On the way to the ranch, the driver points to a statue in Villanueva: it is El Charro de México, on the back of his horse, raising his hands in the air with elegant equine pride. These lands of Zacatecas have their own name: Antonio Aguilar, the singer, the actor, the horseman who built his rustic empire with his wife, Flor Silvestre, the same, singer, actress, Amazon. The landscape is of soft and arid mountain ranges, cacti, from time to time a small hill in the shape of a Texan hat rises, as out of nowhere. The booby sticks are in bloom. The view is serene in the semi-desert route with winter sun. A little further on, at the top of a hill, a cross marks the Aguilar-Silvestre ranch, both of whom died. And there is still a bit to get to that of the son, Pepe Aguilar, singer and rider too. Charro.Next to the house is the old family farm, where uncles, brothers, cousins, all have built their houses on the inherited land. The church was handed over to the people.
The interest of the media today is Angela, the youngest daughter of Pepe Aguilar and Aneliz Álvarez, who already has a Grammy nomination and two Latin Grammy nominations, at 18 years old. From the age of eight he sang in the palenques and his long dresses were splattered with the blood of the roosters killed in the fight, the bloody bets that precede the traditional Mexican cante in these arenas. He says it without fright, although he admits that those fights are not his thing. She prefers dogs, there are 15 on the farm, each one sleeps with his own: three native xoloescuincles, five black pugs and as many other breeds. But the jewel in the crown are the horses. Educated in the Spanish high school, the Aguilar dance with them in their performances and sing corridos, mariachis, rancheras with the rump. Angela Aguilar has three, a giant black one,Caralinda, cinnamon with a white-stained face and blue eyes, and the little
Speedy
, a gift from the king of the ranchera, Vicente Fernández, who died on December 12 to the sadness of the entire country. “He was like my grandfather, he came to my funeral, he called me after the performances, he was always very good to me. I admired him as an artist ”, says the girl.
A gazebo at the entrance of the ranch announces Christmas with a nativity scene of large ceramic pieces. On the huge porch that surrounds the house there is a more modern one on a table, and a fir tree with red and gold balls. A large hall displays beautiful saddles on easels and family photos. The saga of artists is in shape. Angelita, as she is called at home, is presented with makeup for the photos, dressed for the street, with cowhide ankle boots (a new brand that she wants to promote), and a necklace and beaded earrings, an indigenous Wixarika craft from Zacatecas. As her records say, she is Mexican to the core, although she was born in Los Angeles, where the family usually lives. The pandemic returned them to the ranch and there they continue the marriage and the three children. Aneliz, the mother, is the one who puts order in the house, the one who connects them with the earth.Her daughter Angela is not separated from her, although she admits a predilection for her father: “We play backgammon, he is my producer, my musical director, I started with his hand”. Now she flies alone. He has more than seven million followers on Instagram. "Many eyes, yes, but what a father." His brother Leonardo also makes pininos in music, together with them.
Angela is a cuddly young lady. Very pretty. She is like a barbie (a doll in her image and likeness is part of her
merchandising
), with closets full of stage dresses and huge fancy nails that won't let her play the piano. An outgoing, chatty girl with a clean laugh, who rides her horses, kisses her dogs, and works to be an unforgettable name in the symphonic mariachi. She spends months away from home, performing with her father or alone, and on the family ranch she is building her own ranch, Moroccan style, with a ditch as a prelude to the porch. Sentimental, cheesy and
strawberry
(prick).
This is how it is defined.
From time to time, he blurts out terms and expressions in English, he has grown up in Los Angeles.
And every so often he questions his mother.
Speak up and laugh non-stop.
In his arms, oblivious to the interview,
Nina
, the pug bitch, who purrs like a cat, sleeps.
The singer, accompanied by her pet 'Niña'. Gladys Serrano
"I go to Spain about twice a year, I love it, and when I grow up I want to retire in Spain, I don't know if in Granada, which fascinates me," he says almost before turning on the tape recorder.
Ask.
But with these ranches, why Spain?
Is it going for something specific?
Answer.
Let's eat, literally, let's eat and eat.
Híjole, every time we go I have to tell the guy who makes my dresses to make them a little bigger, haha.
Q. You
continue with the tradition of your family, wouldn't you prefer to sing reggaeton?
R.
No, reggaeton I don't think is in my way, I like the ranchera, because it is difficult.
I don't want singing to be like waking up.
Each song should be an effort, it is the only way to honor your audience.
I tried to sing other genres, when I was little, but they were done without a joke.
I admire Rocío Dúrcal, Lola Beltrán, Jorge Negrete, Rosita Quintana.
And obviously my dad, Pepe Aguilar.
I wanted to be like the seed of the popular song so that people would continue to sing it.
P.
Well, it does not seem that there is much generational change in these genres.
R.
I think that three or four years ago, with Christian Nodal, the youth movement began, but it was not born with the right intentions, but because he had a million views on You Tube and they wanted to try to do something like that, not because the love of mariachi.
Q.
Are you aware of the news, do you know, for example, that the State of Zacatecas has just approved equal marriage?
R.
I am extremely in favor of human rights, the right to be who you want to be.
Mexico is a society ... ["Mom, I'm going to say something horrible, don't be angry," she says to her mother, sitting on the couch]: macho, Mexico is an extremely macho society, but a machismo that is in the blood of the Mexicans.
And it makes me super bad.
P.
The lyrics of your songs are also macho, they could be from the time of your grandmother.
R.
I have sung of everything.
I am a
binary woman
, but that I live in a certain way does not mean that I do not support the rest.
But yes, the genre I sing is very macho,
Paloma negra
,
La Chancla
, my first hit, is a bit macho.
Q.
Wasn't it like the Lola Flores clan, who woke up the children at dawn to sing to their friends?
A.
I used to sing in the palenques when I was eight years old, and there it begins at 12 at night and ends at three in the morning.
I also sang the United States national anthem for Barack Obama at Antonio Banderas' home.
P.
What a party.
R.
Yes, they have made me sing in places with important people, presidents, governors.
When Obama was very young, my parents did go there, haha.
The American national anthem, I mean, for the love of God, someone explain to me why they let a girl do that, haha.
Q.
Count, count.
A.
In Mexico I have sung at the president's house ... What was the name of that president, Mom?
That's right, Felipe Calderón, who is a friend of my uncle.
Also for the mayor of Los Angeles, various governors.
With Rubén Blades, the Dodgers, Fito Páez.
Oh, I don't know why they made me do these things, haha.
Q.
Hey, and you don't look like daddy's girl?
R.
I think it was before, right?
Right now not so much.
I've always gotten along very well with my dad.
We are more connected, we are very sentimental.
Yes, I think I am a daddy's girl, really.
The young artist, in the closet where her father keeps his costumes for presentations.Gladys Serrano
Q.
Does it look strawberry?
R.
It is going away, right?
But I am very cheesy in general, I am like a good girl.
On the walk through the farm, mother and daughter show a small museum where they keep the charro costumes that Grandpa Antonio used in his performances, those of his son Pepe, all beautifully embroidered and with silver buttons in the shape of bull's heads. or with the iron of the family, which also adorns the bars of the house.
The suits weigh more than the horses would like.
There are also the dresses from Angela's shows, some given by her aunt and those inherited from her grandmother.
Q.
You like to wear those big dresses.
R.
Oh sure, since I was little.
There you go: the wife of Marco Antonio Solís [the singer], who is like my uncle, gave me pink high-heeled boots. At the age of six, my mother was very angry, and in the shower she didn't even want to take them off.
And she wore a leopard tutu with a sparkly top and went to the super dressed as a princess.
I've always liked being like an eternal quinceañera.
And now I am.
Ángela Aguilar, who begins her third solo tour in March, says that she is not aware of everything about current affairs, but that she knows what is important.
P.
What interests you in general, politics, the environment?
R.
Híjole, politics not so much, because I just get angry and do nothing about it.
But the environment has me very worried.
Global warming is not an invention, as the president said that I liked so badly.
I have taken courses on that, in class I planted the food that I ate at school.
I don't like the
world of
fast fashion
, I try to buy
vintage
or unique pieces.
There are many brands that I do not support, but, as the political opinions I can not say.
I support the education of the people so that everything changes.
P.
What does current Mexico lack to be better?
R.
Hi, that question is very difficult.
Mexico is abundant in many things, traditions, values, family.
We need a lot of support and initiative to be able to get children off the streets.
I recorded a video of a girl whose father wants to marry a very old man, and I thought he knew the problems in Mexico and I am still in
shock
, I have learned that in some towns women are still being sold, and I had no idea.
So there are other problems that you don't even see, not just the children on the streets.
But I bring everything back to consciousness, there is money in Mexico, one of the richest people in the world lives here, Carlos Slim, who is like my uncle.
P.
Like your uncle.
R.
Literal.
We do not need money, we do not want, awareness yes, and learn and continue learning and try to grow and help, and the future is the children and we must leave them a good future.
P.
Zacatecas is one of the states with the most violence and deaths in Mexico.
R.
It gives me tremendous sadness, it breaks my heart. I am a cultural ambassador for Zacatecas. But I also see the initiative of the governor, the police that are being added, to calm a little the fight between the cartels. Zacatecas will always be my home and I hope people feel safe leaving home. Is very ugly. Mexico is very rich in many things and very poor in others. It has not helped us to be on the side of the United States with drugs and weapons. When they said they caught El Chapo, people believed that drug trafficking was ending. Obviously not. Like when Vicente Fernández dies, Mexican music does not end. That is the situation we are in. It is a real tragedy, but I believe that the Government is doing what it has to do; It has to do much more, but it is supporting municipalities and cities,They are commanded a lot of the Army. I hope that everything gets better.
Ángela Aguilar, in the stables at her family's ranch in Tayahua.Gladys Serrano
The walk through the old farm, led by the mother, stops at the stables.
There comes the most strawberry and the most authentic Angela, perhaps.
He is screaming excited when he sees his horses and asks the men who groom them to take out their favorites to show them nicely to the visitor.
He lifts their paw and measures the hoof with the palm of his hand.
The black horse is huge, giant, like the ones the father uses in performances, because Pepe Aguilar is two meters tall, more or less.
There is also a pony.
Other horses poke their heads through the gates, black, white, cinnamon.
Beautiful and impressive.
"Everyone here is very spoiled," says the mother.
It is time for lunch, on tablecloths in bright colors of Mexican blankets, clay dishes are already spread out.
"Mom,
I'm so hungry
."
But the father has not arrived yet.
When everyone sits at the table, they talk about music, what else?
From his projects, from other singers, from the current industry.
The father says goodbye after dessert and a cigarette: "You are at home."
And Aneliz and her daughter also go out to say goodbye to the visitors, warmly, as are the townspeople, as are the charros.
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