Chiquis talks taking on the haters … and her love of Taylor Swift
Chiquis, daughter of the late Jenni Rivera, grew up listening to everything from jazz to Latin pop. As her own artist, she’s recorded three albums of banda music and cumbias. Her latest single, “Mi Problema,” is a cover of the ’80s hit by Mexican diva Marisela.
It’s a surprise, then, when Chiquis confesses one of her current musical favorites.
“I am a Swifty, I am, I am,” Chiquis says. “Bad Blood” is her favorite Taylor Swift song. “I love how she is with her fans. I think she’s great, to be honest, in every way.”
Chiquis and Swift are galaxies apart in sound. But Chiquis has found common ground in something that has plagued both of their careers: haters.
“I think Taylor Swift is amazing. But someone’s always there in the comments saying something negative, and I’m like, ‘What the heck?’ It’s just people that don’t have anything better to do,” Chiquis says.
From the beginning of her own career, Chiquis, whose birth name is Janney Marin Rivera, has contended with naysayers and keyboard critics. Comparisons to her mother. Rude remarks about her weight. Criticisms of her voice. But she’s finally learned to tune out the static. She performed at House of Blues last month as part of her Playlist Tour.
“For a long time, I felt like they were singling me out. It feels like the world’s against you. But then you start looking, and you’re like, ‘I’m not the only one.’ Other people that I admire, that I think are beautiful and perfect and have the most beautiful voice, people have something to say,” Chiquis says. “Those people that say those really mean, hateful things, they’re just not happy with themselves, and they don’t really know you, so I don’t take it personal anymore. I’m not gonna let it consume my heart anymore because I’m not the only one.”
That attitude is paying off. Chiquis’ third album, “Playlist,” won a Latin Grammy in November for best banda album.
She flipped country classic “Jolene” into a simmering cumbia featuring Becky G and performed it virtually with Dolly Parton at a Grammy event honoring Latinas in music. Parton introduced the performance, referring to Chiquis as “mi amiga,” and rerecorded vocals for the new version.
“I go in there always respecting the original song. If anything, I just want to add and bring it to other ears that may not know about this song in my genre,” Chiquis says.
“Mi Problema” has also been “Chiqui-fied,” transformed from a retro pop ballad into a banda anthem that’s alternately intimate and blustery. It’s Chiquis’ strongest vocal performance to date and the first single from her fourth album, expected early next year.
Chiquis says the lovelorn lyrics helped during “a really tough time, last year November, December and then a little bit of this year January.” She separated from husband Lorenzo Mendez in late 2020. She learned the song from her mother, who regularly played Marisela’s songs in the car and around the house when they were living in Compton, Calif.
“I started listening to (Marisela) while I was cleaning the house every weekend. The house would smell really good — like Fabuloso, you know — and then I’d be in the restroom, doing my hair, playing her music,” Chiquis recalls.
“My mom thought it was so funny. I was just listening to it like I was going through it.”
She’s funneling that drama into her next album, which stays true to her regional Mexican roots but expands on the sound in new ways. Chiquis says she’s “very proud” of the new songs and would love to experiment even with reggaeton and corridos tumbados, a blend of traditional Mexican corridos and American trap music popularized by Natanael Cano.
She’s finishing up a third book and contemplating a fourth, following last year’s “Chiquis Keto,” a collection of recipes and workouts. She launched a makeup collection this year as part of her Be Flawless line. She’s working on an
unscripted show that could be “the start of something really
big” and will showcase “the more mature Chiquis.”
Chiquis also seems an obvious choice for an English-language crossover. She’s dabbled in the past but has yet to take on a full project. She’s fluent in both Spanish and English and, like much of her fan base, is immersed in both worlds.
“That 200 percent, we call it,” she says. “I’m 100 percent American and 100 percent Mexican. I’m a risk taker, and I think that’s the reason I am where I am now. I’m not afraid of these things. I actually take them as a challenge, and I enjoy them.”