Paula Cendejas: "Being on social networks has nothing to do with being an artist"

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Paula Cendejas (Madrid, 1995) is living what many would consider a dream. Just two years ago I was taking turns at a car parts factory while studying Business Administration and Management. His free time was spent sharing hundreds of covers on Instagram singing songs from the artists he admired most.

One day, producer Alizzz (creator of Rosalía's successes, Becky G or Aitana) proposed to him to leave that parallel life and launch his own career under his Whoa! (Warner Music). And now she is the artist they pay to listen to. More than half a million listeners do it every month on Spotify . And that still has no album on the market. Of course, his latest single, Como habla una mujer , already has the collaboration of C Tangana .

Q.- How has your life changed in two years?

R.- Facing inside I am Paula, the same as always, who is a madwoman who goes without fixing, although it seems a lie, and she does not care about everything. But it has changed me in that perhaps I take a little care of what I do from doors to the outside. I care more, for example, a disco night. I try to control a little bit and I'm lightning. But I try to take it in the best possible way and, above all, surround myself with the same people. I have new friends, I have my team, whom I also consider friends, but I think the people who have been with you from the beginning are the ones who really know you 100%.

Q.- You give up your life and start a career as an artist in a sector where there are not many young women who are making noise. Festivals, music charts ... there are always men at the forefront

R.- I think it is a problem that not only happens to us in Spain, it happens in the whole world. A lot happens in the Latino movement. How many singing women are there who are on top? Three? Four? It's very complicated. It is true that I feel that it is a little bit macho world and that it still happens to us in everything, not only in the music industry. But I always try to support national talent and more if they are women. For example, I have as references Aleesha, who is very cool and is emerging. I love Deva too. I think we are starting to get out a few. Bad Gyal has already hit its boom but it was also emerging doing nothing. It is something to be fought for and we are working on it. And, above all, supporting each other because it is something super important. In the end in this industry we either support each other, or it is much more complicated to get there.

Q.- Are there many tripping along the way?

A.- There are many trips, there are many problems and above all it is what is behind the industry. What you see is very beautiful. You watch a super cool video and a cool song that you like. But what is behind it is a very complex daily work. Teamwork, agreeing with each other and that in the end is something you have to learn. I have spent six years doing covers in my room, alone, with the iPhone in the window but without knowing how the industry was going, how it worked. That learning job, which is what you don't see, is complicated.

Q.- Have you felt vertigo?

R.- You always have a little fear and vertigo to see what will happen but I have a lot of faith in what I do. In the end, if you love something strongly and it is what you want, I think you will always fight for it even if you have obstacles and things do not go right the first time. There is no plan B, it is my mentality. I had my life assured in some way, but it was not what filled me. I think you have to fight for what you like. You only live once.

Q.- Having emerged from Instagram, how much do you control your image?

R.- I take care of it daily. I try to be very careful with what I upload. Now, in fact, I am in a change both at the sound level and at the image level. On Instagram, I am taking much more care of what I do and I want to upload interesting content. I do not have to share so much but what comes up that is interesting, that contributes something.

Q.- Have you not considered sharing things that are not so idyllic, showing the complicated side?

A. It is something that I have to work on because personally I am more closed. I don't like to show that hard side so much. But I would like to work on it because I think it brings you closer to the fan and makes people understand you. It is true that until today I have given an image perhaps a little distant.

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Q.- Are you afraid of being seen as a product, being "the girl who was born on Instagram"?

A.- I think I have always had that label. In the end I come from the covers , from pure Instagram. That label is going to cost me to take it off, but it is a process that takes time. I went from uploading covers daily to, suddenly, photos. Paula changed. It is true that this shocks the follower a little but I think that in the long run it is beneficial because you see where I come from but you also see that there has been an evolution. Little by little I am trying to change that instagramer label , which I do not like, because I consider myself an artist now. Obviously it is there and I will never deny it, but it is something that I try to change.

Q.- You have just started and you already have a collaboration with an established artist like C Tangana, how did it come about?

A.- It emerged last year in a composition session. I have admired Pucho practically since he started because I have always liked that more underground culture and he is an artist who has been working for years. For me it is a dream and I feel that all this work has been worth it. The song has a sample bolero ( Noche no te vayas , from Los tres caballeros) and I'm a big fan of the genre and C Tangana too. He is a genius. He composes incredible, he writes insane ... I would say that is the definition of a complete artist. He is a 10, and as a person too. I admire him very much.

Q.- Is your goal to be that, the 'complete artist'?

A.- Being on social networks has nothing to do with being an artist. It is not the opposite, but you only sing covers and now you go on to interpret, compose your songs, show more of yourself, talk about what you feel or face an audience that in the end is more critical because it will analyze you for what that it's you, not because of what you sing about others. It is a very strong change but it is what I love to do and everything is compensated. You can have negative things in the industry but then it is always compensated by taking your music out and having a person stop you on the street and say "I love it". Or let them know your song, it is something that seems hyper special to me.

Q.- And what about the album? What are your plans for the future?

R.- In the short term I want my album and my first tour, to make everything more physical, to meet people, to do concerts ... And the album because I have the need to do a more rounded work. I've been releasing single by single for a while, which is also cool, but I want to carry a rounder project. I want to sit down, capture ideas and find the point between what I want and what people think they will connect with. Because that is important, working to connect with people. And in the long term, going crazy, well, a Grammy, which is a dream I have. It would be incredible.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

• Idols
• culture
• music

IdolsBejo: "I do what I like and there are people who get upset, it's something I don't understand"

CultureDies Josep Llobell, author of the Movierecord melody

MusicMala Rodríguez: "There is more machismo at a taxi rank than in rap"

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