Kany García Gets Vulnerable on Her Latest Album

Over the past two decades, Kany García has been one of Puerto Rico's brightest music stars. She's also been one of the country's most prominent LGBTQ advocates, marrying her partner, Jocelyn Troche, in 2016, as well as advocating for social justice throughout the island.

García also recently took home the awards for "Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album" for her album García and "Best Singer-Songwriter Song" for the album's title track at this year's Latin Grammys.

On García, the 42-year-old gets vulnerable about where she's at mentally at this point of her career, having so much on her plate and still having the resiliency as a woman to move forward. The album features collaborations with artists like Edén Muñoz, Christian Nodal, and Carin León.

"I think that musically, I had that need to experience different tastes. I made a song with Christian Nodal, and I was fascinated by how I felt about regional Mexican music," she tells New Times. I said, 'I can't leave it here; it can't be just one song because I love how I feel here.' It's like when you go to a place, and you like it so much that you say, 'I'm going to come back next week.' That's how I came back with 'Te Lo Agradezco,' and that's when I said, 'I need to work with Eden because when people listen to the album, I want them to have more of this sound.'"

Mexican music is not the only thing García tapped into for this album. She worked with another LGBTQ icon, rapper-singer Young Miko. The two met in 2023 as participants in the Latin Billboard Week Women's panel.

"She told me, 'Let's collaborate,' and I told her, 'Yes, let's collaborate.' I was clear that I wanted to do something with her that wasn't her genre or mine. That's why I think that bachata was a way of meeting that was going to come naturally to us because we are both Puerto Ricans, and we have always been influenced by Caribbean music.

"I wrote this song, and I sent it to her. I left her space on the song, and I told her, 'Here, you can do what you want; I want people to hear you sing, too.' She loved the song, and she wanted to join in. She is a very talented girl. She loves challenges, and I think that was a key piece for the song to have the success that it did and that it still has."

As one of the biggest women in the Latin music industry, García is happy to see artists like Karol G and Young Miko topping the charts while making reggaeton and trap songs, genres typically dominated by men.

"We are starting to see women who will start off by making reggaeton. Then they make a cumbia, then they go on to make a trap song," she says. "We are in a moment of time where all the young women making music are so versatile and talented. I love to see that."
While García celebrates women, it also highlights García's personal struggles. Some of the most notable lyrics are on the title track, where she expresses the time and dedication her career demands and takes away from her social life, most notably with the line "Tengo miedo de que mi familia ya no llame/Porque de seguro Kany está de viaje." ("I'm afraid that my family doesn't call me/Because Kany is probably on a trip.")

"I'm trying to spend more time with my family, but it's complicated," García explains. "It happens to me a lot that sometimes a whole day goes by, and I don't receive a call from anyone, from any friend, from anyone. Sometimes, my friends and family will try to call, saying, 'I just don't know where you are, in what country you are, in what concert you are, if you're on tour, if you're not on tour.' It's hard, but I understand. But one also has to take small breaks and say, 'I need this,' to be able to be on stage."

Despite García being her most personal album ever, through her songwriting, she still makes life as a pop star relatable. The ways she connects with her audience are one of the reasons that García has enjoyed a successful career thus far.

"I try to think of people and look for a language that everyone can identify with. I try to look for things that either happen to me or happen to people around me. They are everyday things that happen to a lot of people, and those are precisely the ones I make songs about. Sometimes, there are very specific, complicated things that I say, 'I'm not going to make a song about this.' But there are things that happen that I say, 'Oh, this happens to so many people that it's so easy to think about this and turn it into music.' I go to the studio and sit down with other composers, and I start talking about what I lived that week or about what someone close to me is going through."

García is now back on the road, performing songs off her Latin Grammy-award-winning album to crowds. During these moments, she can tell the type of impact that her songs have on her fans. García says that while she's on stage, she sometimes absorbs the energy from her fans, whether it be good or bad, but she focuses on leaving it on the stage.

She experienced one moment of clarity when someone told her that she should smile more often when she was on stage.

"A colleague once asked me, 'Why don't you ever smile or laugh during your shows? Don't you enjoy it?'" she shares. "I responded, 'Of course I do!' But they explained, 'Sometimes, it seems automatic like you're not truly connecting with the music or the audience. If you enjoy it, show it — smile, really embrace the moment.'

"At first, I was taken aback, thinking, What's wrong with this guy? I do enjoy it. But the next time I performed, I realized I had been operating on autopilot, focused on pushing through the songs rather than being present. I started looking at the audience, noticing their signs and gifts, and paying attention to my bandmates' incredible solos. It taught me to embrace the now during my shows and to truly connect with every person, even those at the back of the room. I realized performances aren't just about giving. They're also about receiving the energy, emotions, and love from the crowd."