A Collection Of Self Love <3

Remember when we all turned to YouTube to discover new artists? TikTok and others didn't have the attention they do now for music. The artist I'm highlighting this week started her career with a "Sing U 2 Sleep" series on YouTube and has the ability to share stories in more than one language, figuratively and literally. Her music blends and contrasts Pop, R&B, Contemporary R&B and Hip Hop + she creates in both English and Spanish. Alaina Castillo is a 19-year-old Los Angeles-based artist bringing in Latin roots from her Mexican father. Castillo recently released her EP the voicenotes / mensajes de voz separately in both languages, giving off beautiful acoustic vibes, but I don't want to discuss only one song.

Castillo has such a distinct way of creating and doesn't conform to one single style in her projects which is why I'll also discuss songs from her past projects with different influences. When I first heard her work it was the song titled "Mentiras" from her 2019 EP antisocial butterfly. I know I mentioned some genres of music before, but in this song Castillo took the liberty of combining Hip Hop beats and folklore creating a daring folklore contemporary R&B style that I might add is VERY hard to resist. OH and also... it's bilingual :) As a Latina you could say I'm biased, but not really, this girl has great ideas and the talent to bring them to life.

Next I need to talk about her song titled "Just a Boy" from voicenotes / mensajes de voz. Castillo's soothing voice and the guitar cords of the song are reminiscent of H.E.R.'s sound. Besides the music, this song's lyrics perfectly emulate the emotions I imagine Castillo wanted to get across when writing.

"'Cause you're just a boy, You've got a switch in your head, I've seen how quick you forget yourself" -Alaina Castillo

Now, let's talk about that chorus - first of all in Spanish that switch in your head is translated into the impossibility of turning off an animal instinct and a man not knowing when he's right or wrong A.K.A. "forget yourself". I don't know about you, but to me this is the perfect way to tell a boy "I'm not crazy, it's you." Such a subtle and serene way to say the things some ladies only say in their heads in fear of their intuition being wrong and being called crazy.

"You can tell me all this s*** is in my mind, That I'm just a spiteful, psycho, a walking tightropes. Tryna catch you outta line." -Alaina Castillo

Ladies, here's Alaina Castillo to tell you intuition is something to trust and there is poise in crazy. One common theme she follows in projects is that of loving others and, most importantly yourself in moments of heartbreak and realization. In her song "i don't think i love you anymore" you'll hear a contemporary R&B sound and pop influences with hard hits carefully placed to emphasize her voice and message. For me, this is one of the most empowering pieces in her music history. Both her words and the beats travel through my body to give the strength to believe in a woman's self worth. For Castillo music is that one thing that really makes her happy during her hardest moments in life and hopefully the thing that keeps her happy can have a positive influence on you. Sometimes music is the only thing that can get us through a low moment in life or simply take a high moment in life to its summit.

"neon lights on the ceiling - lonely vibes for the healing." -Alaina Castillo

Which leads me to close out on a positive note with the song titled "tonight" which brings in major 90's vibes from the music video to the track with the pop and electric vibes. The song is all about taking time for yourself when it's clearly overdue. It's clear to see she makes her songs her own little world where she can have fun and connect with her listeners through various sounds and conversation like in this track. Ultimately, Castillo's combination of her Latin roots and blend of pop and Contemp. R&B create a magical art easy to connect with and hard to ignore. Check out her most recent single "¡PÁRATE!" on all streaming platforms!

For my Latino readers, here's a sidenote: imagine a Rosalía collab. I can totally see it! Their voices would compliment each other so well.

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