Natalia Lafourcade
To talk about Natalia Lafourcade is synonymous with culture, success, female empowerment, and Mexico. Natalia Lafourcade represents so many things, and at the same time she is such a simple artist and person that it is incredible that she brings so many characteristics together in herself.
In particular, back in the 2000s, I met her in those days when MTV was the "in" thing, the disruptive television site where we could find various music videos from different genres. In Natalia's case, I met her with one of her biggest hits, "En el 2000," a very Pop! song with a very marked comedic current. I would say that to define that song, it is simply a very funny song.
Everything very much in keeping with the age she was going through and equally for me. She is currently 39 years old, so in a sense we are contemporaries, as I am currently 34 years old.
Here is the song "En el 2000" by Natalia Lafourcade from her official YouTube channel. This is a fun song that marked me in those days.
In those years, my tastes were very defined in terms of commercial genres, Pop, Pop-Rock, a little Alternative Rock, and some other Latin rhythms. In such a way that my growth with respect to musical tastes and influences was in a certain sense very similar to that developed by Natalia Lafourcade over the years.
After the first decade of the 2000s and my subsequent opening to other genres influenced by No Doubt, Los Amigos Invisibles, my liking for Natalia Lafourcade intensified. It was the time of Natalia Lafourcade and La Forquetina, songs like "Casa" I could repeat them over and over again. This was already a substantial change in her style and way of making music. It was no longer just Pop music without more, it already had a little more depth in its lyrics and in the stories that her songs carried with them.
By this time, I had no idea of one of those coincidences that are impossible to expect to happen. It was the year 2012 and the month of December was coming, characteristic dates where at the end of the year Los Amigos Invisibles performed their traditional concert called "Los 24 Cañonazos Bailables" at the "Centro Cultural BOD Corp Banca" in Caracas, Venezuela. The important attraction of these concerts was that they had promised to play all the songs they had recorded up to that year, so they needed 2 consecutive days of performances to achieve such a feat. In view of what was coming, I made my best effort and bought my tickets for said concerts, that is, for both days and the best of all is that I managed to buy for the first row in VIP zone.
The coincidence and biggest surprise was that Los Amigos Invisibles did not come alone, they brought a special and international guest, it was Natalia Lafourcade. 😍
My Friends, you will not believe this. I was amazed. She was on stage, alone, sitting on a bench with a small guitar. I was there in front of her, listening to what was at that time the new thing that she was about to release and that later changed her career in my perspective. It was songs from the album "Mujer Divina, Homenaje a Agustín Lara
Here is the Spotify link for the album so you can check it out. 100% recommended Mujer Divina, Homenaje a Agustín Lara
The surprise didn't stop at just being able to hear her live. On the second day of the concert, I returned to my front-row seat, and something happened that to this day I find very difficult to explain. Natalia started her performance, and halfway through the first song, she saw me, winked at me 😉, and made a gesture of greeting. My friends, this marked me. It has been one of the most inspiring and incredible experiences I have had with an artist whom I deeply admire. However, this was not enough, or as one of her most acclaimed songs says, "Nunca es suficiente" ("Never enough"). At the end of the concert, I had the opportunity to be at a "Meet and Greet" that, due to a scheduling issue, took place immediately after the first concert of the second day. From there, the inevitable happened.
I managed to meet Natalia Lafourcade! She is so beautiful, so sweet, very kind and as I told you at the beginning, Natalia perfectly represents the Mexican demonym.
I leave a couple of photos below that I missed today with great nostalgia and joy.
After this presentation and these years, the second decade of the 2000s could be said to have been a time of total growth for Natalia Lafourcade. She went from "Mainstream Pop" to developing music more in the traditional Mexican vein. She received recognition and awards for her career.
I also had some important changes in my life. As I have mentioned in other posts, at the end of 2017, I decided to go to Mexico, specifically to Monterrey, to try my luck. It was here that coincidences crossed paths again. One of my first formal jobs was as a bartender at a mobile cart at what is one of the most important music festivals in Monterrey and I would dare to say in Latin America. It is called "Pal Norte". It turned out that one of the top artists to perform at the festival was Natalia Lafourcade. This time, I could not be in the front row, and I did not have the opportunity for her to recognize me, but I was close to the stage where she performed and I was able to see her again, more mature, with successes of the stature of "Hasta La Raíz", an iconic song that would also take the name of the album where the song is included.
I leave here the Spotify link to the album. Hasta La Raíz
The years passed and the influence only grew. As I have mentioned in other posts, after living a stage in Mexico, I returned to my country, Venezuela. I decided to start a family with my partner, and with that came my greatest treasure, my daughter. It turns out that Natalia Lafourcade is also very important here. In the days of pregnancy, my partner and I were not very clear about what name to give our daughter. We had a list, and we came up with a new name every day, but we could not decide.
One day, while I was working from home and my partner was accompanying me, the song "Nunca es suficiente" (Never Enough) by Natalia Lafourcade and Los Ángeles Azules came on my YouTube playlist. At that moment, my mom came out and said:
My partner and I immediately looked at each other and exchanged a knowing glance. We didn't say anything, it wasn't necessary.
We went for a walk later and talked about it, and that's how we decided.
A curious fact is that Natalia comes from the word "Natal", which in turn means "birth" and commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ. That said, Natalia, our daughter, was born in December, so everything fit together in a way that cannot be explained.
I want to leave the video to which I refer here, posted on the official channel of Los Ángeles Azules. I hope you enjoy it.
Nunca Es Suficiente
With this, I want to conclude. Natalia Lafourcade has undoubtedly been a deeply personal inspiration, one of the most beautiful in my life. I hope you enjoy her music, and I want to leave you with an additional fact: she is the female artist with the most Latin Grammy Awards in history.
Enjoy life with good music
The rest of the photos are personal property