PREMIERE: Baby Yors Tackles Immigration Status Uncertainty in ‘Last Cigarette’ Music Video
Photo by Lorenzo Sisti.
Baby Yors masterfully melds his story as an artist and as an immigrant in the U.S. The rising Argentine singer-songwriter reflects on his journey in his cinematic music video for “Last Cigarette,” premiering exclusively on Remezcla today (Nov. 7). In the song, Baby Yors also pulls from his multicultural background by singing in Spanish and English.
“Singing in Spanish and English isn’t really something I think about — it’s natural, and it is how I live my life,” Baby Yors tells Remezcla through email. “At this moment, I feel like I can’t tell my story without both languages, without both places. I’ve now lived in Argentina and America for almost exactly equal amounts of time. Both make up who I am.”
Baby Yors hails from the town of Jujuy in Argentina. In his late teens, he moved to New York City and his burgeoning music career later led him to Los Angeles. In addition to singing and producing his own songs, Baby Yors is a visual artist, overseeing and executing his music videos himself.
“Selfishly, I enjoy what I do so much that I want to do it forever, and that is enough for me – to illustrate my feelings, thoughts, and experiences through art,” he says. “Not to sound dramatic, but art has become my religion. It’s just magical how intertwined it is with my life and how much it talks back to me.”
“Last Cigarette” is the latest single from Baby Yors’ sophomore album Americano, released in July. In the indie pop song, he sings about a point in his life when he was uncertain about continuing to chase his music dreams in the U.S. As an immigrant, it can be a struggle to obtain a visa, but in this heartfelt ballad, Baby Yors finds the drive to keep pushing forward.
“My green card was being processed for a second time, and I had had several visas in between,” he recalls. “It’s this feeling of, ‘Is it worth it? Is this it? Is this the end?’ The answer was that I had already built a life for myself in America. I have my chosen family here, and I do feel as American as I do Argentinian. Therefore, I did want to stay, and it was worth fighting for.”
The music video for “Last Cigarette,” directed by Baby Yors, has a very Americana vibe. It features picturesque shots of him in the California desert and downtown L.A. The video also includes an appearance from British artist and fashionista Daniel Lismore, who is wearing an extravagant outfit in front of a U.S. flag. It’s another visual representation of Baby Yors’ ambitious Americano album.
“It’s my journey,” he says. “You go to a country alone, you have nothing, and you build everything. This is a place that was built by immigrants and this is my story as an immigrant. The ramifications of my art in my life are so deep that it’s the very fabric of my life over which I function and grow.”
Check out the premiere of “Last Cigarette” below.