The Playground Meets: Victoria La Mala

Interview By: Disnerys Molina

Written By: Brianna Nestor

It has been a long but rewarding road for Mexican singer-songwriter Victoria La Mala. Since childhood, she has been dreaming of becoming an artist. Her strong vocals and creative eye lead her from growing up in Mexico City and spending her summers in LA, to moving to America to chase her dreams after graduating high school. She also had the advantage of personal guidance from her mother, a former singer and actress. After spending time in New York for a few years to establish herself, she was given the opportunity to go to LA and showcase her talent on a competition show, which put her in the right place with the right people. Around that time, radio programmer Pepe Garza also started playing her on the radio. Soon after, she started recording independently and hopping on tracks until she officially signed with Roc Nation in 2017.

“I started 10 years ago, when life was just so different. Nowadays it’s easier to get on social media, there's all the digital platforms, and back then there wasn't even Spotify and YouTube was barely there. It was a little bit different and harder, especially as a Mexican woman. 10 years ago it was so hard to get into the industry, but I really believed in myself and the vision that I had, so I just kept going and kept going and tried to keep getting better. I was thinking, I'm gonna try, but I need to get it done. I did it. I never really just thought ‘I'm just going to try.’ I always thought, ‘I want to do it, even if it takes long.’ And I think that's part of why I'm able to sit here and talk to you, because I was determined to make it happen. I always tell people, regardless of the situation, whether you are independent or you're with a label, no one is going to do for you what you're going to do for yourself, so you have to really push through.”

Some of her most impressive milestones include her features on Billboard’s Latin Artist to Watch List and People En Espanol’s Hot List. Her talent also was recognized when Romeo Santos invited her to open on his “Golden Tour” in 2018. Describing the experience, she says “It was a dream come true for him to recognize my talent and then invite me to go on tour with him in the United States. It was incredible. I have never sang in stadiums like that before. His audience just gave me so much love in every city that we went to and I was so nervous because of me being Mexican he’s bachata. After the tour finished in the States, he invited me to go open the tour for him to Mexico. I was like ‘wow, like this is crazy.’ I'm coming back to my home opening for Romeo Santos, one of the biggest stars in the world. So I will forever be grateful for things that he taught me and for believing in my talent. It was a priceless experience. I learned so much out there, it was one of the highlights of my life to go on tour with him.”

This past year, she dropped her debut EP “Soy Mala.” Her newest project reflects much of her two worlds colliding and fusing together; many tracks carry influences from her Mexican upbringing like Selena and Paquita La Del Barrio, combined with R&B influences from spending time in LA, like Mariah Carey and Brandy. It includes features from Chris Perez, Joe Ojeda, and Flor de Toloache. The lead single, Todo Lo Que Quieres (Can’t Remember) ft. Alemán and Maejor, represents Victoria’s confidence, determination, and strength, complemented by a trap beat. She also executive produced the video, which trended at #13 in Mexico. Victoria tells the Playground, “This is a song that I came up with just thinking about empowering others. Sometimes you need to hear that in a song to remind yourself of who you are. I'm also a big fan of Alemán. He's one of the representatives leading the first generation of Hip Hop Rap in Mexico and I love that kind of music. I'm a big fan of his and what he does.”

Victoria is leading the way for female Mexican artists and wants to create more opportunities for the community. Although it has gotten better since she started, she still sees room for change and stronger representation of Mexican culture. “There's still this idea sometimes that with women in Mexican music, no one wants to really listen to them, or they're not gonna sell so there's not a lot of support. But I do also see on the other side that there is more support now on digital platforms. For example, there's playlists for Mexican women and more collaborations between Mexican women, which didn’t used to happen in the way that they're happening now. I think that those things are really helping, but I think that we still have to continue paving the way for us and the new girls coming behind us because it's still not where it should be. There's so many different types of women in the world and those kinds of women should all be represented within Mexican music as well. One woman can’t represent all of us, there's got to be representation of all of the spectrum.”

Victoria is definitely an artist you will want to keep an eye on. She plans on releasing a video with Chris Perez and Joe Ojeda, who she worked heavily on the album with, and a Christmas project later this year. For more artist interviews, be sure to check out The Playground out on Instagram.