Meet Erika Renée

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Erika Renée. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Erika below.

Erika, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

After raising my children and graduating from a university myself, I felt a little lost; like I couldn’t find myself or my life’s purpose. I always knew I wanted to be a dentist but after not being accepted a few times into a dental school, I was uncertain if that was what my purpose in life was. I decided to take a break from my studies and seek an emotional outlet. Before I graduated I was doing karaoke with my family and then with friends to release some stress from school. I believe it was prior to my graduation, I started to write down my emotions which led to me writing and creating my first hit single “Tu Chaparrita.” After my first song experience I immediately knew I found my purpose in life: to be a singer/songwriter. I continued to seek and build my own career path in music just like my previous musical idols. It became a journey, a difficult one, but I know it was the right one for me. My music career officially began in 2019 and took off internationally after I released my 7th single “Un beso.” I was contacted by an amazing Public Relations Team from Mexico, lead by Juan Carlos Vargas, with whom I started working professionally. I feel so blessed to have a professional team in Mexico that understands my vision and motivate me to be creative in every aspect of my music. He and his team (whom I call my music family) know my purpose in music and help guide me in the right direction to continue on my music journey. I will forever be grateful to my team for all their hard work and dedication to my vision and purpose, as well as all our fans that help make this journey worthwhile and possible!

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am originally from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico but was raised in the United States of America. I love sharing my culture and writing and singing Mexican love cumbias. I also write songs in the Regional Mexican genre such as Banda, Banda Norteña, Norteño, Tejano, Mariachi and others. When writing a song, I usually come up with the melody and lyrics and send the project to the producer who then decides what musical elements will be accompanying the aforementioned. Sometimes I may suggest to the producer my ideas are as far as the song development. Diego Garcia from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico is the music producer I am currently working with. He understands my vision and helps me stay focused on my sound and does an excellent job in everything he does. Currently, we are getting ready to release a new single written by two very important Mexican songwriters Gilberto Abrego and Felipe de Jesús Jr. The single will be released on July 1, 2025 on all digital platforms as well as a music video to go along with it. My team and I are very grateful that we have an opportunity to work on this beautiful project and we are very excited to be able to share it with you and our fans!

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I believe it is very important to stay consistent especially in the music industry because you want to keep that momentum going to keep yourself in the public’s eye, as well as your music in the listener’s ear. Once you lose that momentum, I feel that it may be difficult to get it going again, although still possible.
When I began my music journey, I started it with my mother by my side. I believe it was when I was getting ready to release my fourth single “Me alejé de ti,” my mother passed away. She had been going through this musical journey with me and then suddenly I had to continued alone. It was devastating to me because I shared everything with her from my lyrics, to laughs, to sad moments, and now she was no longer there. I decided to take some time for my family and myself to grieve, but in the midst of grieving, I still wrote songs to try to ease my pain of her passing. Writing really helped me release some of those emotions and be able to continue on my path, which brings me to my next quality.

I was once told by a professional in the music industry that regardless of how I felt, to continue writing. So, I did. There were moments where I felt disconnected, where I felt sad and depressed, deeply emotional, and sometimes happy. Writing during my most vulnerable moments was a type of therapy for me, and I feel I was able to write songs that people would be able to connect with—a type of storytelling if you will. I don’t just like to jot down something because it seems to rhyme. I like to tell a story whether it’s a happy story, a sad story, a silly story, a story that is true or not, but if it rhymes that’s just a plus for me! I firmly believe people like hearing stories, especially when it’s a story that they can connect with, although there are times when we just feel silly so we start writing songs that are silly and fun, even some that just don’t make any sense. Of course, you also want to write something that is appealing and possibly catchy in tune or catchy in emotion to help people get into a mood or get through their mood.

My advice to folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these qualities or skills is to just start—even if you think it’s too late for you, learn and be receptive to advice passed on by the music experts, and most importantly have fun!

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

When I feel overwhelmed, I try to listen to my emotions and write them down on paper. It doesn’t always have to matter whether it rhymes or not, or if it has form or not. Just write! Sometimes words will flow, other times you can go back and make it flow. When I finish writing, I feel a sense of relief and calmness, and if I finish the song and it actually sounds good, I feel even better and completely forget about the initial overwhelming feelings.

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Image Credits

Juan Carlos Vargas

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