Lila Downs is a Mexican-American singer and songwriter that is famously known for forming a unique fusion of rhythms that she draws from her indigenous roots. Her most recent album, "Pecados y Milagros," earned her a Grammy Award at the beginning of this year in the Regional Mexican Album category. Born in Oaxaca, Mexico, to Mixtec singer Anita Sánchez and a Scottish-American professor and filmmaker, Allen Downs, Lila has lived between two distinct cultures. She grew between Oaxaca, California and Minnesota where she went to school and graduated from the University of Minnesota majoring in voice and anthropology. "It was very confusing when I was young and it was a bit of a challenge to be bi-cultural in every respect," she revealed to Latin Times in an exclusive interview. "It still is a challenge having to explain yourself to people, especially in my case where I am bi-national as I lived part of my youth in Mexico. People sometimes assume that with my last name I am very Anglo-American or sometimes people see a picture of me wearing braids and assume I'm Indian or very Mexican. It's always about redefining yourself and also tuning into the differences that surround you in society. If society is close-minded about the fusion of cultures then you act accordingly."
Being comfortable with one's heritage is something that Downs struggled with growing up and at one point stated that she was embarrassed of having indigenous roots and ashamed of her mother, which in time changed. "It is very different now in that I am extremely proud of being Indian and it's also about cultivating that pride," she said. "In my generation, it was the opposite. Everyone you knew that was Indian said, 'just be quiet' and if anybody outside of the group was around we would stop speaking in the Indian language and keep it hidden. I make the analogy to the gay community because it was kind of like being in the closet and I think that now it's such a different feeling, people have respect for your ethnicity and your origin. Of course, in pockets of Mexico there is still discrimination and in pockets of the U.S. as well. The story that I have told people is not that I was ashamed, but that I was afraid to be Indian and my mother always spoke in the Indian language with my grandmother and the kids at school would make fun of me being Indian. That was the story that has been painful but important to tell and I think a lot of people have lived something similar in different shades of it."
With Lila raising a young son (Benito Dxuladi, who surprised us during the interview to say hi) she has had to make some changes to her lifestyle and has tried not to repeat the same patterns from the past. "I am teaching him to respect nature and for example, he says good morning to our Father Sun and at night he says 'Mama Lunda' referring to the moon. I am really exploring that Indian background myself with him and my mother speaks to him in her native language, Mixtec, and his nana speaks to him in Mixe. He speaks a little bit of those languages as well as Spanish and English." Downs has an apartment in New York City but lately has been contemplating a move to the West Coast to be more in touch with nature. "This year we were in NY maybe like only half a month. It's kind of crazy to have an apartment there and pay those tremendous rents. Maybe we will move out west and be in that area. I miss California." Lila explained that she chose to live in the city because it was easier to collaborate with all kinds of artists from different parts of the world, but with technology "you just get on the phone and say, 'do you want to record with me?' and then it happens."
It is those cultural changes that are steering the country in another direction and Lila has noticed a demand for Latin artists changing. This past week we saw how the Kennedy Center Honors awarded Carlos Santana and Martina Arroyo for their musical contributions. "I am very pleased to see the changes. Demographically we were all aware of [the growing Latino popularity] and now it's making a physical and psychological presence. We are becoming a major community and seeing that our cultural values are very similar as a Latino community we can speak of as a whole. We offer beautiful values to the US in terms of family, commitment, sexuality and music. There are some dark ones as well, but nothing is perfect."
Lila defines herself as a Latina and is fine when people call her Hispanic as well. "But truly when I explain to people what I am, I tell them I am Native American and Mexican," she tells us. "When people are familiar with Mexico I go into my ethnic group which is Mixtec and Mexican-American." Lila is married to Paul Cohen, her musical collaborator and producer. Being a bi-racial couple can certainly have a negative impact in some sectors of society and Lila says, "I think it varies... In the US there are waves of racism that you perceive as a Latin American. It depends what is happening politically. The issue of immigration is dependent on that a lot of the time. I think there is a lot of ignorance about who we are as people and individually. Each one of us as Latin Americans have a very particular story about where we came from. People from from Texas, Arizona who have always had there family in that region and so much ignorance about Mexican-Americans living in that area, who consider themselves more Mexicans than the Mexican nationals. It's a complicated story and it's interesting for me to tell it through song." Being a strong and willful Latina has had some dents in her relationship, but overall its the mutual respect that helps the ties endure. "I think the secret of a good relationship is knowing how to respect the strengths of one another. Sometimes I try to go in his turf and try to be a boss in his area and realize that's not my area and likewise. As partners we've always been fortunate in feeding each other spiritually."
Listen to the best of Lila Downs, while you continue reading the story:
Lila Downs is an activist that supports the Immigration Reform in the U.S. and earlier this year was part of the "Camino Americano" rally held in Washington D.C. and is hopeful that a reform is close. "It's feeling like it's turning and the attitude toward this reform is very positive. It was wonderful to collaborate with Los Tigres del Norte who represent a large part of the immigrant community. I was very surprised that people are very positive. It's an issue that has been up and down and feels like a taboo topic sometimes, but it's the humane thing to do, it's the right thing." Education about what the immigration rights mean is what Lila asks for and remains confident in that people will do the right thing. "I would say people need to be educated on who immigrants are because it's something that nations tend to forget. Through culture and art we become more familiar with those issues, which is wonderful. In the end people make fun of J.Lo in certain respects but she does represent a certain community and a reality in the US of artists that can be successful with her artistic ideals not in question. I think it's about respecting diversity and the possibility of everyone being equal, those artists are important to make people conscious of our diversity."
"A place that respects people's rights and dignity, that's what's being called for and hopefully [a reform] will pass. In their basic moral selves they know what is right and wrong. It's an issue that becomes more complicated with the mind when you get into the specifics, but if you go to your conscious, you know what's right and wrong. You know that people who are working very hard to bring strawberries and oranges to your table should have decent living conditions and that is an issue that we should work on, not only in the U.S.."
With the holidays upon us, Lila plans to spend time in Oaxaca and spend time with her family. "We love to make mole and probably we will make one in Oaxaca," she says. "I love to cook turkey since we don't get to have Thanksgiving in Mexico, we do a Christmas-Thanksvgiving celebration. We love to have piñatas and we are going to have a posada, which is a tradition of receiving Baby Jesus in your home and having a party in the middle of the day for the children with cake and tamales. We just moved into a new neighborhood and we are looking forward to sharing with the children and meeting new people."
Next year will see the release of Lila Downs' new album that she is working on where she plans a collaboration with Pedro Aznar, who she has been wanting to work with for a long time. "I am working on some original songs and also on some standards and playing with the genres and mixing things up a bit. I love reggaeton but I don't love the message of reggaeton, so I like to play around with that and use some more traditional forms of music like Norteño and Boleros on the next album." She also added, "This last album ["Pecados y Milagros"] was kind of a goodbye to a certain era of Mexico and a certain morality that I have and that many people have in our country. My next album does involve my Mexican-American self and that's why it's getting hard for me to figure out because it's confusing being bi-cultural. I know it's going to take me to the U.S. a bit more. I miss the U.S. and I have not been there a lot lately, looking forward to it. Hopefully in 2014."
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