We Got to Chat With Lila Downs and Ana Tijoux in NYC: Here’s What They Told Us

Feb 22, 2018
10:26 PM

Earlier today in NYC, Latino Rebels got to hang with two of our favorite artists, Ana Tijoux and Lila Downs. These two powerful and amazing women are in the city for a special concert Friday night February 23 at Playstation Theater. Here is the entire 20 minutes of video we recorded during our Facebook Live:

Here is some of what they told us:

“The problem we are living right now is not a local problem. It is a global problem. When you see the way borders are being built, or alambrados. They always repeat everywhere,” Tijoux said “I remember when I went to Nogales, Mexico. I crossed with a Palestinian friend and when we were seeing the wall, it was like, ‘this is Palestine, this is Palestine.’ Of course music right now is one way de denunciar what is happening to our people. Perhaps not only to denounce, but to think together.”

“The music definitely helps. I think music lets us express a lot of inner things that sometimes have no words,” Downs said. “I know that I’ve been saved by music. I’ve been at the point where I almost didn’t want to be here anymore, and a song saved me. ‘Gracias a la Vida’ [by Violeta Parra] saved me, even though it came from a woman who killed herself, in the end. But that song saved my life.”

Tijoux and Downs have collaborated on a song. It’s called “Tinta Roja,” and it’s cool af.

Our kind of day.