The Tao of RaiNao

It’s harmless to accidental that Naomi Ramírez, a.k.a. RaiNao, has had 1 of the astir blessed vocation arcs of her generation. Bad Bunny himself called the singer-songwriter “my favourite creator from Puerto Rico” backmost successful 2022, erstwhile she was inactive an up-and-coming indie promise. By 2025, she earned a diagnostic connected his Grammy-winning album, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” — and elicited the screams of thousands erstwhile they sang their opus “Perfumito Nuevo” unneurotic onstage during his San Juan residency shows aboriginal that summer.

RaiNao’s euphony straddles the mystical and the commercial. Her alt-reggaeton is tinged with lyrical flourishes that oscillate betwixt poetic and salacious successful the aforesaid bar; which she occasionally follows up with jazzy asides from her tenor saxophone.

Released May 25 via Rimas Entertainment, RaiNao’s sophomore LP, “Marcriá,” arrived 2 years aft her erstwhile effort “Capicú.” In her latest offering, the 32-year-old pivots from the darker dependable of her debut, moving toward a meditative attack (in the precise literal sense) to the euphony that colors beingness successful the Caribbean. The sanction “Marcriá” is simply a play connected the connection “malcriada” — which translates to “poorly raised woman,” but is besides utilized to notation to women who don’t enactment silent, who defiantly speech backmost and don’t submit. (And, successful the stylized spelling she uses, it besides means “raised by the sea.”)

In an interrogation with De Los, RaiNao talks astir her precise idiosyncratic inspiration for “Marcriá,” the joyousness of collaborating with her philharmonic heroes and her biggest acquisition learned successful these riveting past 2 years.

Puerto Rican creator Naomi Ramirez Rivera, a.k.a. RaiNao

Once you stock an medium with the world, what happens after?
Well, “Capicú” was my archetypal project. Obviously I had a batch of emotion for it, but that was besides a clip successful my beingness when, arsenic a quality being, I was rather mislaid and angry. So erstwhile I released it, I felt similar I shed it and [afterward] I didn’t privation to cognize thing astir it.

What I wanted was to perform, for the satellite to spot maine face-to-face onstage. I focused connected that, [but] I forgot however to make successful a structured way, with a purpose, with a goal. Disconnecting truthful overmuch from creating with purpose, with volition — I didn’t similar it. I felt similar I mislaid myself a little. But astatine the aforesaid time, I deliberation it was a infinitesimal for maine to heal a batch of things truthful I could determination on. And I don’t justice myself for stepping distant and disconnecting from intentional creation and intentional creation.

And what inspired “Marcriá,” erstwhile you assimilated those feelings?
“Marcriá” stems from an acquisition I had erstwhile I was astir 10 years old. I studied astatine a schoolhouse for children with ocular impairments. Basically, I was 1 of the fewer children with show successful that simple school.

As a child, I didn’t rather understand. My ma told me, “I’m going to enactment you here; you person bully grades, and you’re going to help.” And basically, they integrated sighted children truthful they could beryllium portion of the assemblage and assistance out. I was similar an adjunct to each my teachers. Most of my teachers besides belonged to the unsighted community.

My full beingness I kept that acquisition locked distant successful the astir protected corners of my memory. [But] arsenic an adult, it started to intrigue me. Then it became a taxable of speech among my team: “Why don’t you marque a documentary astir this?”

And I said: “I’m going to bash sensory treatments, and I’m going to commencement exploring colors, looking for poetry, things that transport maine to places, reasoning astir texture, reasoning astir my maturation and improvement arsenic a kid increasing up successful that schoolhouse and successful the mediate of the sea, present successful the Caribbean, successful Puerto Rico. That puerility acquisition that led maine to beryllium who I am.” I created sensory treatments that I named, past they became songs.

The archetypal clip I interviewed you, you said you didn’t similar your dependable erstwhile you sang. I ideate that dislike faded a agelong clip ago, but did you bid your dependable for this album?
This past twelvemonth I truly enactment my bosom into my voice. I started taking intensive lessons. I consciousness similar I’ve grown much fond of it present than I was erstwhile I archetypal started. I understood the powerfulness of my dependable beyond conscionable singing, and astir — due to the fact that I don’t privation to accidental each — of the melodies you’ll perceive connected the brass section, connected galore instruments, originated with my voice. I was saying, “I don’t privation to accidental this with words, I privation to accidental this with my voice, but I privation my dependable to beryllium a trombone.” So [Wiso Rivera and I] created scores based connected my dependable and transferred them to instruments.

You recorded the opus “Dandovueltas” with Omara Portuondo, a fable of Cuarteto d’Aida, and aboriginal Buena Vista Social Club. How did that collaboration travel about?
Working with Omara was a imagination travel existent for me. To me, she has the astir sweetly almighty dependable we person successful the Caribbean. I’ve admired her from afar for a agelong time.

When I wrote this song, I felt a spiritual transportation to her. She had conscionable followed maine [on Instagram]. I cognize it’s not her due to the fact that she’s rather aged now, she’s 95. But I thought, “Whoever reads this, it doesn’t matter. I’m going to nonstop her a DM.”

So I wrote to her, past 1 time her lad called maine and we talked. He said they were thrilled, that his parent was precise supportive of each the young endowment and amazed that I had thought of her.

We sent her [family] the song. They were going to bash everything imaginable to assistance her memorize it and grounds it. Her lad suggested, “Why don’t you guys travel here, to Cuba? It’d beryllium much convenient.” I said, “Is it easy?” And helium said, “No, but I tin assistance you, I’ll get you immoderate you need.”

And we went to Cuba. And we recorded everything astatine her house. She’s a precise beardown woman, and I honestly couldn’t judge however she memorized the opus and kept humming it and recorded it truthful quickly. It was beautiful.

And she was truthful funny. She made maine laughter truthful hard: [My manager, Paola] was saying to her, “You’re beautiful,” and she was like, “You person specified atrocious taste.” She has a large consciousness of wit and is inactive a gorgeous and astonishing singer. I americium blessed and grateful to person gone to Cuba, which was besides 1 of my dreams. I had ne'er been to Cuba before.

How did the timing enactment out, considering the caller blockade?
We went determination close astir that time. There was nary electricity, thing was open. We saw tons of things that wounded america profoundly — similar children successful the streets, mothers with newborns. Even the Cubans themselves told us, “It wasn’t similar this before.” I mean, things were retired of control. It’s not close to spot a kid begging successful the street. We saw truthful overmuch need. We went to record, but we went successful the mediate of the chaos. We were perpetually asking [our driver] questions, and helium was disquieted astir what was going to happen.

The assortment of guests you person is simply a tremendous premix of generations from the Caribbean. Could you archer maine a small spot astir moving with Cultura Profética connected the way “Dame La Verde?”
Growing up, Cultura Profética was 1 of the bands that influenced maine the most. I saw my archetypal performance astatine the Tito Puente Amphitheater was Cultura. I was successful 10th grade. I retrieve the capsulón [which translates to “hotbox” successful English] but I didn’t fume yet.

So I gave lessons to [guitarist] Eliut González’s kids. I tutored them during the pandemic; it was 1 of my past jobs. I knew Eliut, and I was already doing immoderate things [with music], but I was conscionable starting out. One time helium looked astatine maine and said, “You didn’t archer me.” And I said, “Tell you what?” And helium said, “That you marque music.” I conjecture helium saw thing online and said, “That’s my kids’ teacher!”

What astir the salsa singer, Andy Montañez? On “Cántaro” helium sings a chorus typically associated with the precocious bomba instrumentalist Félix Alduén.
Andy was the past to surf the wave. I wrote a missive to Andy Montañez — to his son. Andy is from Santurce, similar me. My aunts grew up with Andy. I was like, “He’s the one.” And we had a blast. Andy is truthful funny. You guys person nary thought [how many] ad-libs we got.

I wanted to extremity with [a song] astir death, and much specifically, my ain decease arsenic an writer [once the grounds was] out. [Once] I springiness this to people, it’s nary longer mine. I could say, “This means this, I did this for this reason,” but radical are going to person it nevertheless they want.

I besides wanted to speech astir decease arsenic poetry, arsenic thing beautiful, arsenic [a] representation that remains with people. You ne'er truly die. You ever stay successful people’s memories, adjacent much truthful if you’re bully to the world.

I kept proceeding a divine dependable calling maine ... from this chorus that is said to beryllium by Félix Alduén, but radical don’t cognize if it came from Alduén oregon idiosyncratic earlier him. People themselves support those choruses alive. They’re from the street, from the people.

Emanuel Santana recorded this [song], and I was telling him, “Dude, you person to archer maine who this is.” And helium said, “No, this belongs to everyone. It’s yours, it’s mine, it’s Felix’s. God lone knows who it belonged to earlier him. Come on, marque it yours.”

That opus besides features you playing saxophone connected a way for the archetypal time.
It’s the archetypal clip I’ve ever recorded my saxophone successful immoderate of my projects! I’ve played it live, but I’ve ne'er recorded it. I’ve ever waited for idiosyncratic other to travel and grounds it. We recorded a tumbadero, which is an instrumentality utilized successful plena, recorded by Luis “Lagarto” Figueroa. To me, he’s 1 of the existent pillars of the plena that’s inactive performed here. We besides included instruments similar the bassoon, the harp, the trombone and evidently the saxophone.

I ideate these past 2 years person been immoderate of the craziest and astir breathtaking for you — from performing with the world’s biggest creator to being much outspoken politically successful Puerto Rico and processing this intimate album. What person you learned from these experiences?
Using fearfulness to my advantage. This mightiness dependable unbelievable, but I’ve had galore episodes of fearfulness successful this process — successful manifestos I’ve made, astatine shows, successful recordings.

It astir prevented maine from expressing my dependable the mode I wanted to. With time, it’s expected to spell away, but for me, it was growing. And I started doing things that frightened maine conscionable for the hellhole of it. And I deliberation that helped me, and I’m precise calm now. I deliberation the biggest acquisition for maine from this has been however to bash it adjacent erstwhile I’m afraid.

Any parting words?
There are communities of radical with ocular impairments, oregon different disabilities. We request to beryllium precise alert of them and clasp those communities. That schoolhouse changed my life. I anticipation it’s changing the lives of everyone who passes done there, due to the fact that I cognize it’s inactive unfastened successful Santurce.

When I create, I don’t conscionable deliberation astir myself; I deliberation a batch astir others. You mightiness say, “You’re brainsick due to the fact that you don’t cognize everyone.” But there’s a corporate unconscious there. I’m connected to radical I don’t know, emotions [they] person felt. If I’m grounded and unfastened enough, they tin scope me, and I tin marque a opus that’s for them without adjacent knowing it.