The scene of the Independent music in Puerto Rico is very small, but important enough that Melissa Ocasio does not give up her desire to make a name for herself as a singer, a dream that has haunted her head since she was a child.
As an example, he has women like iLe Cabra – René Pérez’s sister, from Calle 13 -, and Raquel Berrios – a member of Buscabulla – who, despite the limited diffusion of alternative music on the island, have managed to make a name for themselves in the independent music scene.
“Unfortunately there is no medium that exposes us,” Melissa lamented in a recent interview from her home in Gurabo, a city located about 25 minutes from San Juan, the Puerto Rican capital. “You have to prove that you are good internationally first to be recognized nationally.”
Despite that, and the overwhelming weight that reggaeton has on the island, Melissa decided to produce her music herself. A few weeks ago, he released the video for “Hold on”, a song with which he was going to launch his career a year ago, before the pandemic began, but whose course had to change due to this health crisis.
The song is inspired by the wave of femicides that has hit the island in recent years. Melissa, of 29 years, wanted to denounce this social problem in this way because for her, that is what music is for.
“I can’t make art without purpose,” he said. “The songs I write come from a very personal perspective When it leaves [la canción] and fulfills its purpose and reaches the people it has to reach, that is what I want, and if I am not honest then that will not happen. ”
This live version of “Hold on” includes a mix of Caribbean rhythms, rock and marching. But this is only part of what defines her music that she calls explorative indie. This is because it has prepared six other songs –which it produced during the pandemic–, which will be released gradually; the next will be on May 7. In them he includes electronic music, percussion sounds, wind, strings and even theatrical elements.
For now he works with a group of musicians, most of them women, but he hopes to form his own band once the music industry gets back on track.
