Photo by Cami on the Cam
Audio By Carbonatix
Argentine artists are no strangers to South Florida stages. From Gustavo Cerati before his death to Fito Páez and, more recently, Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso, Miami audiences are used to artists arriving from Buenos Aires or Rosario. But Cazzu represents a different Argentina entirely.
Born Julieta Emilia Cazzuchelli in Jujuy, a province in Argentina’s northwest region, the artist known as “La Jefa del Trap” is bringing her first solo U.S. tour to South Florida with a stop at Hard Rock Live on May 21.
Her latest album, Latinaje, blends cumbia, corridos, folk, merengue, tango, and urbano into a deeply personal project rooted in identity, migration, and Latin American culture. The album debuted at No. 4 on Billboard’s Latin Albums chart and earned international praise.
Cazzu chatted with New Times ahead of her local show, emphasizing that the experience feels transformative.
“Every city is different, the technology, the culture, the people, but when I step into the venue and start singing, it feels like I’m in the same place every time,” she says. “It’s like a capsule or a bubble traveling everywhere. I still don’t fully know how to explain it, but it’s as if I can capture the same essence in every city. It becomes this beautiful, eternal Latinaje that repeats itself with different people, but still feels warm and familiar.”
That immersive world-building is intentional. Cazzu describes Latinaje as an entire universe complete with theatrical elements and an accompanying novella that expands on the characters seen onstage.
“People can enter that story and understand the characters a little more,” she says. “The show has this theatrical moment that slowly breaks apart until they finally see Julieta come out and say hello.”
The themes behind Latinaje arrive at, as we know, a particularly charged moment in the United States, especially for Latino communities facing growing political tension and anti-immigrant rhetoric. For Cazzu, carrying Latin American culture into these spaces feels like a responsibility.
“It’s very important, not only for me, but for many Latin American artists who have the opportunity to be heard and loved,” she says. “There are people who feel pressured to even renounce their identity just to feel safe, and that’s something very sad.”
In that spirit, she sees Latinaje as both celebration and resistance. “I think Latinaje tries to be, in its fullest expression, a beautiful and proud piece dedicated to the Latin American people,” she says. “As someone from Jujuy, I also feel connected to communities that have historically been marginalized, even within Argentina itself.”
That perspective is part of what makes this tour distinct from the Argentine artists Miami audiences may already know. Cazzu represents northern Argentina, a region often overlooked in mainstream Latin pop conversations.
“When I first moved to Buenos Aires and started filling small theaters, I remember thinking how far away I was from where I came from,” she says. “Now we’re thousands of miles farther, and we’re still doing it.”
For her, stepping onto international stages as a woman from Jujuy carries enormous emotional weight. “We’re from that part of the country that people sometimes look at from the outside,” she says. “And suddenly it’s like, ‘Here I am. You think I’m cool? Well, I’m from Jujuy.’”
Those conversations about race, identity, and cultural belonging also shaped the making of Latinaje. Throughout the album, Cazzu experiments with traditional Latin American genres while refusing rigid ideas about authenticity.
“There was a time when I questioned whether I was even ‘allowed’ to connect with certain music,” she says. “Especially during that era of conversations around cultural appropriation.”
Ultimately, she stopped approaching genre with hesitation. “Music is a mixture of everything,” she says. “Without one thing, another thing wouldn’t exist. So I started treating it with love and respect, but without so much elitism.”
That freedom led her to trust instinct over formulas while recording. “Sometimes it’s not even that deep,” she says, laughing. “Sometimes it’s sensory. You hear something and think, ‘That’s salsa. I believe it.’”
Ironically, she says Latinaje ended up being the easiest album she’s ever made. “I grew up listening to this music,” she says. “The melodic paths and cadences felt natural to me. Urban music often feels like inventing something out of thin air, but with more traditional music, you already have this giant foundation supporting you.”
The result, she says, became a kind of emotional refuge.“I don’t know if it’s the best album I’ll ever make,” she says. “But for me, it’s a beautiful album to live inside of.”
South Florida remains one of the tour’s biggest unknowns. While Chicago already sold out, Cazzu says she has no idea what to expect from her first headlining show in Hollywood.
“I don’t know who’s coming, where they’re from, what their nationalities are,” she says. “Every place where people come to see me becomes the country of Latinaje.”
Still, the tour already marks a milestone for another reason: It’s the first extended run she’s doing alongside her young daughter.
“This is the longest tour we’ve done together,” she says. “I wanted to see how she would experience this life; the buses, the hotels, this whole traveling world.”
Away from the stage, the two spend time exploring parks, aquariums, and local attractions together between shows. “When music becomes your job, sometimes it can become stressful,” she says. “Coming back to what matters most reminds me to stay present.”
