Young Miko: “My greatest achievement in life is telling my dad that working is over”

Young Miko (Añasco, Puerto Rico, 26 years old) doesn't know what impostor syndrome is. When he asks about him, she narrows her eyes and slowly shakes her head. “I don't know…” she answers, doubtfully. After describing the burden of feeling like a fraud and that haunts millions of women, the 26-year-old Puerto Rican singer and songwriter, who in the last five years (she began uploading songs to YouTube in 2018 and in 2022 released her first

single

from her dazzling career) has released fifty songs with Bad Bunny, Karol G (for whom she has been the opening act), Bizarrap, Bad Gyal, Tokischa, Nicki Nicole, J Balvin... she shakes her head again. She has none of that. Before being one of the most listened to artists of the moment (she doesn't like to establish herself as a reggaeton artist, rapper, trapper...), María Victoria Ramírez de Arellano Cardona was many other things. Añastro's girl, daughter of a seamstress, the middle sister between two boys, the lover of manga and anime who knows that if she goes to Japan she will not want to return (miko is a priestess in Japanese), the professional soccer player, the dedicated art student who finished university just to please her parents, the tattoo artist who painted the skin of half an island (she called herself Samurai Miko), the girl who uploaded her music to SoundCloud, the young woman who doesn't want to stop sharing house with her friends, the

queer

icon who loves to step on stage or, now, the image of the latest campaign for Loewe Paula's Ibiza collection.

He's only 26 years old, he's gone to university, he's had a profession... and in a couple of years he's made a name for himself in music. How and when did all this happen?

It's been so fast that I feel like I'm sort of coming to grips, processing things from months ago. As I get to know other artists, I realize that it is quite normal for it to be a very fast and busy life. Right now you're asking me what I did yesterday and I have to think, because we do so many things every day that... Oh my God!

They sometimes refer to you as the female Bad Bunny. What do you think?

I'm obviously Young Miko, but I understand the compliment and appreciate it. Benito is amazing, very loving, very talented and I love that he is from Puerto Rico. I felt very comfortable with it, I loved it.

And in this industry, is female camaraderie noticeable?

One hundred by one hundred. Noticeable. I consider Kany, Villana, who is our baby, friends, Karol, I adore her!, Nicki Nicole, Cazzu, who sometimes writes to me: “I hope you are well, I send you a hug.” Yes, there is [sorority]. Maybe it is not seen, but it exists and it is felt, I have been lucky enough to feel it. Also professionally, I absorb, I am a sponge.

Are your lyrics feminist?

Feminism at the end of the day is not so much equity, it is more justice, I feel, and freedom of expression and doing what comes out of your ovaries, without feeling afraid of anything and in a safe space. But I think that standing in front of a microphone and saying that I like girls is quite feminist, but yeah, I try not to think about it, actually.

Who are your influences?

A little of everything. My dad loved rock in English. The Police. AC/DC, Pink, The Beatles, Bob Marley, Bon Jovi, Paul McCartney, U2... I was very little, but that's what we had in the car, me singing

Hotel California

without knowing what the hell they were talking about [laughs] . And mommy loved rock in Spanish: Kany, La Quinta Estación, Julieta Venegas, Paulina Rubio, Maná, Jarabe de Palo, Abba too... Some really badass bands. That's my

playlist

almost daily. And then my older brother and an older cousin: Tupac, Nash, Souls of Mischief, The Fugees. There I start to make my own soup and discover women like Lauryn Hill, Gwen Stefani, Fergie...

He drinks very pop music...

I love Dua Lipa, Miley Cyrus, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, I saw them in concert. Anderson Paak, Bad Gyal, I know all his songs.

If you could collaborate with someone completely different than yourself, who would it be?

If I do anything with Juanes I break down, I die. Me giving big ideas, eh? And SZA, and Doja Cat. I can imagine singing with Van Gogh's Ear. And make a ballad like Julieta Venegas [hums]: “You are for me, the wind told me.”

How do you handle your foray into music at home?

I remember telling my mother that I wanted to do music and it was: “My God, María Victoria, I'm going to get gray hair because of you, finish studying.” The diploma is the only thing my parents have asked of me in life. I remember mom talking to my younger brother and him saying: “But why are you surprised, why are you scared? If everything she has done has turned out to be a bastard. She got into

soccer

and played on the national team, she became a tattoo artist and tattooed all of Puerto Rico. Now she wants to be a singer: she is going to do well! And my mom: “You know what? You're right". I am very lucky to have such good parents.

There Miko denies imposter syndrome. “Look at how I'm sitting,” she laughs, with her legs crossed Indian-style, half lying down. “I think being in the closet for a long time was enough, not anymore.”

Has it been in the closet for so long?

As a little girl you don't know... How the hell are you going to come out of the

closet

without being completely sure! You are understanding. They taught you one thing, your body and mind say another, your heart says another. It's a super mega process. And I never had a gay person in my life. You start to mature, you enter adolescence, you get to university, you leave home and your mind kind of opens up. You say: “My God, how come I have been suffering all this time if nothing happens?” I've made my peace with that and it's the best thing I've ever done.

And his parents? Did that cost you?

I couldn't help but think: “My God, what are others going to say” or “Bless me! My parents this and that”, or if they are going to accept me, if someone feels the same, if I am going to find someone who likes me... Everyone has their battles, it is important to choose and know where to put your energy. At first it wasn't easy at all. My parents are not bad people, they had to unlearn to learn again, and thank God they love me so much that it was like: “No, I want to understand, I know that nothing is happening.” Now my dad watches

RuPaul's Drag Race

because he knows my brother loves it. That's great.

He knows he has become an icon...

That word weighs on me a little, yes. But for the better. It makes me feel like I have a lot of responsibility, a nice responsibility. I'm sure there are responsibilities that aren't as fun. Sometimes it's hard for me to process, partly because I grew up so free. A perfect example: I wanted to play basketball when I was very little and there was no women's league in western Puerto Rico. My dad, very innocent, told me: “Well, go play with the kids.” Since you are little, nothing seems abnormal to you, it doesn't seem like it shouldn't be done. When I go out on stage with a flag microphone, when I say out there that I am like this, I am like that, it is because it came out to me. I try not to let go of that little girl that you have inside, that she doesn't mince words, she doesn't think about things that much, if she feels good she does it. Sometimes I try to let it guide me.

He has said that rest is just as important as work. Have you ever said enough is enough?

I don't know if to the point of "no more, I'm going to go crazy", but yes, for example, last year with our first world tour we realized that six

shows

in a row, six days is like... go to hell! She was very tired. When I opened Karol G's tour in the United States, I was doing my tour in Latin America. I went from Costa Rica to Chicago, from Chicago to Guatemala, from Guatemala to Boston. Like a ping-pong. There were shows that almost didn't arrive, flights were canceled and fans waited hours. Karol came to save our lives, God bless Karol, because he lent us his private plane. She didn't have to do that, she is a queen, she deserves everything in this life. And we said: never again do two tours at the same time.

What did you think when you received the proposal to star in a fashion campaign?

When I was little, sometimes I would see magazines and say: “Ugh, being on a cover would be stupid.” So when I received this proposal I was shocked. I am a big fan of fashion. Loewe is having a very big moment and among the past models were Karol, Bad Gyal. I said yes one hundred percent.

You manage your own social networks. Does it make you anxious?

Sometimes yes. No matter how much one doesn't want to, he is still human. And sometimes you read something you didn't want to and it's like wow, and it's one comment among millions. It's choosing your battles, where you put your energy. I use TikTok, but sometimes I even forget that I enter my network as myself, as Young Miko [laughs], I get videos of dogs and funny things, I forget, I am entertained.

Thanks to his musical career, he brings financial stability to his family. How does he live it?

If you ask me what has been my greatest achievement in recent years, with everything we have done: buying a car, buying a house, traveling here, selling out

,

I choose Tell my dad that work is over [gestures, excited].

Is your family your priority?

Clear. I don't need a mansion. And I don't need a Porsche right now. I am happy in my guagüita [stroller]. I am happy in my apartment. Eventually... things will grow and some will have to change. But I'm calm where I am, I'm not in a hurry.

Wow, who wants a simple life...

I swear, sometimes I think things like: “I don't want to attract attention.” If I go out in a Porsche, a tinted Ferrari, son of a bitch, everyone is going to be looking at the car!: “Let's see who's going to get out of there…” versus going out in a guagüita, a quieter car that no one pays attention. It's even safer. And anyway, if I'm traveling so much it's parked there, collecting dust. When I'm a little calmer and want to buy a little toy for fun, then I'll do it. But I don't see myself moving out of Puerto Rico for a long time. Why am I going to buy a house somewhere else that is not my home? Resting in Miami versus resting in Puerto Rico, my parents just an hour away, my brother lives near me, the beach, the mamposteao rice, the mofongo, the yellow ones...

What does it look like, not in 10 years but in two?

I want to feel the same as I feel now. Calm, happy with what I am doing, growing and evolving. I want to look to the side and continue seeing my children. May daddy and mommy remain calm, may they be retired.

EQUIPMENT

Styling Marc Forné 

Makeup Jonuel Nader 

Pablo Macías Hair Salon (Prima Talent) 

Local production Emmanuel Tanner (Eiger Agency) 

Production Cristina Serrano  

Styling assistant Gabriela Alvarado