Ángela Aguilar knows a thing or two about legacy; she has, perhaps, since before she could even articulate it. Being born into “La Dinastía Aguilar” — the famous musical Mexican family that includes her father, award-winning Mexican singer-songwriter Pepe Aguilar; grandfather, iconic ranchera maestro Antonio Aguilar; and grandmother, Mexican cinema star Flor Silvestre — set the literal stage for the prodigious artist and her rise to superstar status.
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Aguilar burst onto the scene formally at nine years old, when she and her older brother Leonardo Aguilar released Nueva Tradición in 2012, a title that would foreshadow the Gen-Z’er’s take on traditional Mexican music in modern pop. Her solo debut arrived in 2018, with Primero Soy Mexicana, and it earned Aguilar her first Grammy and Latin Grammy nominations. But while Ángela is following in the steps of her predecessors, she’s building a career in her own right, with a focus that champions women along the way.
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“I think that this genre of music specifically, what we call regional or la música mexicana, mariachi and so forth, is not a genre that is easy for or kind to women.”
ÁNGELA AGUILAR
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“I think that this genre of music specifically, what we call regional or la música mexicana, mariachi and so forth, is not a genre that is easy for or kind to women,” Águilar tells Refinery29 Somos. “It’s actually really hard, and I say this with sadness in my heart: I am the only woman in my genre, and the only one my age, touring solo this year.”
At 19, Águilar, whom fans affectionately call the “Princess of Mexican Music,” recently announced her Piensa En Mi Tour, the fourth solo trek of her career. The tour opens June 2, 2023 at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago, making stops across New York, Las Vegas, Houston, Inglewood, and more. Fans can expect for the current eight-city roster to expand with international dates as the tour progresses. “Of course Mexico! And we're hoping to see Colombia, Chile, and places like Peru, where ‘Qué Agonía’ has topped charts for like 11 consecutive weeks now,” she jumps gleefully thinking about the success of her first triple-platinum song and recent collaboration with Hermosillo singer Yuridia.
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As a precursor to her Piensa En Mi Tour, Aguilar is scheduled to release Bolero, her next full-length studio LP, this May. “Piensa En Mi is basically a tour that derives from this new album. Boleros are the typical Mexican songs you hear in trios and at restaurants. It's the type of music that is not as popular anymore, and nobody in my generation, or at least not a woman, is singing it. But I think we can't lose that,” she says.
The tour and album are intentionally tied to one another by sentiments of remembrance and heritage. “I recorded a song of the same name for the tour, “Piensa en Mi.” It’s a song sung by Luz Casal. For me, that song is very important because it made me really vulnerable while singing it,” she adds. “It was a song made by the best composers in Cuba, and it’s a very, very sad song that you only can dedicate to the people you love most.”
For Aguilar, the tour and album are both testaments to the evolution of música mexicana. “My first album, you can look up interviews, I’m nine years old, and I say, ‘Oh my gosh, I just don't want this music to end. This culture and tradition. I want this all to continue.’ Now Mexican music is killing it.”
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“Piensa En Mi is basically a tour that derives from this new album. Boleros are the typical Mexican songs you hear in trios and at restaurants. It's the type of music that is not as popular anymore, and nobody in my generation, or at least not a woman, is singing it. But I think we can't lose that.”
Ángela Aguilar
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Música mexicana is an umbrella term that includes mariachi, ranchera, norteño, banda, and corridos, to name a few. Some of these rich and diverse regional Mexican genres have exploded over the years, but the music industry remains overwhelmingly male-centric and machista. “And why the hell,” Aguilar asks. “Mexican music right now is one of the fastest-growing genres in the world, and produces so many tours. They're performing every single weekend — where are the women? When are we going to get more serious and intentional exposure to the various talented women across this music and industry?”
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As the youngest woman to reach the highest spot on Billboard charts, she charges herself in paying it forward, primarily to women and especially ones with little access or recognition. “'Ahí Donde Me Ven' came out two years ago. That was a pretty powerful single. I used a female director, a female producer, all women across the board, and it was insane the reception because everybody was like, ‘Who are these people? Who did this, or who did that?’ Meanwhile, these women were under our noses the whole time. They just don't get the recognition that they deserve," she says.
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“Being born in the U.S., but being exposed to so much tradition has helped me be proud of my roots and what really matters, like family, our culture, and values. I feel like being Mexican has served as a life lesson in principle.”
ÁNGELA AGUILAR
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In addition to employing women in her music career, she regularly guides friends and family with legal matters and mentors those looking to follow a similar path. “Never be content. Be grateful, be appreciative. But never grow complacent with what you have,” she often says. “Always want to grow, always try to give more. Even if you're the best at what you're doing, you can always be better.”
One of the many challenges Aguilar faces as a young woman artist drawing from ranchera and mariachi music is questions around her authenticity, yet she maintains that being Mexican American has taught her more about being Mexican than anything else. “Being born in the U.S., but being exposed to so much tradition has helped me be proud of my roots and what really matters, like family, our culture, and values. I feel like being Mexican has served as a life lesson in principle.”
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Aguilar’s current presence in regional Mexican places her at the fore as one of the most relevant artists of her generation, where many feel represented by her biculturalism and bilingualism. “My music is a depiction of my past and my future. In order for me to know where I am going, I have to know where I am coming from. I want people to see me and know that we can speak English and Spanish. We can read To Kill a Mockingbird and learn about Frida and Diego Rivera. We can do both, and that doesn’t make neither you nor me any less Mexican.”
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“I hope to offer the kids who come to my show the permission to feel proud of who they are and where they come from. This new tour is about making my people feel seen and in awe of their roots.”
ÁNGELA AGUILAR
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Even after facing public criticism that accused her of betraying her mexicanidad for celebrating Argentina's win in the FIFA World Cup, the singer — who is in fact Argentine on her maternal side — continues to make her Mexican heritage the north star of her career and musical presentations. The Aguilars are famous for their top-notch tour productions, equipped with dancing horses conventional to Zacatecan charrerías and their Broadway-meets-rodeo spectacles around jaripeos, and the Piensa En Mi Tour is poised to be no different.
“I hope to offer the kids who come to my show the permission to feel proud of who they are and where they come from. This new tour is about making my people feel seen and in awe of their roots,” she says.