Diandra Interviews Tomasa Del Real: Loving Sex, Music, And The Internet

Tomasa Del Real is going from Chile to the world with a Reggaeton/ Perreo mix that, frankly, sounds naughty. For her, there is nothing wrong with saying you love sex, your body, this world, or whatever you like as long as it is in love. Her sultry songs and sheer lyrical promotions of getting “down” with your partner are backed by a woman with a strong mind, voice, and opinion about this world. 

Diandra: They call you the “Queen of Neo-Perreo.” How does it feel to be called a queen and the beginning of a musical movement? 

Tomasa Del Real: I love it! I never planned, but I earned that crown. I have put so much energy and hard work into my giving my music to the world. I think we are succeeding because we came from uploading video to doing gigs in LA that are back by Red Bull. It makes me think that this movement was needed in terms of Alternative Reggaeton music. I always said we were like Monster High. You go to the club, and you will find the Barbies, but you will also find the freaks like me. You have the Kens of Reggaeton like, Daddy Yankee, who is wonderful, but we give the “freakies” another, new music option to listen to. 

Diandra:  How do you think Neo-Perreo represents your country’s culture? 

Tomasa Del Real: Well, I do not think my music represents my country’s culture as much as the Internet as a culture. The internet is a country, and there we do not need censorship, video production studies, or even labels backing you. I think the internet is the master key for this generation. Before artists were tied to what the music industry wanted or asked from us. Yet, Reggaeton shook that up; that “Disney” world mentality of love is perfect and heartbreak does not hurt. My hit song is “Ahora Soy Peor Por Ti” (Now, I’m Worse Because of You). Who is not worse after a breakup? Who feels like a better person when heartbroken? I think Reggaeton and Trap got closer to us, the people, and ate everything up. 

Diandra: You mention that Perreo and Reggaeton are for the people. You think that is why governments are so against this genre? 

Tomasa Del Real: Definitely! Governments have a weird interpretation of things; as if music can make people do things. Yet, are they going to start censoring video games? In a video game, you can actually kill a person and commit that act, or, in a movie, you see it. A song is only talking about such things, and how it is a reality for people. I don’t know why governments have an obsession with censoring music, but I think it’s about money. I’m sure they get paid off by movie and video game companies, but the music industry is more difficult to control because artists are more difficult to control. You cannot own or buy an artist. 

Diandra: Do you think that, maybe, it is that governments do not want to know about the realities of the poor? 

Tomasa Del Real: I think its that they do not want the people to know their realities. Reggaeton’s lyrics are strong. They talk about how women and men really treat each other, and that aggrandizes the people because we do not need modesty. We don’t need them (the government) to tell the people who they are, and then the people start asking questions about who is our government. Back in the day, in Chile, we had a dictatorship, and thousands of people were disappeared and no one talked about it. Today, in the internet, someone kills a cockroach and we all know about it. The Internet gives people equality. 

Diandra: I have to ask, as a woman, you always get questioned, “How does it feel to be a woman in Reggaeton.”  Does the question in, itself, frustrate you? 

Tomasa Del Real: Yeah. I don’t think you should ask anyone how does it feel to be woman, man, or trans. I think you should ask instead how do you feel about such things. The way the question is asked, to me, comes from ignorance, and a lack of knowledge on how to ask someone what you really want to know about them. It’s like you do not go up to a man, and say how does it feel to have a penis? Would you ask me how my menstruation is going? When a reporter asks me how does it feel to be a woman in Reggaeton I say, “Great! It’s a dream! I love it!” 

Yet, I take it with humor because I think it is about how now we are trying to make a path for women. It’s like when black people were allowed into universities, and I’m sure someone must have asked them, “How does it feel to be black and in university?” His response must have been “The same as with you! Everything is a process, and I slowly have to find my way.” In truth, It does not bother me too much, but it is weird and unusual. It’s like having a reporter ask you all the time about your mom, and you say, “Do you want to know about my work?!”

Diandra: When I hear your music, you are so strong in voice and thought. Has Reggaeton empowered you in terms of your body, sex, and love? 

Tomasa Del Real : Yes, I believe Reggaeton is a social lubricant. The internet is great, but it does distance us from “touch”. Reggaeton lubricates our coldness to being touched. You have a few drinks and you hear that sexual music, you will, probably, leave the club with someone. It makes us say to each other things we, otherwise, would not dare like, “Dale Don Dale!” In a dancefloor, you can say that and check if you like someone. 

Society needs Reggaeton to remind it that we are animals, that we are warm-blooded, and we need a Ritmo Latino. It’s great to be educated, but we cannot be robots. We have to remember that we have hormones and emotions, and Reggaeton opens up us to love. It asks us to not think, just dance. It takes away the formality, and it makes explicitness contagious.

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