MONOGEM - “Dame La Fuerza”
Being bicultural often feels like being split in two: you aren’t enough of one or the other, so belonging is hard to come by. However, Monogem navigates her Mexican heritage as an L.A.-born woman by accepting that both are true; neither disqualifies the other.
Swathed in synths like silk ribbons, “Dame La Fuerza” feels soft, but trust, she’s wrapped up her point quite tightly: she takes a strong stance against feeling like a walking identity chasm. “Yo se que soy una pinche gringa,” she declares while, in the video, a smirk crawls across her face. The recurring “bienvenidos a mi vida” feels as much like a welcome as it does an invitation to leave her — and the work she’s put in towards acceptance of self — well alone.
Newcomers to Monogem should look back in her repertoire for more of this kind of empowerment. It’s embedded in her music, although never spoken so clearly until now. We look forward to what’s likely to be an even more direct address on Gardenia, Monogem’s upcoming bilingual album inspired by her abuela who, according to a press release, “she promised to never give up singing and speaking in Spanish.” — Jhoni Jackson