppose loads about my aesthetic. Clearly, I feel I’ve good style, however I’m very trustworthy with myself and with the issues I like. I’d prefer to suppose that individuals join with me as a result of they recognize my genuineness and the hassle that comes from the guts — that I put into each concept, video, music, or perhaps a easy picture or outfit.”
If you happen to might carry out with any artist, useless or alive, who wouldn’t it be and why?
“I’d like to carry out in two very other ways with two very completely different artists. One could be very musical — with a timba or an Afro-Caribbean band like Havana D’Primera. The opposite efficiency could be very bodily, and not too long ago I’ve been blown away by Doja Cat’s performances.”
