Under the center stage spotlight at the Wiltern, a dazzling Texan slowly rises into the audience's view. As the hidden hydraulic platform reaches its peak on the second level of the stage, Chiquis appears, shining in an all-white bejeweled outfit. The 13-piece band around her plays the energetic opening notes of “Porque Soy Abeja Reina,” a single from her 2022 album “Abeja Reina,” and the Wiltern crowd roars. The multi-faceted talent born when Janney Marin Rivera comes down the ladder and the only thing going through her mind is that all her hard work is finally paying off.
For the past decade, Chiquis has fought what she calls an uphill battle to make music she's proud of. Faced with harsh comparisons to her late mother, Mexican music legend Jenni Rivera, and expectations of continuing the family legacy, the three-time Latin Grammy winner remains steadfast in her corner of contemporary banda music. Unafraid to bring “new school influences” to the traditional genre, the 39-year-old artist brings a renewed sense of confidence to her latest album, “Diamonds.”
“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,” Chiquis said. “I started thinking, 'Are people going to know? Are you going to see?' But then I reminded myself that that's what my music is 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.”
When the singer took the Wiltern stage that night for what she considers a hometown concert, complete with extravagant stage design and a full production team, she says putting on such a large-scale show reminds her how much things have changed. things. He began his music career performing at places like the Grove and small nightclubs. Now he drinks Don Julio 70 from a diamond-shaped flask and unapologetically sings his lyrics of resilience to a packed theater.
Tequila in hand, Chiquis sings to the Wiltern audience.
(Ringo Chiu/For The Times)
A few days after her show, I meet Chiquis at a boutique cafe in the heart of Beverly Hills. Wearing a long trench coat and a matching beige Los Angeles baseball cap, the young singer recounts the musical breakthrough she experienced with her fourth album “Queen Bee.”
By bringing R&B touches to the band and experimenting with a corrido style for the first time, Chiquis says she finally discovered how to be authentic in her art. While making this album, he let go of imposter syndrome and stopped seeking the approval of others in his sound.
“If I'm honest with myself, people will feel that. And the people I'm going to attract are the people I want to listen to my music,” he said. “There will always be someone who doesn't like me, and now I'm okay with that. I am who I am. I curse. I love God. “I'm a little bit of everything.”
She also began to fall in love with his voice. Due to her mother's wide vocal range and constant comparison from the public, Chiquis admits that she has always felt insecure about her voice. After years of not listening to his own music, he hired a vocal coach and set out to improve.
Due to her inherited sense of fame, her music career originally began as a complement to her already popular reality TV presence. In the early 2010s, she starred in “Jenni Rivera Presenta: Chiquis y Raq-C,” continued appearing on her mother's show “I Love Jenni,” and starred in her own spin-off “Chiquis 'n Control.” Like the Kardashian clan, Chiquis was famous for being famous.
To this day, he maintains a completely different life outside of his music career, with his continued activities in reality shows (“Chiquis Sin Filtro” and “Foodie on the Go”), podcasting (“Chiquis and Chill”), writing books (“The Girl Who Sings to the Bees,” “El Perdon” and “Unstoppable”) and appearing as a judge on “La Academia” in Mexico.
While she juggles these passion projects, it is in her music where she strives to better herself. With each new release, she says she will always be her biggest competitor.
Dressed in matching jeans and boots, the crowd showed up ready to hear Chiquis' touch on Mexican music.
(Ringo Chiu/For The Times)
If her 2022 album, “Abeja Reina,” was the catalyst for making Chiquis who she is today and giving her what she calls her “crazy confidence,” her May 2024 release, “Diamantes,” is the culmination of that growth. artistic.
“'Queen Bee' was rougher around the edges. I knew I wanted my next project to be more refined,” Chiquis said. “I've had a lot of pressure in my life being Jenni Rivera's daughter and all the nonsense that happened after that. The idea of 'Diamonds' and being a diamond made it all come together.
“There is no single diamond that is perfect. And I feel like we all have that. Life polishes us and makes us shine. You can never break a diamond. They represent resilience in many ways,” Chiquis said. “I am a diamond and we all are. We are still here no matter what we do. This album says many words of affirmation. “For me, it’s like a note to myself.”
Dazzled with microphone in hand, Chiquis captures the attention of the crowd.
(Ringo Chiu/For The Times)
Ulises Lonzano, a long-time collaborator and main producer of the album, first met Chiquis when he was asked to help make the theme song for one of his reality shows. Over the years, she says her core has always been the same, but as they move from project to project, he sees her become more and more confident in her abilities.
“When he sings he takes advantage of his emotions, especially when he acts. For me, as a producer, that's what makes the difference from one artist to another. It’s about his ability to express the song,” Lonzano said. “Because it's not about who is a better singer or songwriter. It's about how you present your emotions through that piece of music. And that's what Chiquis does.”
Resilience is something that has always characterized the singer's life. Throughout our conversation, she doesn't shy away from explaining the hardships in her life. Mentioning his mother's unprecedented death and its aftermath, the pressure of keeping the Rivera family together, and her recent miscarriage while on the Diamonds tour, he comes across as an open and serious book. She assures me that no matter what is going on in her life, she will always come out on the other side for the people who love her most: her fans.
At her tour stop in Los Angeles, the venue was filled with a sea of shiny boots, shiny beards, jean jackets emblazoned with Jenni Rivera's face, and tattoo sleeves dedicated to Chiquis. Dora Bartolo, 29, a lifelong fan, has followed Chiquis since 2013. As we stand in the Wiltern's historic lobby, the Compton native remembers buying tickets to see Chiquis for $25 at her first performances. Bartolo, who attended the Diamantes tour on six different occasions, says she is proud to have witnessed Chiquis' evolution.
Chiquis dances on stage in her December show.
(Ringo Chiu/For The Times)
“I will be completely honest with you, from the beginning [of her music career] their sound was a work in progress. It wasn't his industry yet. It felt like she was just thrown in,” Bartolo said. “I knew we had to give her some time because she doesn't give up. It's in your blood. And when he comes on stage you can really see his strength and his growth.”
As much as the singer has avoided comparisons to her late mother, their careers seem to mirror each other. Both acts have made a mark on the male-dominated banda subgenre and are expanding their reach beyond music, while also trying to step out of the shadow of the previous generation: Pedro Rivera, Chiquis' grandfather, is also an artist of Mexican music.
As the new year begins, Chiquis says she's not entirely sure 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, rather than a tumultuous one, and explore how Mexican music can lend itself to meditation music.
“I will always move forward. But I feel like I need to take a step away to reconnect in a different way with my music. I need a break. “I want to be inspired again,” said Chiquis. “A change is coming.”
