Encarnita García de Jesús, known artistically as Kany García, has established herself as one of the most influential voices in contemporary music. Kany began studying classical music, cello, solfeggio and choir as a child in her native Puerto Rico. She later learned guitar and continued her studies at the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico. She was selected to be part of the reality show Fame goalbut she had to leave the show due to a car accident that almost cost her her life. Her appearance, however, was enough for the record label Sony BMG to become interested in her, with whom she released her debut album Any dayin 2007.
The six-time Latin Grammy winner released this 2024 Garciaan emotional journey towards self-affirmation and self-improvement, with which the singer-songwriter shows that she has undergone a significant change in her music and in her life, achieving a testimony of many personal journeys. Artists such as Christian Nodal, Carla Morrison, Carín León and Young Miko collaborate on this album in which Kany (Puerto Rico, 41 years old) demonstrates her versatility as a composer in different musical genres.
Ask. Why did you decide to name this new album after yourself?
Answer. When you put your stamp on something, it’s to identify yourself, because you feel that it’s something very much yours. And in this case, for me it was a very evolutionary album on a musical level and what I wanted to explore, I’m very into moving in a diversity of rhythms and things. Having such a great diversity in one album, like regional Mexican, merengue, bachata, all these kinds of things, made me realize that my life is also full of diversity, full of images, full of very different people.
PWhat is the process of choosing who to collaborate with?
R. Look, I have to vibrate with the person. And success is nice because it makes the more you knock on the door, the faster they open it and want to collaborate. So, when things turn out better for you, I think you become a little more careful with who you do and what you do. And I have had the incredible joy of doing things with whom I have loved and with whom I have deeply admired. I think that in some way there has to be a connection, a coherence with what is also my path, my repertoire, and at the same time credibility.
PHow do you achieve this partnership with artists from genres so different from your own?
R. I don’t always start from the same place. For example, with Carín León I specifically wrote a song so that she wouldn’t say no to me. In other words, I wrote a song as a fan, because I admired her voice, because I knew it would suit her well. And I went with I apreciate it. Sometimes I am very malicious when I don’t want to be told no, as was the case here. But there are also other times when I wrote very freely, like The following I started with a great composer called Edgar Barrera. And Edgar presented the song to Cristian Nodal and he called me and said: “Look, Cristian loved the song.” It was a very different path. With Young Miko, who is another example, it was a very different path. We followed each other, we wrote to each other and we wanted to collaborate. And it was hard for me to think about making trap and dressing up as something that I am not and that people would not believe me. And I also felt that it was very selfish of me to bring her into my world. I felt that the ideal thing was to look for an Apache territory, which neither of us defend, like bachata, and it was like finding that middle path between the two of us. With Carla Morrison, I went to her house and we wrote the song together.
P. What has it been like to take this album on tour and even perform for the first time in countries like Bolivia?
R. I’m not going to deny that there’s always a certain tension, a certain I don’t know what, because you don’t know what to expect. I mean, now on the US tour there are about six or seven cities that I’ve never been to, and the same thing is going to happen to me, but with a big difference because in the United States everyone is a Latin family. I know there are going to be Mexicans, I know there are going to be Colombians, I know there are going to be Puerto Ricans, Venezuelans, all living in the same space, and that already gives me an idea. But when we talk about Bolivia or a country I’ve never been to, there’s always that tension before the show. And I tell you that it took me about eight songs to read the audience and know where they were coming from. But I love it when that happens. And then I was surprised because I had such a good time, genuinely so good because I was able to read them.
P. What will people experience when they go to see it in the United States?
R. What’s going to happen in the United States excites me a lot because this album has come to refresh my repertoire and to give me and the people other moods that perhaps I didn’t have on previous tours. For me, it’s like the most complete tour I’ve done in my career. I’m also excited that the venues are much bigger than what I’ve done before.
P. She has been using her voice for social justice and human rights for years.
R. There are a lot of things that I think I do very naturally and I do them for me. And it’s not that I want to be selfish about that, but because I do them thinking about myself, about my line of thought, about what is important to me to say. But before I didn’t think so much about the repercussions, and today I speak for the diversity of groups that need a voice, that need visibility, that need justice. And that makes your words not only have greater power, but also makes your words have greater care because you know who they represent. I deeply love the few occasions I have where people stand up to me and tell me things about their lives and what something I’ve said, something I’ve sung, something I’ve done or something I’ve made visible has represented. And that part is what gives meaning to my life. It’s a fundamental part that has made me the woman I am, gaining the credibility that I’ve earned, which I think comes much more from there than from making good songs. For me it’s been very necessary, it’s like an important fuel to read what people tell me.
PWhat has been your driving force in the ups and downs?
R. I’m not going to deny that there are days when I don’t have any gasoline. I wrote a song that is on the album called From good to bad and it talks a little about that, it talks about not being well and allowing myself to do so and understanding that it is important to have that data, that it is important to have it because it is the reality check. Before, perhaps I was anxious about not feeling well, knowing that I had to go on tour the next day. Today, I understand that I don’t always have to go to a concert in the best mood. So, when it has happened to me, I allow myself to do so more than ever and I understand that everything passes.
PAre you aware that you have had a positive impact on many women?
R. Yes, I’m becoming more aware of it. That’s why I write the songs I do and look at people when I sing. I love recognizing that a person was one way when the show started and ended up another way when it ended. That’s why shows are so important to me, it’s like the final conversation of what I do.
