Ana Tijoux celebrates ‘Life’ between mourning, rebirth and empowerment

Ana Tijoux celebrates ‘Life’ between mourning, rebirth and empowerment – After a decade-long hiatus since Vengo, Ana Tijoux — synonymous with the pioneering spirit in Latin American hip-hop — returns with Vida, her fifth solo album.

By Megan Sauer

The 15-song LP arises from a period of intense personal experiences for the legendary Chilean rapper, especially marked by the strength of her loss and motherhood. It is a profound statement about existence and a celebration of life’s ups and downs.

His introspection in Vida is encapsulated in songs like “Millonaria”, where he juxtaposes the metaphorical richness of personal relationships with material wealth; the afrobeats of “Dancing Alone Here,” about the importance of returning to the center of oneself; or “I’m looking for my name,” which explores identity, memory, and resilience — verses like “They broke the door without warning, they took you from me without permission,” hint at personal and collective pain for those who unjustly left.

“ Life is a response to many people who passed away, unfortunately, very close people. It is also a response to what happened with those games,” the rapper tells Billboard Español.

Motherhood, a recurring influence in Tijoux’s life and art, continues to shape her perspective.

In the years between Vengo and Vida, she has influenced his worldview, infusing his music with a nuanced understanding of life’s complexities.

This evolution is evident in the way she approaches his craft, learning to navigate emotional landscapes with a renewed sense of gratitude and self-compassion.

From his beginnings in Makiza in the 90s to his solo success with hits like “1977”, Tijoux has always forged his own path.

Vida continues this tradition: it is a tale of resistance, growth and the unbreakable spirit of an artist who continues to redefine the contours of Latin hip-hop.

“I think the most beautiful thing is that there are no pioneers here, there is a current fabric and we build ourselves together,” says Tijoux.

“It is not false humility, the world of hip-hop and rap is a community. There is its strength and its construction in its axis, and that makes all the beauty of this genre.”

The Chilean rapper speaks with Billboard Español from Barcelona about her return.

Vida is your first album in ten years. What motivated you to return to the studio?

Life is a response, unfortunately, to many people who passed away, people very close to me.

It is also a response to what happened with those games that are sometimes very hard.

I understand. Unfortunately, sometimes tragedies inspire that creative side in us to release. “Millonaria,” for example, seems very nice to me with metaphors.

“Millonaria” is precisely a way of thanking my family and the people I appreciate, who have been many bonds woven through the years.

They make me feel like I am a very lucky person.

Understanding that we live in a very crazy time, of asking “what do you want to have to be lucky?”

That’s why irony is carats, using this metaphor of bling bling.

It is also a kind of irony and gratitude, to pay tribute to all those people who for me are more than people — people who mark me and build me and allow me to walk.

You are a mother of two children. How has motherhood influenced your artistic career?

In every sense. Each person experiences motherhood in a very different way. I don’t think there is a way to live it.

I also have a part where you are faced with a lot of fears, trying to do the best you can, with a million mistakes.

And within those mistakes, I believe that dialogue with one’s children is also so important. With this career that is very nice but also very demanding, trying to deal with work demands, which is ultimately a job.

Raising and trying to give your children tools to walk, I believe that there is an influence on everything you are. It is evident that this marks and sets the tone a bit for how one perceives the world.

I’ve learned how to not be so hard on myself. I dare say that many artists that I have met from different musical genres or from different areas, one works with emotions.

It is not linear either, it is not numerical, it is from emotion, from that staggering, from things that happen; some beautiful and others more complex that have to do with exposure, expectations, both personal and others, and pressure.

Also thanks to a lot of people that I don’t know in person, but who make it possible for one to continue working. In that chaos of emotions, one tries to surf the wave.

I think it’s fun to age, get older, or observe how one goes as the years go by. Approaching the work with these learnings, through achievements but also errors.

The album has notable and very diverse collaborations, with Talib Kweli, De La Soul’s Plug 1, Le, Pablo Chill-E, among others.

How do you choose your collaborations?

The collaborations were done in a very natural way. Each one is a universe, each artist is a planet. One goes through how one learns through each person with whom one collaborates.

I think that the songs sent and shouted those specific people, and I love that because they are all super different.

It is very nice to be able to discover those planets and be able to invite them to mine and talk in that coming and going of travel.

The production is a mix of elements of hip-hop, jazz and Latin American rhythms. How do you merge these diverse influences into a cohesive expression?

The production has been carried out by Andrés Celis, with whom we have made the two previous albums.

Andrés comes from the world of jazz, but he is also someone very curious. He is very open to the richness of the multiplicity of sounds that exist around the world.

I think he translates these questions, this desire to explore, and a little bit the songs very well.

As a prominent figure in the Spanish rap scene and a pioneer since Makiza, how do you see the evolution of the genre from your point of view?

It’s nice because now I see a number of women from different parts, many from Chile, with whom I have super good vibes or I am very admiring.

Why wouldn’t he have been born later?

I would have had more sisters and colleagues, cachai? Yes, there were in my time, but there were few of us.

Now I see a diversity and multiplicity, crossing Chile, both in Argentina, in Colombia, in Peru, in Bolivia, in Venezuela, in Mexico, in Brazil, in so many other countries. There is a new crop of incredible artists who come with a drive, a drive and a hunger.

Also being able to share her flow, her experiences, her sorrows, her joys, and her questions as a woman. I see that there is a lot of wealth now.

There is a volcano of things that are happening from a new generation very eager to be able to express themselves, and that is always very healthy. In the end it shows a very vital Latin America, with many very vital women.

In Chile I am a big fan of Irina Doom, La Mística, La Flor del Rap, and 22RUZZ. There’s a girl from the Dominican Republic who raps amazingly, and a couple of Mexican girls that I love.

They are very precise when it comes to rhyming, regarding flow and meter. Apart from the tone of a woman’s voice, she is very different from the male voice. The fact that she has higher tones allows for an exploration in other tones that I say, “Wow, how cool!” I think the most beautiful thing is that there are no pioneers here, there is a current fabric and we build ourselves together.

It is not false humility; The world of hip-hop and rap is a community. There is its strength and its construction in its axis, and that makes all the beauty of this genre.