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Angie Rose is a Bronx girl (yes, like Jennifer Lopez) who lives by her own rules – and has her own style. Inspired by the sounds of the church, Puerto Rico and New York City, it’s hard to put her in one specific category. “I started singing more. So now, I think I classify my sound as like urban, pop, rhythmic,” she told HOLA! USA! “I love drums. I love to go back to my island for beats. But I love the technicality of the pen for hip-hop. So maybe there's not a genre yet, but maybe I'm making one.” For Angie, it’s more than just the sounds. It’s all about words. Inspiration comes in many forms, but her biggest source is those who are around her. “I always say I try to live with my eyes wide open. I try to listen to people when they talk to me because I think everybody has a beautiful story to tell. Everybody carries a bit of inspiration if you pay attention.”
In this edition of New, Now, Latinx, Angie Rose tells us more about the music, if you’ll ever see her at Kanye West’s Sunday Service, how the road let her to philanthropy – and what’s next!
HOLA! USA: When did you get your start in music and what inspired your sound? Angie Rose: “I've been humming and stuff around the house since I was born. My second mom was straight from Puerto Rico and that's just what she did all day. I want to say from about eight, I started kind of penning graphs, trying to be like my big brother. In my early twenties is when I was like, I'm going to do this. I was born and raised in church, but also in the Bronx. So, we got pianos and organs and drums, but also hip hop. A Puerto Rican mom, so there comes the salsa and the merengue. All of that really combines together I think to create the sound that I have now.”
Are there any musicians that inspire you? “Tons! Mary J. Blige was always playing. Lauryn Hill was always playing. Víctor Manuelle, Marc Anthony. Then we got Mary Mary and Kirk Franklin and it's just, there's so many people. I always go back to my childhood fort the true references cause that's when I was in love with music just cause.”
What sets you apart from other musicians, whether they are in hip-hop, gospel, R&B or the Latin music space? “There's no other me. I only have my story and how I can view other people's.”
How much of an impact does your faith have in your music? “I look at my faith like a pair of lenses that I get to put on. So everything that I say or think or do is filtered through that lens. Jesus only spoke in parables, when he preached. I make my rhymes and my music my parables, I don't have to preach to you to tell you a truth.”
Since you’re so inspired by faith, how do you feel about Sunday Service? Could you see yourself having your own edition of it? “I'm so inspired. I love authenticity. I love people that can just tell the truth even if it's the truth that you found in this moment. I would love to do it. I was independent for a long time, so I think I learned really early on that church, or Sunday service, is the atmosphere you create.”
Let’s talk Infatuation. Is it based on one of your experiences? What made this the one that you wanted to put out? “I think it was one of the most authentic. I want to be me. I want to be able to tell my truth. I want to talk about a boy that was not the best for me and yet I'm still good and we still poppin'. Yeah. That's what Infatuation is. It's a letter to distraction. I learned to not be distracted by dating that boy, but now that same lesson applies to everything. If it's not the best thing for me, then maybe it's time to not be infatuated.”
What’s Next? “I honestly can't fully tell you, but I know it's going to be big. Just cause one, I got a big guy, but two, I'm aiming to work hard. I'm not the most talented, but I think I might be the most driven.