Jarina De Marco wants you to love the skin you’re in. The Brazilian-Dominican singer highlights the beauty of body positivity in her music video for “Masa,” which is premiering on Remezcla today (June 28). De Marco teamed up with fellow Dominican acts Calacote and Mediopicky. In an interview, she talked about the refreshing collaboration and her upcoming debut album.
Since her debut in 2013, Jarina De Marco has always pushed musical boundaries. While embracing her multicultural background, she has expanded the sound of Latine music. With her new single “Masa,” De Marco playfully compares edible dough with “all the parts of you that overflow a little or a lot.” She channels body issues she has faced into an anthem that celebrates all types of bodies.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told my body needed to be smaller,” she tells Remezcla. “I’ve gone up and down in weight throughout the years. I’ve been on countless ‘lifestyle changes,’ aka diets. I’ve forced my body to be teeny tiny by giving up almost everything that brings joy to my taste buds. And for what? And for who? My body wants to be juicy. ‘Masa’ is a love letter to my ever-changing body. It’s a rejection of the infamous Kate Moss quote, ‘Nothing tastes as good as thin feels,’ and invites the listener into radical self-love.”
“Masa” is a mesmerizing song where De Marco also embraces the music of the Caribbean. She joined forces with her longtime producer Mediopicky and Calacote, who are both from the Dominican Republic. Calacote joins her in the dreamy music video for the dembow-driven track.
“It felt like home,” she says about the collaboration. “I’ve been working with fellow Dominican artist, producer, and writer Mediopicky for years now. We do months-long music-making marathons in L.A. He is one of the most forward-thinking artists coming out of D.R., period. Calacote is so captivating. He’s the new generation in the Dominican urban movement coming to us all with a fresh left-of-center lean and a multicultural lens that I’m so excited about.”
“Masa” will be included in De Marco’s first album, Caribbean All Inclusive Luxury, coming out on Sept. 1. She is also working on a documentary about Dominican folkloric music that she co-directed with Jessica Law.
“It’s a 10 no-skips body of work that flows between soft-power-reggaeton, house, dub, washed-out reggae, and samba that beckons you to a faraway island where fantasy is on tap and the rhythm needs no SPF,” she says. “I’m so excited about putting it out.”
De Marco is going to keep using her voice through her music. There will be more servings of food for thought to come in her genre-bending bops.
“It’s a privilege to be a working musician that gets to wake up every day and make music for a living,” she adds. “If my music brings you joy, puts you in the mood, and makes you question the status quo, well then, listen on.”
Check out the premiere of “Masa” below.
