She didn’t choose to sing merengue, but perhaps it was the best advice she had at the time to become the singer she aspired to, since she was a teenager listening to and interpreting the songs of José José (1948-2019). .
This success story in the tropical genre adds up – including the setbacks – to 25 years and if something had to change with the singer Melina Leon Of his own career, it would be the time he spent on the stages, in dance halls and on stages in Latin American cities of the United States because he accidentally took them away from his family, especially his son Manuel Felipez Aponte. Now that she is the grandmother of Manuel Andrés, the fruit of her only son, she does the impossible to be present.
This newspaper invited the artist to answer a question for each year of her musical silver anniversary, which she will celebrate in a concert on Friday, May 12 at the Coca-Cola Music Hall, where two areas for dancing will be separated. She answered them all, and for some, the emotion surprised her. It was such a real reaction as she tried, and for her, that’s the quality that has allowed her to keep singing, even with the ups and downs that other styles of music had out of town.
1. How would you describe this 25 year career?
– Of many experiences, of all the experiences that have been and will be; i cried i suffered i stayed up all night i won a lot of beautiful things i lost a lot of things but they were a blessing because today i enjoy what i do, Singing is my life, I don’t regret everything that happened because everything had a reason.
2. Looking back, would you have done everything the same way?
– No, the time I lost might have changed a bit; A lot of important things that I could have avoided, a lot of work, I’ve worked too much and I might be able to take up my son’s time. I think I regret taking my son’s time (he gets upset).
3. What does music mean in your life?
– Since I was very little it was the escape to dream, to live, to create this ideal world, to create things. With music I made my music videos, I made my novels, I was very inventive and I loved creating things. As an adult it makes me transport myself, it lets me take out some frustration, some feeling and at the same time it gives me life. It all depends on the rhythm of the music, but music gives me life.
4. Did you decide to sing merengue or were you assigned the genre?
– I wanted to sing rock, sing pop-rock ballads, but when they signed me, they advised me to record Tropical, Merengue, because that’s how it was at the time, and so I did.
5. Do you think starting a career in music would be easier now?
– Depends on. It used to be a bit difficult to start a career if you didn’t have a record label because everything was based on record labels. I had the opportunity to have a record label that helped me because it had the economic and global potential to move an artist without having what we have now which is the networks and digital platforms. Before it was working with clean lungs, CDs, making videos and traveling around the world so they could get to know us. At this stage, it is much easier for new talent who may not have the financial backing as they can go infinitely far with any digital platform.
6. What was the most difficult thing about being an artist?
– The hardest part is sharing the time with family, the time you have to sacrifice to get things done. There have been moments in my career when I have had to miss many important family events (crying). But if I think it’s time you stop being with the people you love and start realizing now as an adult that time doesn’t come back and that work isn’t everythingthat you have to strike a balance and give priority to what is valuable in life.
7. Who did you initially consider to be your biggest competition?
– When I started, there were many exponents of merengue music, and at that time I didn’t think about competition because I was realizing my dream, which is to make recordings. I myself loved my music and wasn’t jealous of any of them, we all worked and did alternative shows, but the people around us are the ones who made this competition. We were all classmates but things get stronger over time and they always make me want to compete with them gisellewith Olga Tanon.
8. Which character was your biggest inspiration?
– About the music, José José. From a young age she had her songs; I had a cassette with the 20 hits of José José, also because my mother Camilo Sesto, Danny Rivera, listened to all these artists from that time and I learned all the songs that mom listened to at home and when I could I asked her to buy me the songs of José José and I think my inspiration in the music, not only in the songs but also in the feeling, was him.
9. What do you think is the greatest female character within the tropical genre?
– I grew up watching Milly (Quezada), Jocelyn (and the neighbors) and seeing that she is a woman who opened the doors to Merengue, but after that came Olga (Tañón). For me, Olga is the first of all of us to be able to take that leap and leave Puerto Rico, grow and expand and give us the opportunity to move on, so I guess Milly and Olga.
10. Have you ever felt that you were judged or tried to be put down because you are a woman in the music industry?
– I don’t think I’ve been minimized, I’ve always been very strong and I don’t let anyone minimize me, but there’s always this priority for men, or that if you’re a woman, they don’t give you the same positions activities, before that no one does it anymore. But initially, yes, the women were a bit closer to them, but I never felt it directly.
11. Do you think the music industry is sexist?
– I didn’t feel that. I feel like there were a lot of people with a lot of power in those record labels before, in those environments where you weren’t a priority if you weren’t doing what you wanted. I lived that.
12. Do you think that in the early days you were seen more as a sex symbol than as an artist?
– No, I don’t think so. You never saw me as a sex symbol. They talked about my legs and they said a lot about my legs but they always did it with a lot of respect because that’s what I wanted to be respected so I never dressed provocatively on stage man, who looked at me had other wishes, no. I always dressed appropriately because I always thought that anyone who would see me would do it because I would sing and put on a good performance, not because they wanted to flirt with me. She had short skirts but she always wore stockings and she always said I don’t want the man to say anything next to his wife; No, I wanted women to feel like I was there for them.
13. And the legs, are they still an attraction?
– Thanks to my mother I have these legs and thanks to the movement that helps them a little because they are not what they used to be, the years pass and the body hits you with reality, but that will always be there .
14. What makes a woman free?
– A liberated woman has free thoughts, she doesn’t need anyone to tell her what to doShe’s sure of herself, she makes her decisions, she does what she feels, and even when she’s with a partner, she doesn’t stop being herself.
15. Which song from your repertoire do you not like to sing?
– I like them all, I like to sing all my songs. I don’t have any that I don’t like.
16. Which song made you the most money?
– I never realized how much because no one left me any more money (laughs). Now the thing is that because of the topic of streaming, you know what you deserve. Well, which song is the most requested? “As Woman” and “Liberated Women”, that was the song that made me famous, that paved the way for me in this industry. “Cuando una mujer” is a song that expands me beyond the United States, so these two songs are the ones that mark some changes in my life, although I have many, very good ones.
17. Which music dominates in your playlist?
– The 80s, music of the eighties.
18. Have you ever wanted to quit music?
– I never wanted to leave music, I will never leave it, and I’ve always said this is my life. I won’t stop singing unless I die.
19. Most embarrassing moment on stage?
– I’ve had a lot. Maybe tell a person in public that if he dedicates the song to his mother who was next door and it was the woman… Every time my musicians screw up, they enjoy it. I don’t do this with bad intentions, it’s like I have something to talk about with the public and sometimes I screw up.
20. With whom did you want to sing and were not given?
– With Marc Anthony. Ever since I started, Marc Anthony has been one of the voices I like the most. There are so many more. (Luis) Fonsi is a beautiful singer, Pedro Capó, Christian Daniel, there are many singers I love but Marc Anthony was the first.
21. In which other country do you feel at home?
– In Orlando (Florida) that’s one country (laughs)! That means seeing all the people you met in Puerto Rico, but I guess in all the countries I’ve had the privilege to visit I don’t feel at home, but I’ve felt loved and welcomed.
22. What has enabled you to support yourself in these 25 years?
– I feel like I can assert myself because I was myself; That’s not a screen, that’s me since I started. What I said from the start is what I feel; What I sing is what I feel. I’ll never speak up and pretend I’m a thing if I’m not. I am real. I think being authentic was key.
23. If you gave a concert with your colleagues, who would you choose?
– I would take Jéssica Cristina, Olga, Gisselle, Milly, all because each of them was important, because I appreciate them all, because I think that although there are many who are not there, they have a spectacular talent and I’m very sorry for them that they don’t continue their career like they did at the beginning… That we would be together, it would be great to talk about our experiences and sing and remember at the same time.
24. If you were to do a collaboration with the urban genre, who would you do it with: Liza M, Karol G, Ivy Queen or Natti Natasha?
– I really like Karol G, not because she’s hot, but I like her voice; I like the way she sings and I don’t like her now, I like her since nobody knew her.
25. How would you like the public to remember you?
– I kind of fought for all the things I wanted (I feel like I’m dying, he commented) that people say: “In contrast, she shaped her music, she made me change my life , she helped me make some good decision to love me, value myself, not allow anyone to hurt me (cries)’ and that they say I’m a crybaby and that it’s not bad to cry, that crying is good because when you cry you loosen up so I hope it’s that legacy and that my son and grandson can say my grandma made a difference.