BMI’s Las Compositoras+ Camp Brought 9 Artists Together for a 3-Day Music Retreat and Pure Creative Magic

Broadcast Music, Inc. recently hosted nine songwriters and entertainers for a song camp in Los Angeles. The artists represent various voices in the música Mexicana coming from different countries and backgrounds. For three days, the participants lived together and worked on their projects with BMI. Here are the songwriters BMI’s Las Compositoras+ brought together for the song camp.

Celimar

Celimar Burgos, known professionally as Celimar, grew up in Puerto Rico listening to reggaeton. Artists from the island shaped her love of music and continue to inspire her. Moving to Los Angeles continued to drive her passion for music and uniting women in the industry.

“My goal has always been, the year that I’ve been living in Los Angeles, to unite all women in the industry,” Celimar tells mitú. “Sometimes, we are kept in the background and stuff. We’re not taken as seriously. [In the next few years], my goal would be to create a movement in that aspect.”

She adds: “I think sometimes we see each other as competition and, this might be controversial, but that’s the truth for women. I feel like we need to take the step ourselves and create that environment for ourselves and push forward.”

Lupita Infante

Lupita Infante, granddaughter of Pedro Infante, is a California native. Growing up in Southern California, she had access to an eclectic and diverse range of musical genres and artists. From No Doubt to Pedro Infante, her musical influences span the spectrum.

“In the next few years, one of my biggest dreams is to have a song that just hits the Billboard charts. Maybe multiple songs that hit the Billboard charts,” Infante tells mitú. “I think that’s kind of the next goal for me. It would be a dream. You don’t see too many women topping those charts, so we gotta make that happen.”

She adds: “It’s important to have spaces like BMI’s Las Compositoras+ camps and even looking at the charts, the Top 50 Mexico’s Spotify Charts, I notice that there is only one woman on there. I’m not an expert. I can’t tell you exactly what’s going on or why we are listening to just men, but I think it is important that we figure out why. Really support women more. Have more space for women to really flourish and be in those big stages.”

Paulina B

From Colombia, Paulina B was surrounded by music and art that created a love and appreciation of regional pop. She is proud of the culture and art Colombia has produced and continues to produce. Paulina loves bringing her influence to música Mexicana to create memorable regional pop.

“I feel like every day I work with the same purpose: to bring my music to people’s hearts. Hopefully, around the whole world. I hope that regional pop becomes a genre that more people, more musicians, and more audiences connect with, emotionally,” Paulina B tells mitú about her career.

She adds: “I’m seeing more and more women in Colombia getting involved, and unity is strength. I love that more of us are joining forces and building more power within the regional genre. In my case, it’s regional pop, and I feel like I’ve carved out a beautiful space for it in Colombia.”

Erika Vidrio

Erika Vidrio is steeped in música Mexicana. She was born in Autlán de Navarro in the Mexican state of Jalisco. She is someone who wants to see more women in the room when she goes to award shows. For her, women are key in the musical industry. That is why she partnered with BMI to make the song camp a reality. She led the immersive songwriting sessions so that the participants could workshop current and future ideas.

“Without women, música Mexicana wouldn’t be complete,” Vidrio tells mitú.
”I feel like there’s always been a lack of representation.
Women have a different perspective on life.
Yes, we can be dramatic and intense, but that’s exactly what enriches música Mexicana the most.
It’s a very visceral, bold, and direct kind of music, and women have a valuable place in it that we need to claim.
If we’re not given that space, we need to knock on doors and build it ourselves.”

Amanda Coronel

Amanda Coronel grew up surrounded by música Mexicana. She grew up in Mocorito, Sinaloa, and remembers hearing Sinaloan banda around her. She looks up to women already in the industry and hopes to help lead continued change in the genre. Her music is something she hopes moves people.

“To leave a legacy in música Mexicana,” Coronel explains to mitú when asked what she wants to do with her career. “I want the music to have meaning, something that can be sung by any generation, not just something trendy or short-lived.
I want it to communicate, to make people feel something, and to live on across generations.”

She adds: “I hope to take home some great songs,” she says about her time at BMI’s Las Compositoras+. “Songs I want all of you to hear.
Also, experiences, like learning about the creative process of each of the women here, sharing, and of course, leaving a part of myself in them as well.
And opening this space up even more, so we can have more collaboration among women.”

Michelle Maciel

Maciel brings a different lens to his music, having grown up in a small town and moving to Guadalajara. The move to live more authentically as himself led him to create more authentic music. He wants to stand out in the genre and make música Mexicana more inclusive.

“I want to change the game,” Maciel tells mitú.
”I want people to start normalizing certain things,
in how we express ourselves, how we live, how we are.
You know, the regional music industry is known for being very male-dominated.
And my personality…well, it’s a bit…I won’t say ‘different,’
but let’s just say it’s not common to see people like me.”

He adds: “It’s not just about that.
There also aren’t enough women represented in this genre, even though there’s so much talent.
It would make me so happy to see that door open wider to see women empowered in the same way men are.”

Ashlee Valenzuela

Ashlee Valenzuela leans on her personal life and experiences to write her songs. She spent her childhood living between Mexico and Arizona and was immersed in the various musical genres between the two places. She has a deep appreciation for classic música Mexicana listing Vicente Fernandez and Los Tigres del Norte as major inspiration.

“I grew up in San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, spent a little time in Mexico, and then later moved to Arizona.
That really impacted me, because I listened to a lot of music on the radio, especially when we were cleaning and doing chores with my parents,” Valenzuela tells mitú. “I think that had a big effect on me because now I have a deep knowledge of classic Mexican music,
and that’s helped me a lot with what I’m doing now.”

Karen Moon

Also known as The Teacher, Karen Moon has a deep knowledge of música Mexicana. She has been working in the music industry for years, living in different places around the United States and Mexico, working with artists. Her life has been filled with musicians and she became a vocal coach. As a Mexican, she is thrilled to see música Mexican become a global genre.

“Mexico has always had the talent, the power, but we were missing that final push to say ‘This is who we are.’
Now the world is paying attention,” Moon tells mitú. “It wasn’t easy for me to break into regional music. People would look at me and say,
’Is Moon really going to put on a show for that band?’ ‘She looks too polished to be doing regional.’”

She adds: “I had to break down doors to get in.
Now I compose regional music, and hearing people cry when they hear my songs or watching entire stadiums fill up — that means the world to me.”

Delilah Cabrera

Delilah Cabrera, known professionally as Delilah, is one of the newest faces in the music industry. Though she has only been in the industry for two years, her career is growing quickly having already collaborated with Becky G on “TODO” and recently toured with Ivan Cornejo. Being young in the industry comes with its own challenges but she sees that as a chance to create something beautiful. The networking BMI Las Compositoras+ facilitates is something Delilah appreciates.

“There’s not a lot of us,” Delilah tells mitú about being a young woman in the genre. “I think that that is a really, really difficult thing. I have been able to find people that I look up to that I bonded with that have also started young in the industry, but there’s definitely not a lot. Something else that’s been honestly really difficult for me is really finding my voice and finding my genre. In the beginning, I thought that my music, everything was kind of too different from each other.”

She adds: “But I think that that’s kind of the beauty of it too. [Being] young and being able to embrace those times too can be pretty amazing and impacting. I think it’s really cool that I’m able to say that I can relate to Ivan Cornejo and Becky G.”