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Natalia Lafourcade is an internationally recognized Grammy- and Latin Grammy-winning singer/songwriter and record producer from Mexico. Since issuing her self-titled debut album in 2004, her music has been a staple at radio in her home country and across Latin America as well as in the U.S. Her musical style is exceptionally diverse. It is simultaneously informed by and reflects the folk traditions of Mexico, Latin America, and Brazil, but also those of indie pop, rock, and Rock en Español. Her many videos have racked up hundreds of millions of views. Ever restless, her 2005 sophomore outing
Casa was credited to
Natalia y la Forquetina, a rock band who played bossa-inspired indie pop.
Lafourcade underscored her musical versatility when she released the completely instrumental Las 4 Estaciones del Amor in 2008. Her 2016 offering,
Hasta La Raiz, won a Grammy and netted five Latin Grammys, including one for album of the year. Her follow-up, 2017's
Musas, was recorded in collaboration with guitar duo
Los Macorinos. It took home the Latin Grammy for folk album of the year. In February 2018,
Musas, Vol. 2 appeared while
LaFourcade was on sabbatical. It received several Latin Grammy nominations. She returned in 2020 with
Un Canto por México, Vol. 1, featuring original, traditional, and classic material performed by the artist with a mariachi orchestra and chorus directed by
Nando Hernandez. Its companion,
Volume 2 was released in 2021.
Natalia Lafourcade Silva was born in Mexico City into an artistic family. Her father, Gastón Lafourcade, is a celebrated Chilean musician, while her mother is pianist María del Carmen Silva Contreras.
Lafourcade has stated that she knew from an early age she wanted to be an artist. Throughout childhood she studied painting, theater, and music. Her studies of the latter led to her becoming proficient on several instruments including the flute, saxophone, guitar, and piano. She also studied singing. Though she attended a Catholic middle school, Instituto Anglo Español,
Lafourcade spent several years living with her mother in Coatepec, Veracruz, Mexico, where they both studied music. Some of her cited contemporary influences are
Fiona Apple,
Björk,
Café Tacuba, and
Zuco 103.
With time,
Lafourcade was taken under the wing of
Loris Ceroni, a well-regarded Italian producer perhaps best known for his work with
Alejandra Guzman. Recording at Le Dune Estudios in Italy, he produced the bulk of what would later be released by
Sony Norte as
Natalia Lafourcade (2003), with the remainder of the album produced by
Aureo Baqueiro back in Mexico. An eclectic, free-spirited album encompassing everything from gentle bossa nova-style acoustic guitar to hard-hitting dance beats, often within the same song,
Natalia Lafourcade is a fascinating album of pop confetti anchored by well-written songs and charismatic singing. It found a captive audience in Mexico, generating four hit singles ("En el 2000," "Busca un Problema," "Elefantes," "Te Quiero Dar"), topping the album chart, and going three-times platinum. Moreover, it wasn't only consumers who were captivated by the album, as
Lafourcade earned four Latin Grammy nominations for her debut effort: Song of the Year ("En el 2000"), Best New Artist, Best Rock Solo Vocal Album, and Best Rock Song ("En el 2000"). She also earned a standard Grammy nomination for Best Latin Pop Album.
In 2004, the following year,
Lafourcade assembled a four-piece rock band,
Natalia y la Forquetina, also comprising Alonso (drums, programming), Chanona (guitar, bass guitar), and Yuno (accordion, keyboards). Fernando Eimbcke, a filmmaker who had directed the video for "En el 2000," invited
Lafourcade and her new band to record a song for the soundtrack to his film Temporada de Patos (2004). The song "Un Pato" is a reinterpretation of a traditional bossa nova and it marked the debut of
Natalia y la Forquetina. Meanwhile, the band worked on a full-length album with producer
Emmanuel del Real (aka
Meme) from the band
Café Tacuba, and with
Baqueiro again.
The resulting album,
Casa (2005), is indeed the product of a genuine rock band, with surging electric guitars driving many of the songs. Though considerably more one-dimensional than
Lafourcade's self-titled debut, and not quite as successful,
Casa nonetheless spun off some hits, topped the album chart, went platinum in Mexico, and won a Latin Grammy for Best Rock Album by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Furthermore, the band arrangement facilitated
Lafourcade's emergence as a concert performer, and indeed, she took
Natalia y la Forquetina on the road, touring extensively throughout Mexico over the course of a year. Their last show was August 18, 2006, after which
Lafourcade disbanded
la Forquetina and resumed her solo career with the classical EP Las 4 Estaciones del Amor (2008). She then returned to pop with the Grammy-nominated
Hu Hu Hu (2009) and
Mujer Divina: Homenaje a Agustín Lara (2012), as well as
Hasta la Raíz (2015). The latter recording hit number one on the Mexican albums chart and peaked at number eight on the Top Latin Albums list. It also won two Latin Grammys, including Album of the Year and Best Alternative Music Album. Its title track took home both the Song of the Year and Best Alternative Song awards. 2017's
Musas (A Tribute to Latin American Folklore in Hands of the Macorinos) not only placed in the Top Latin Albums Top Five but won a Latin Grammy for Best Folk Album as well as the award for Best Long Form Music Video for Musas: The Documentary. The recording was also nominated for a standard Grammy in the Best Latin Pop Album category. She followed it with
Musas Un Homenaje al FolcloreLatinoamericano en Manos de Los Macorinos, Vol. 2, shortened to
Musas, Vol. 2 by her U.S. label. After its release,
Lafourcade announced she would be going on sabbatical to recover from 15 years of the release-and-tour cycle. The album received a Latin Grammy nomination for Album of the Year at the 19th Annual Latin Grammy Awards in 2018, and garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Latin Pop Album in 2019.
That November, in Mexico City’s Auditorio Nacional,
Lafourcade returned from sabbatical with a host of Mexico's finest musicians who came together with the stated intention of raising funds to restore El Centro de Documentación del Son Jarocho in Veracruz. For more than a quarter-century, this space has been dedicated to the preservation of Veracruz's cultural heritage. It has nurtured singers, dancers, musicians, and songwriters of many stripes; it was severely damaged in the 2017 earthquakes. The sold-out show was recorded and released in May of 2020 as
Un Canto por México: En Favor Del Centro De Documentación Del Son Jarocho. It prominently featured the region's own modern soneros
Los Cojolites (they had previously backed her on
Hasta La Raiz), and included guest appearances by
Jorge Drexler,
Carlos Rivera, and
Panteón Rococó. The Grammy-nominated
Un Canto por México, Vol. 2 was released in 2021, followed by the release of a deluxe edition. ~ Thom Jurek & Jason Birchmeier