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Nobody knows this better than lifelong L.A. resident Lorely Rodriguez, also known as Empress Of.
Songs like What jot down of Girl Am I?
Nate Sloan: Lets start with Lorelei, one of the albums most personal tracks.
What does this song mean to you?I have been trying to write this song for years.
My name is Lorely, and I always get called Lorelei.
And the story of this song is kind of like my Jolene.
I had a thing with someone, and he had a girlfriend.
- And I, like, woke up in his house one day and found a womans shoe.
Damn.Yeah, and I was like, Okay, whose shoe is this?
And I always thought about how she must have felt.
Its not great knowing that someone else is going through that.
- So I just wanted to write that song.
When you listen to Lorelei, its bright, its poppy, its catchy.
One of my icons, Robyn, also makes sad songs.
Sad songs on the dance floor!
Im a fan, and I always look up who works on records.
I followed Umru and Nick Leon for years and wanted to work with them.
I think that theyre both doing interesting things in the dance space.
They DJ so much, and I think both of them approach it in different ways.
Nick makes future dance reggaeton.
And I just was like,I cant do that.
- Hes a G. R.C.
You said you feel like you cant make future dance reggaeton.
Why?I feel like Im really good at other things, you know?
But I also feel like my career can go in so many ways because Im sort of genreless.
So why not be influenced by an artist like that?
Or Umru, who has made so much music in thePC Musicschool.
But I dont make PC-sounding music.
I get in with Umru, and Im like, Lets write an Empress Of song.
Thats the beauty of collaboration.
There are other tracks on the album, like Feminine, when you sing completely in Spanish.
On previous albums, youve had some Spanish-language tracks, but this album feels like a real mix.
What inspired you to make a pivot toward a more multilingual sound?Making four albums.
I just found it to be the story of this record in a way.
I was in Miami with Nick Leon and I was very inspired.
I was, like, breathing it.
Another thing: This record is so vocally influenced.
So a lot of the drums on the record and on Cura are actually my voice.
I started this record with just beatboxing and microphones.
- Facil is so much my voice even the bass is my voice.
You cant even tell.Yeah, you cant, but maybe its subliminal.
It makes me think of the opening track, For Your Consideration.
And then chopping it up and pitching it until it sounds like a beat.
I was very inspired by BjorksMedullaand Caroline Shaw, whos a composer.
- I just love the voice.
You talked about Miami being an influence on this record.
What about the influence of Los Angeles?
The cover of this album features you straddling a shooting star with L.A. laid out behind you.L.A.
is always an inspiration, and I wanted to show it in a different way on this record.
The record is calledFor Your Consideration, and I saw those billboards my whole life.
That phrase has such a meaning in the entertainment industry.
And I was just like, you know what?
Im going to choose myself.
I just wanted to be tongue in cheek and have a little fun.
Because youre on a shooting star over the backdrop of L.A. and your albums calledFor Your Consideration!
My dream during that season is to have a For Your ConsiderationFor Your Considerationbillboard.
I dont know what you would call that.
Theres so many things.
The rhythm, the breaths.
I was listening to Britney Spearss How I Roll.
The joke of my career has been Empress of what?
That divine feminine energy and the space to create and to mother a project.
