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Under the Wiltern’s center-stage spotlight, a bedazzled tejana slowly rises into the audience’s view. As the concealed hydraulic platform peaks on the stage’s second level, Chiquis appears, sparkling in an all-white rhinestoned outfit. Her surrounding 13-piece band plays the energetic opening notes of “Porque Soy Abeja Reina,” a single off her 2022 album “Abeja Reina,” and the Wiltern’s crowd roars. The multi-hyphenate talent born as Janney Marin Rivera descends from the staircase and the only thing going through her mind is that all her hard work is finally paying off.
Over the past decade, Chiquis has fought what she calls an uphill battle to make music she’s proud of. In the face of harsh comparisons to her late mother, the música Mexicana legend Jenni Rivera, and expectations to carry on the family legacy, the three-time Latin Grammy winner stands firm in her corner of contemporary banda music. Unafraid to bring “new school influences” to the traditional genre, the 39-year-old brings a reignited sense of confidence to her latest album, “Diamantes.”
“I was actually crying right before the show. You know, it’s the end of the year and my mom passed away in December. This season usually makes me feel more sensitive,” said Chiquis. “I started thinking, ‘Are people going be able to tell? Are they going see?’ But then I reminded myself, that’s what my music’s all about. If I need to cry, I’m going to cry. I’m going to talk about it. This is my space to be myself.”
As the singer took the Wiltern’s stage that night for what she considers to be a hometown concert, with an extravagant stage design and a full production crew, she says putting on a show of such a large scale reminds her of how much things have changed — she began her musical career by performing at places like the Grove and small nightclubs. Now she sips Don Julio 70 from a diamond-shaped flask and unapologetically belts her lyrics of resilience to a packed theater.
A few days after her show, I catch Chiquis at a boutique cafe in the heart of Beverly Hills. Wearing a full-length trench coat and a matching beige L.A. baseball cap, the fresh-faced singer recounts the musical breakthrough she experienced with her fourth album “Abeja Reina.”
Bringing touches of R&B to banda and experimenting with a corrido style for the first time, Chiquis says she finally discovered how to be authentic in her artistry. While making this album, she let go of imposter syndrome and stopped seeking others’ approval in her sound.
“If I’m true to myself, people are going to feel that. And the people that I’m going to attract are the people I want to listen to my music,“ she said. “There’s always going be someone that doesn’t like me, and I’m okay with that now. I am who I am. I cuss. I love God. I’m a little bit of everything.”
She also began to fall in love with her voice. Due to her mother’s wide vocal range and the public’s constant comparison, Chiquis admits she has always been insecure about her vocals. After years of not listening to her own music, she hired a vocal coach and set out to improve.
Because of her inherited sense of fame, her music career originally started as a supplement to her already popular reality TV presence. In the early 2010s, she starred on “Jenni Rivera Presents: Chiquis y Raq-C,” continued to appear on her mother’s show “I Love Jenni” and starred in her own spin-off “Chiquis ‘n Control.” Much like the Kardashian clan, Chiquis was famous for the sake of being famous.
To this day, she maintains a whole other life outside her music career — with her continued pursuits in reality TV (“Chiquis Sin Filtro” and “Foodie on the Go”), podcasting (“Chiquis and Chill”), writing books (“The Girl Who Sings to Bees,” “Forgiveness” and “Unstoppable”) and appearing as a judge on Mexico’s “La Academia.”
As she juggles these passion projects, her music is where she strives to outdo herself. With each new release, she says she will always be her own biggest competitior.
If her 2022 album “Abeja Reina” was the catalyst in making Chiquis who she is today and giving her what she calls her “crazy a— confidence,” her May 2024 release “Diamantes” is the culmination of that artistic growth.
“‘Abeja Reina’ was more rough around the edges. I knew I wanted my next project to be more refined,” said Chiquis. “I’ve had a lot of pressure in my life from being the daughter of Jenni Rivera and all the BS that has happened after that. The idea of ‘Diamantes,’ and being a diamond made it all come together.
“There’s not one diamond that’s perfect. And I feel like we all have that. Life polishes us and it makes us shine. You can never break a diamond. They represent resilience in a lot of ways,” said Chiquis. “I’m a diamond and we all are. We are still here no matter what we do. This album speaks a lot of words of affirmation. For me, it’s like a note to self.”
Ulises Lonzano, a longtime collaborator and main producer on the album, first came to know Chiquis when he was asked to help make a theme song for one of her reality TV show. Over the years, he says her essence has always remained the same, but as they move from one project to the next, he sees her trust her abilities more and more.
“When she’s singing she taps into her emotion, especially when she performs. For me, as a producer, that’s what makes the difference from one artist to another. It’s about their ability to express the song,” said Lonzano. “Because it’s not about who’s a better singer or songwriter. It’s about how you present your emotions through that piece of music. And that’s how Chiquis does it.”
Resilience is something that has always characterized the singer’s life. Throughout our conversation, she doesn’t shy away from explaining her life’s adversities. Mentioning the unprecedented death of her mother and its aftermath, the pressure of keeping the Rivera family united and her recent miscarriage while on the Diamantes tour, she comes across as an open and earnest book. She assures me that no matter what’s happening in her life, she will always come out the other end for the people who love her the most – her fans.
At her L.A. tour stop, the venue was filled with a sea of sparkly botas, glittery beards, denim jackets embossed with Jenni Rivera’s face and tattoo sleeves dedicated to Chiquis. Longtime fan Dora Bartolo, 29, has been following Chiquis since 2013. As we stand in the Wiltern’s historic lobby, the Compton native recalls buying tickets to see Chiquis for $25 at her first few performances. Attending the Diamantes tour six different times, Bartolo says she’s proud to have witnessed Chiquis’ evolution.
“I will be completely honest with you — in the very beginning [of her music career] her sound was a work in progress. It wasn’t her industry yet. It felt like she was just thrown in,” said Bartolo. “I knew we had to give her some time because she doesn’t give up. It’s in her blood. And when she gets on stage you really can see her strength and her growth.”
As much as the singer has shied away from comparisons to her late mother, their careers seem to reflect each other. Both acts have left a mark in the male-dominated subgenre of banda and expand their reach beyond music, all while trying to get out from under the shadow of the previous generation — Pedro Rivera, Chiquis’ grandfather, is also a música Mexicana artist.
As the new year kicks off, Chiquis says she isn’t entirely certain what her next step will be. Reflecting on her recent marriage to photographer Emilio Sánchez, she said she hopes to write more about a happy kind of love, instead of a tumultuous one, and explore how música Mexicana can lend itself to meditation music.
“I’m always going to move forward. But I feel like I need to take a step to the side to kind reconnect in a different way with my music. I need a breather. I want to get inspired again,” said Chiquis. “There’s a shift coming.”
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