Rivera thriving with banda career

By: JAMES CURRAN - Staff Writer | Wednesday, July 5, 2006 5:32 PM PDT ∞

She was accommodating enough to discuss her career in English, but describing Jenni Rivera's life as a banda singer-songwriter comes down to one word: paradoja.

The major paradoxes of Rivera's life are half as numerous as the eight albums she's released: the businesslike college graduate who enjoyed picking fights in the alleys of Long Beach as a teen, the tomboy who became a sex symbol, the woman who grew a fan base in a male-dominated Latino genre, the bilingual speaker who is so popular among her people that her record company has no desire to see her become a crossover artist.

"I'm telling you, I'm weird," she said with a laugh. "I just happened to fall into this career."

Rivera will get a chance to celebrate her peculiarities with some of her closest fans Friday at Pechanga Resort & Casino. She's calling the concert a birthday bash, because her birthday was July 2.

It'll be a popular place on the stage. For those not familiar with Latin music, a banda band can feature as many as 18 musicians. She said the big presentation was something that made an impression on her as a child.

"It's been around since the 1930s or something like that," she said. "Banda and mariachi do it for me. It must be the horns that get to me, but then, it's also the whole feel for what Mexican music is. It's instilled in me. It's natural. It brings a certain vibe."

Yet, the impression wasn't deep enough to seek out a career in performing. She said she got good grades in high school and was quite content being a real estate agent as a young woman. Even now, she has a real estate office in Corona.

Ultimately, her family nudged her toward music. Some of her earliest creations were sold by relatives, perhaps at swap meets or through word-of-mouth.

"I'd give my dad an album, he'd slap my face on it and he'd sell some copies," she said. "Once I started selling music, I was there to stay."

The business administration student took a different approach to banda. The style is overwhelmingly male, which Rivera said is indicative of Latin culture.

"I decided that what I was going to do was reach people just like me, a female fan base," she said. "I heard there are always more females in the world than men, so I figured, I've got to get women.

"The history of so many artists in our culture is to seem larger-than-life, unaccessable. I wanted to be me. How I acted and how I speak ended up being key to my success because (there are) the Chicano girls who are Mexican-American, listen to hip-hop ... and still have the Mexican culture."

Rivera said unlike other Mexican artists, who make their name in their homeland before expanding to the United States, she was surprised to find out her music reached the ranches in some of the more remote parts of Mexico.

"My Spanish, people can identify with it," she said.

Her next steps could become curious choices. She said she wants to transition back into business. However, she also wants to honor her contract with her recording company. She has two discs left to record on that deal and was working on music for one in mid-June.

She said she was also kicking the idea of English-language music around, which could broaden her audience or backfire and alienate her core fans.

"I have recorded 13 R&B tracks already," Rivera said. "I could do the Alicia Keys thing, the Beyonce thing. I don't want to be 60 and say 'I wish I had done that.'

"My label doesn't want me to do that. They don't want to lose what they have. I'll think about it, see if I finish it. The genre I'm in is completely different. (The label) wants to keep me in it and so do my people, frankly."

One thing that also hasn't surprised her about different cultures is that ---- contrary to what idealistic artists would contend ---- music doesn't always break down barriers between people. If so, Rivera said traditional Mexican music would have eased some of the sting in the recent immigration debates.

Anti-illegal immigration advocates may enjoy her music, she said, but the beliefs run deep on both sides.

"It doesn't surprise me because that's how we are as people," she said. "It is kind of weird. I think just like how our food has extra spices, we have a certain spice we bring to life and we pass it on. I think we have to understand that not everybody can come across, but if everyone had to leave, the state would just fall apart."

Jenni Rivera

When: 8 p.m. Friday

Where: Pechanga Showroom, Pechanga Resort & Casino, 45000 Pechanga Parkway, Temecula

Tickets: $55, $65 and $85

Info: (951) 303-2507