You look so good.

Oh, thank you. You're so sweet.

Very welcome. Where where are you right now in the world?

I am at home. The Zoom life.

Are you at home? Yes, I'm at home. When you do Zoom press, do you do your own hair and makeup or do you have people to come to your house to do it?

I have my I had people today, but sometimes I'll do my own honestly. Yeah.

Well that's nice. We've had to become pros.

I know, really though.

Okay, so you posted a video on Instagram where you heard your new single Loud on the radio for the first time.

I did.

How was that?

It was I mean, it'll never not be so surreal. And it was in the car with my sister and her dog Joey and which only makes it that much more special. And I had just come back from watching and seeing the billboards in LA with the song. So it was it was surreal and it's an extra special song for me. So it was it was really special.

Where were you driving home from or to?

We I actually was coincidental, not coincidental, it was planned perfectly. So Biata, who is the head of Kiss FM, she texted me and she let me know, I'm playing the song at these times during the day and I made sure that I was going to be in the car. I picked up my sister, got Joey, and then we just drove around my neighborhood listening to the song.

Oh my god, I would have done the same thing cuz the best thing is to listen to music in the car like I'm obsessed.

Oh, best thing ever. And you have to be driving too with like the windows down. We really feel it, you know.

Exactly. Oh gosh. And I love how the dog was in there. You're like, get the dog. The dog is coming.

Oh yeah, no, he has to experience it. He had no idea what was happening, but he I think he loved it.

And the music video is very creative and looks unreal as well. So did you come with the idea or how did the music video come about?

So, I have worked um, for two music videos now with an incredible Israeli artist named Yuri Shutser. And um, we, you know, we're brainstorming how to bring to life the visual story of Loud because I I'm a storyteller and I love being involved in every aspect of the story. And um, it's told through the elements of air. And we stumbled upon a mutual love of butterflies and we wanted to tell the story of Loud through a butterfly coming out of her cocoon and breaking free, spreading her wings and flying louder and more fearlessly than ever and that's was the inspiration for the video.

That's unreal. It looked so good. It came out so good, like the clouds, everything looked good.

And those clouds, like we were actually in a legitimate mountain peak in Malibu and those clouds were there the entire time. It was absolutely surreal. It looked like we were in in heaven almost.

That's like a sign. Like I don't know what sign of what, but like just also like just the fact that the clouds were like that. Like, oh my God.

Exactly. Yes.

And you have the hashtag made to be Loud. So what was the inspo also behind, you know, hashtagging all that upon the song coming out and now that it's out too?

So Loud is dedicated to and inspired by all the women of the world and all the fearlessly loud voices of change. And um, the hashtag made to be Loud comes from the lyric in the hook of the song that says, I was made to be Loud. And when we were prepping, you know, the launch of the song, the heart and soul of the song is women and the voices that change around the world who are amplifying not only their own voices, but each other's. And so the concept is and it happened naturally as soon as I posted the first teaser with the hashtag made to be Loud, young girls all around the world started kind of posting why they were made to be Loud. And that's the heart of this song. And my socials have been flooding with these beautiful Tik Toks and videos and tweets about why women and these incredible young girls are made to be Loud and why they're perhaps accepting their voices for the first time and it's it's such a privilege to be able to be a part of that.

Yeah, what is it like that people are posting Tik Toks and videos because you're like, you made a movement. You know what I mean? Like you writing the song in the studio and everything, like you wanted to make an impact. But now that it actually is making an impact, how does it feel like seeing, you know, the results of the song?

It's surreal and um when the song came out Thursday night, I I went live on on YouTube and of course some of you know, fans that I've known for years were on there and I told them in all honesty that this song and this movement isn't mine. It's ours. It wouldn't exist without them and without their voices. And they've made this movement and um they're my constant inspiration and um I feel just lucky to be to kind of be a part of this family.

Yeah, and on top of that, you also have you have a special scholarship that you're doing. So can you talk about that?

I do. Yes. So I am the global ambassador of the Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation and every year um they have a Prodigy scholarship that they co-sponsor with in the past it was these icons of the of the Latin music industry that I grew up admiring like Gloria Estefan and Luis Fonsi and Enrique Iglesias. And um this year they approached me which is surreal to co-sponsor the scholarship and the scholarship will help to change the life of one student in this one part of the world, a brilliant young Latin musician who will get the opportunity to study at Berkeley College of Music and um it's surreal to be able to partner with my foundation family to to do this.

Yeah. And you've been saying surreal a lot. So in the last few months or year, do you feel like life is real? You know what I mean? Like because it's constant love and effects of your music and your work.

I am incredibly lucky because I get to do what I love every day and I get to be a part of something like this scholarship, like UNICEF, like the movement that Loud has made in the midst of a world that feels very real and a world that's in a lot of pain. So I feel lucky that I can make art in this time that can hopefully mean something to someone and help them escape. So yes, there have been a lot of moments in the past year that have felt surreal in the midst of it all.

Yeah. That's so awesome. Well, congrats on everything of all.

Thank you so much.

And aside from, you know, your music and all that you are doing, what do you like to do just like you probably don't have a day off, but if you just wake up on a Sunday morning, like what do you like to do besides like to yourself, like for yourself?

I love um one of my favorite things is when I get to sleep in and I walk out and I see my sister and Joey because we live together outside and it just makes my whole day. Even as simple as it sounds. Um, I love like going on a walk. I'm so boring. Taking a Pilates class. Um, I love going to the movies. Love going to the movies. Um, going to dinner. You know, the simple things in life. Um, I really enjoy.

Favorite movie that you watched in the last year?

So over Christmas, I was with my grandma, my mom and my sister and we watched 25 movies. The majority of them were oldies because it was COVID was kind of crazy. So we just honestly we watched a lot of movies and I watched a Mail Street movie called Out of Africa and I had never seen it before and I was blown away. So that's probably my favorite that I've watched this last year.

I love it. And then what is one thing that you're looking forward to tackling maybe the rest of 2022 or like one big thing you want to do in your lifetime that you haven't done yet? That's a good question. Or even if it's an on like a bucket list thing.

Okay. Let me think about the bucket list thing. I mean, career-wise to go on a world tour. That would be awesome. And I was going to say, I think also in the future. I just produced or I was part of producing my first movie recently called Purple Hearts with Netflix. And I wrote the music for it. So I was involved as a producer and as an actor. And I learned a lot from my director Liz. And I could perhaps see more producing in my future and and maybe even directing. But um I'll be focusing on acting and producing and music for a bit.

There we go. Your future your future is only getting better. We can already tell.

Thank you.

Well, again, congrats on everything. I'm so glad that everybody's loving Loud as much as, you know, we do. And uh

Thank you so much.