Judeline: “With young women there is too much paternalism. It has tired me already”

Lara Fernández grew up in Los Caños de Meca, Cádiz, but her stage name, Judeline, comes from Ey Jude, her father’s favorite song. “In my house we listened to the Beatles, Camarón, Chet Baker a lot… Nothing to Los Caños, I discovered them super-major”, says this 20-year-old girl with her golden grillz laugh, who, without having published her first LP yet, has become a recurring figure at festivals (this year, among others, he has performed at Lollapalooza Argentina, Primavera Sound or BBK Live). And in a name on the lips of the gurus of the music scene: in 2020 Alizz included her in his Desclassificados project, Rosalía has declared herself a fan and a few months ago the Puerto Rican Tainy asked her to be in the choirs of Obstáculo, his song with Myke Towers. She has not been carried away by the rush that they send today, she is cooking little by little, she hopes that by 2024, her debut album. “It is difficult to do things with time. I feel that the songs that I have done so far I will not want to release them later, because there will be an evolution. And I also feel that I am accustoming my listeners to the fact that my consumption is not fast, that each thing that comes out has a meaning and a proposal ”, she analyzes. Meanwhile, she continues to harden her performances: on September 22 she will perform at the WiZink Center in Madrid, as part of Spotify Equal Fest, a concert dedicated to promoting gender equality in music with the participation of Nathy Peluso, Lola Índigo, Natalia Lacunza and Ptazeta.

She says that her grandmother spent all day singing flamenco…
My mother’s mother, big fan of Lola Flores. She taught me La zarzamora from start to finish, I think it’s one of the first songs I learned. And then she sang many songs that were like legends, stories, one about a heron and a princess…

La zarzamora is a song of heartbreak, like its single Canijo, does the penalty give the most inspired lyrics?
Yes, I don’t know why it is that heartbreak has a powerful force.

You describe the song as “a Brazilian funk from Barbate”, are you going to experiment with more Latin American rhythms?
Yes, my father is Venezuelan and I have grown up listening to joropos and tunes, it is something that always turns me on a lot and I am a big fan of cultures. I love living them and listening to them, I’m going to sing with all the genres I can in the most respectful way possible.

Does it make sense to talk about cultural appropriation in music?
As an Andalusian at first, when I was a little younger and knew less about the world, I was offended when someone suddenly used our accent or did flamenco. But in the end it is stupid to think that we own nothing. Not even flamenco is ours, it comes from India, from the Arab mixture, from Romania… Everything is an evolution, cultures that mix, and I think that the beautiful thing is to make it known and not to lose it, but with respect and knowing what you sing and where it comes from.

Judeline is wearing a MANGO print shirt.

Is it important that the local become global? Now it is happening with the Mexican regional thanks to the corridos lying down, Featherweight or Natanael Cano.
Yes, I think it is important. I feel like I don’t make folk music, I don’t wear the Andalusian flag so much, but I would love to represent our slang, our language, our accent.

What’s playing on your playlist?
I have Las Chuches, Junior H, so the last ones I’ve saved, MC Kevin or Chris, Lana del Rey, Zizzy with Jay Lee and D’Angelo.

Since you were a child you wanted to be an artist, who were your references?
I was guided a lot by Disney and everything I saw on TV… Until Menuda noche, by Juan y Medio. When Abraham Mateo came out I wanted to be a girl artist too and appear on TV…

Did she ask her parents to let her go?
Every day, I don’t know why they never left me. It was my dream, but I never fulfilled being one of the girls on the Juan y Medio ladder. I also wanted to go to The Voice, I’m really glad I didn’t go because I think it would have given me a lot of lache.

Would you go to the Benidorm Fest to go to Eurovision?
No, this year they told me all the time, but I wouldn’t go. I don’t see myself in Eurovision, I don’t think I’m the type of artist that hits there.

Having things so clear from such a young age, has it been a problem? She has told that at school she suffered bullying.
I think the bullying I suffered was more because of my personality than because I wanted to be an artist. She was a very dreamy girl, who talked a lot, who stood out. I measure 1.80, I have never gone unnoticed.

At 17 he put the world on the hunt and went to Madrid to study. What marked her to become independent so young?
I actually left home for the first time at the age of 16, to work as an au pair in Amsterdam. I was working for five or six months, I came back and finished 4th of ESO and then I came to Madrid. I woke up a lot in Holland and in fact all the traumas, all the insecurities that I had, that came from the town where I had grown up and from all this school stuff, left me because I saw a beginning. I feel like I created myself. I have seen the type of woman that I liked and admired and the type of life that called to me and I have made it my life.

Did you encounter many obstacles when you started so young?
I’ve had a lot of luck, but when you start you think that what you know is what’s right, and sometimes you feel manipulated and you don’t realize it.

Is there too much paternalism?
Yes, with young women there is too much paternalism. It is something that has already tired me and I don’t think anyone has it with me. Either there is paternalism or there are ulterior motives or, luckily, you meet cool people.

H&M INNOVATION dress and UNO DE 50 butterfly ring.

He is going to perform at Spotify Equal Fest. Why are these calls for attention to equality still necessary?
Because the number of posters where only one woman appears is ridiculous. And there are many artists to hire and find balance. Everything evolves, but it is missing. We are all macho because the society that has educated us is, the important thing is to realize it and want to change it.

Do collaborations help boost a career?
I would like to say that they are not necessary, that nobody is needed and that you do it all by yourself, but you need more people. And in the end it’s nice. I like working with people I admire and respect.

Is the expectation about your first album a lot of pressure, being the next musical phenomenon?
Yes, but I’m not going to lie, I think so about myself too, otherwise I wouldn’t be doing what I do. I have that nerve, it will happen, it won’t happen… But I feel it’s nice that little by little people are seeing me as a new light in the music industry in this country.

Aesthetics has been a very important part since its inception, in video clips and live shows. How do these outfits come about? He says he buys a lot second hand.
Yes, I’m addicted to Vinted… Well, not so much anymore, I’ve stopped a bit. Now I see a lot of what they give me and I’m starting to combine prints, to understand fashion.

Top and flower-necklace, both from SPORTMAX.

It’s on TikTok, where a lot of the songs that later become viral superhits and artists rise to the top. Is the key today to succeed there?
Yes, I feel that on TikTok you stick organically, you don’t stick, others hit you. They pick you because there’s something about the song that works. It is a tool that, being there and being such a great promotion bomb, must be used. You have to adapt to new forms of promotion.

And how do you find your own voice?
The thing is that I was born with my mobile phone in my hand, basically, it comes out on its own. I look pretty and I record a story, there is a sound that I like and I use it… Thankfully it’s not something I have to force. Sometimes I see people from a slightly older generation that you can tell they’re trying and it’s strange.

Where would you like to present your first album?
At Coachella (laughs). No, I would love to present it for free in Madrid, in a plaza, where all God can come and pete.

*Styling: Paula Delgado. Photography: Antarctica. Makeup and hairstyling: Adrián Rux (COOL) for L’Oréal Paris.

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