Music & Family ft. Mi mama

 So when it comes to asking my family about music, there is always going to be a debate about what music is good and isn't. I remember growing up with different musical worlds around me, whether it be through the music my siblings listened to or the music that Grandma played when she started cleaning at the -- early morning of dawn :). Regardless, music was always around. So when choosing to do this interview with, I decided to choose one of the two individuals who really made me fall in love with music; my parents, and in this case, I called my mom. Now, I could of chosen my dad, but my mother and I don't really talk on a deeper level than usual, so I also used this opportunity to get to know her more and be able to connect with her in ways I never would have thought. Of course, this whole conversation that we had was in Spanish, so most of the transcript that I will be writing out will be translated *to the best of my ability, haha*. So, without further ado, here is Music and Family, featuring. Mami! Also, to be fair, literally the first 15 minutes of this conversation was mostly about food, adulting, and asking her about credit cards, so I skipped all that and shrunk it down to my favorite moments. 

Mami (english translation) : Look who decided to call me, how's my peach doin' (mi melocoton)?

Anier: I know, I struggle to call often but I promise this one is fun, do you have some time for me to ask you some questions about your past? I know its weird--

Mami: girl you know I am all good, oh is this about the thing you told me to call your grandma about? I can go ahead and add her...

So mind you, by this point, we had been on the phone for a minute which I do not mind, but I knew if we had called Abuelita, this phone call was never going to end (peace and love to both). So I had rather have a catch up conversation with her later haha! 

Anier: NONONO, Its okay, give me her number and I will take time to call her on my own, too!! :)

Another note-- if you were to hear this conversation going on in Spanish, you would think we were cussing each other out, but we was just speaking with lots of compassion.

Mami: Okay, so what did you want to ask?

Anier: Okay so I really wanted to ask you a couple questions from your personal experience with music. I know we talked a lot about it before but I wanted to get a better idea!!

Mami: Okay, what is your first question? Is it about how I got you into music? Because--

She likes to brag about this a lot which I find silly, but I will go ahead and insert the first piece of media for context. Before I was born and was still baking, my dad gifted her a Walkmen, in which she also owned like three Kenny G Cassettes. Apparently, they all wanted me to like music before I popped out, so they would place the headphones on my mom's belly and honest to Bob, I still hear Kenny G's Songbird and get transported somewhere. However, Kenny G was a big part of her and my dad, and it was also big in my childhood, as well. Yes, I still love him, too. 

Anier: If this is about the Kenny G cassettes, I am just gonna go ahead and add it in, because I know you are proud of that.

Mami: I am about to have so much fun. Okay, stop fooling around, first question-

Anier: Okay ma! (lol). So I know that you were in a choir, which means you were involved with music some growing up. I want to know more about that, pleeaseee.

Mami: Ah, yes, your mom was part of a choir. And she was good, too. 

Anier: Do you remember your voice part?

Mami: I think I sang the higher part, what do you call it, Soprano?

Anier: yes'm!

Mami: Yes, so I sang soprano and it was lots of fun. Mind you (pero mirate esto), your grandma just really wanted me to join it because I had already been involved with the church for a while, and prior to that, your grandma was also part of the choir as well.

Okay, so BOOM, new information I did not know! I got excited to hear it was almost as if the whole family had did it at this point, but in general, they always surrounded themselves through growing up in the church. My mom also told me that my dad was a altar server, which I am not gonna lie-- had me laugh really hard. 

Anier: So church--?

Mami: Yes, church was really big. And you know this, too. We all got raised to follow, you know, God's teachings and His works, so that is what we all wanted to do, too. And that is what your grandma did to me.

Anier: Do you remember any of your favorite songs in the church? Or at least your favorite Christian song now? 

Mami: Okay, so remember, I was raised Catholic, so a lot of the music we sung was somewhat traditional. My favorite song growing up had to be --

And then she sings it! It was called Pescador de Hombres, which was one of her favorites to sing, and which was also a popular hymn growing up. 

Mami: Now for my favorite song right now, you should know which one that is..

Anier: Okay, I am going to guess Ricky Martin-- :3

Mami: Christian? Okay, last I check I don't know what church you going to-

Anier: Its a joke I swear. 

Mami: But its the one that goes "cuando estas aqui".

Currently, mom did get back into the Christian groove. There has been a lot that has happened in her life the past couple of years, so it all makes sense. Almost everytime I come back home to visit, most likely this song would be playing from the kitchen, called Tu Estas Aqui by Jesus Adrian Romero. She says that its just one of those songs that bring her peace and Shalom, which has been really hard for her to feel.

At this point, of course, the conversation shifted some about some troubling things, but I decided to further ask her about her musical experiences to get her mind off of things.

Anier: So other than the church, tell me one favorite artist that you loved a lot growing up.

I thought she would say Ricky Martin, but then I realized her and Ricky Martin were close to the same age so she grew up LITERALLY with Ricky Martin, not in the other form of context. Also, for context my mom was born in 1970, I am allowed to say that-- I hope.

Mami: Oh, you know I love my girl Cyndi Lauper!! I use to listen to her with my friends when I was younger, and she was part of my high school jams. She was just so much fun! You know what song I liked--

I am not gonna lie, this made me reflect a lot about how her and I were mostly alike, musically, at least. Sometimes we disagree, but I know that at this point of the conversation, we were having so much fun singing back and forth to each other and revisiting some of her most valued memories. Now a lot of this information was reoccurring, so I wanted to know more about things I didn't know about her musical experience, so I asked her the following:

Anier: Okay, so it seems like you liked a lot of fun and light-hearted songs. Is there a song that would surprise me that you like?

Mami: I think so. You probably won't know who these men were, but Anier, when I tell you I had almost all of their CDs,  I did, other than Ricky Martin--

Because up until this point, I had only known that her favorite artist was Ricky Martin, but I was wrong.

Mami: I remember listening to Chicago all the time, and they really had my heart. I loved all of their music and how touching it was. My favorite song had to be You're the Inspiration. Anier, my God, when I say their voice was so beautiful-

Anier: For real? I did not know you liked Chicago like that, and on that topic, I don't know who Chicago is. 

... I knew better than to even mention that I didn't know them because the next minutes following the statement was just scold after scold about how I should listen to them more haha! But when I pulled up the song, I recognized it.

Anier: Jokes aside, what did you really like about them?

Mami: Most of the music I liked was always about romance, and that is what most songs spoke about when I was growing up. Heartbreak or a new love, it was never the sex and the drugs, what is what you and your friends listen to today. It was always about passionate love. 

Anier: So do you like today's music?

Mami: In all honesty, I would say no. Artists that you listen to like Bad Bunny for example just always talk about [insert very angry recollection of some very not-so-PG-13 lyrics here] and to me, that just really ruined what the music culture was all about. That is why I am glad you at least like artists like Michael Jackson because at least we know that people like him, Whitney Houston, Lionel Richie, and so on sang about music that would inspire you and bring you joy, rather than make you think nasty and terrible. Now I see what your grandma was talking about. 

Anier: haha, I see. I understand though. Music from today is a lot different from your past, but I bet you that this is the main reason lots of folks like you and many others choose to keep this music alive before it all slips away, because it is GOOD. 

Mami: yeah, I agree. Okay, so I am going to work in a bit so is there anything else you need to ask me before we depart?

Anier: I think I got enough, thank you Mami, I will call you later

Mami: You mean in the next 2 years?

And after some dismissal and last discussions about graduation coming up soon, we hung up the phone. I plan on asking some of these questions to even my dad and Abuelita, because it was so much fun getting some insight from her past and how it shaped me to be who I was today. Anyways, I decided to add a bonus song from her "favorite artist of all time", Ricky Martin. This song is called She Bangs, which got me thinking "Ma, you talking about my generation was interesting, THESE MUSIC VIDEOS ARE A LITTLE UMM--" , so after I post this, I will then come for her life about what she liked, too. I decided to post a live performance of this song because I truly believe that the music video was a little-- you know-- bangin', if you get my drift. 

Hope that you finished this blog with a BANG! <3 Hope you enjoyed getting to know my fam a little bit more.