Mexican-American Singer Lila Downs

Downs Performing on Stage ((liladowns.com))

==Mixed Blood==

When attempting to understand the intricate topic of Mexican pop culture both here and there, there is no figure as inclusive as singer Lila Downs. Her mother was a Mixtec American-Indian from Oaxaca, Mexico, and her father was Scottish- and English-American.((http://www.xispas.com/music/downs.htm)) As a result, Downs had a colorful upbringing. She spent the early years of her life in Oaxaca, but then moved to California. She subsequently went to college in Minneapolis, Minnesota–the hometown of her father. After college, she moved to Oaxaca once again.((http://www.xispas.com/music/downs.htm)) As a result, Downs has the cultural sentiments of both a Mexican and a Mexican-American. For this reason, Downs’s music serves as a perfect example of both Mexican and Chicano art, as her music embodies the tenets of both forms.

Though Downs is not quite a Chicano (as she is not the child of immigrants, she is simply mixed), she frequently speaks of her cultural confusions in the same vein that Chicanos do (including in her music). Which is to say that she was presented two cultural perspectives through which to view the world and didn’t know which to choose.((http://www.xispas.com/music/downs.htm)) This is the result of her frequent shuffling around. Downs’s experiences and music have provided a voice for Chicanos displaced by cultural duplicity.

==Cultural Roots of Downs’s Music==

Downs’s parents influenced her professional life as much as they influenced her personal life. Her mother was a cabaret singer, and her father was an art professor and cinematographer.((liladowns.com)) Downs grew up to be just as creative as her parents, and used her artistry to understand her cultural background. For instance, Downs’s music can most easily be described as a blending of Mexican folk music with American jazz.((http://www.xispas.com/music/downs.htm)) That said, some of her music is included in the Ranchera genre, which is a form of Mexican folk music popularized during the Mexican Revolution.((http://www.xispas.com/music/downs.htm)) Though thoroughly modern, Downs is an artist in the same vein as those during the Mexican Revolution, in that she always seeks to include influences rather than exclude them. This frequently involves clothing influenced by native Mexican Indian groups.

Downs in Concert ((http://lafreebee.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/lila-downs.jpg))

The concept of using roots from Mexico’s culturally rich native groups and blending it with various other influences from around the world is one that was asserted during the Mexican Revolution and can frequently be seen in the artwork of painters Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera–artistic influences of Downs.((Habell-Pallan, Michelle. Loca Motion: The Travels of Chicana and Latina Popular Culture. NYU Press (2005).)) Therefore, it is no surprise that she did many songs for the soundtrack of the film, “Frida,” including the following one, “Burn it Blue.”