The majority of Lila Downs’ childhood was spent in Oaxaca, Mexico, where she learned to sing rancheras and other traditional Mexican music. Upon her parents’ separation, Downs was sent to live with family in California, U.S. and developed her love and passion for music, in particular classical and opera. When Downs was 16 her father died, and the singer returned to Tlaxiaco to be with her mother. In a crisis of identity and about what she was doing with her self, Downs dropped out of studying classical and opera, and became a Deadhead, following the Grateful Dead around the U.S. in a camper van.
Before long Downs was back on track and studying anthropology and voice at the University of Minnesota and Institute of Science and Arts of Oaxaca. Having met tenor saxophonist and jazz pianist Paul Cohen in her mother’s auto parts store, Cohen arranged for Downs to sing in the ensemble Yodoyuxi’s Cadets. In 1994 Downs released her debut cassette “Ofrenda”, followed in 1996 with the live cassette “Azuláo: En Vivo con Lida Downs”. In 1999 the singer signed with Narada Productions who issued Downs’ official debut “La Sandunga”. Sung in Spanish and mixtec, combining traditional Mexican music with the contemporary rhythms of jazz, blues and bolero, the album became a critical and commercial success.
The album “Tree of Life” followed in 2000, which furthered the singer’s international popularity in the U.S., Canada, and Switzerland among other places. The album’s lyrics are drawn from religious codices of the Mixteca and Zapotec people, and following the release, Downs embarked on a worldwide tour including parts of Latin America, Europe and the U.S. Lila Downs’ third full-length “Borders” arrived in 2001, documenting the often fatal struggle Mexicans have in trying to cross the border into the States. Followed by “Una Sangre (One Blood)” in 2004, the album highlights Downs’ songwriting development towards socially conscious messages.
In 2006 Lila Downs issued her fifth studio album “La Cantina”, which mixes traditional Mexican music with the influences of pop, rock, cumbia, and hip-hop. Spawning the single “La Cumbia del Mole”, which rose to prominence in Mexico, the U.S., Canada and the UK, the album cemented the singer’s international appeal. The compilation “The Very Best Of/El Alma de Lila Downs” was issued in 2008, followed by the full-length “Shake Away”, Downs’ debut release on Manhattan Records the same year.
Two years later the live CD “Lila Downs y La Misteriosa en Paris - Live a FIP” was released, making was for Downs’ seventh studio album “Pecados y milagros” in 2011. The album debuted at No. 52 on the Billboard 200, representing the singer’s highest charting album. “Pecados y milagros” subsequently won the Grammy Award for Best Regional Mexican Music Album, and the Latin Grammy Award for Best Folk Album. The full-length “Balas y Chocolate” followed in March 2015, led by the single “Patria Madrina”.
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Charli XCX
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