Convo with Baby Uniq on her new EP
The life force behind some of LA’s best dance floors cuts out the middleman with a new EP showing she’s more than a DJ. Baby Uniq talks about her new EP, self-redemption and quarantine life.
I’ve lived in LA for over six years now, and it’s a densely saturated city of creatives. So when someone stands out, it’s almost twice as grabbing. The first time I saw Baby Uniq DJ, it was exactly that kind of double-take moment. You’ll hear excited gossip between friends about how good her set is and see timid, just converted fans pirouetting around her after the set. She isn’t a hired-to-be-pretty face in between headphones or remixing the same twenty indie pop hits with everyone else. Her music choices have always been purposeful, authentic and filled to the fucking brim with flavor. So it’s only right that her self-titled EP is as unique as its mother. “What really sets [her artistry] apart from others in story is my ability to tell my own as if I am a ghost. I’m sending messages and you can see them, but it’s never quite what it seems.” Her eyes speak volumes, and not in the cliché way of eyes are windows to the soul. Whether it’s the perfectly lined eye contact, letting you know she’s thinking things that could fill the galaxy. Or her signature eye roll back; a trick many can do but on her is alarmingly sexy and intimidating.
The LA-based artist isn’t new to the game. She toured as a DJ in the US and Mexico, danced alongside the Neoperreo crew at Coachella, and even shared the stage with pop icons Dorian Electra, Charlie XCX, Allie X, and Troye Sivan “I’ve been working hard for years on becoming a skilled musician, vocalist, and DJ. Not because I knew people would undermine me because of the way I present myself, I just knew I wanted to make music. In a way, I’ve been preparing myself to be a pop dark horse. If I set my mind to do something, I’m going to do it, and if anyone questions me for any reason, I will prove with skill or passion that I’m not to be fucked with. Actions always speak louder than words.”
Baby Uniq has a hungry work ethic fueled by a strong sense of branding. And not in the boardroom-full-of-white-cis-execs-making-a-moodboard way. She knows who Baby Uniq is - and she’s the steward of her own image. But she also embraces the fluidity of being a creative resulting in seamless exploration while still bringing a distinct and recognizable Baby Uniq sound. Her self-titled EP is a trilogy journey, almost like the levels of hell, this EP takes us one by one through who she is.
“I generally focus on production first and lyrics are an afterthought, but this was born out of pure divine intervention. I was asked by Rusty Santos to come visit his studio one night, and we threw together the first draft of Escandalosa. He really pulled the storyteller out of me in the following sessions and accented my voice and stories beautifully with his production on Escandalosa and Cuello.”
Trilling percussion and leveled vocals lull us in to the EP. Cuello is a sparse track with crisp production. Escandelosa has a 2000’s grime rap meets Latin dancehall vibe. Baby Uniq’s vocals act as the rhythm, or at least the one my hips just naturally start to match. Maybe she’s picked up skillsfrom being the one responsible for getting people to dance ,because her music does just that. The key difference is the emotion. With an entire project helmed by her own artistry, she takes us on a reggaeton X underground-pop journey of self-discovery. It’s an edgier take on the current Latin scene and she makes it her own. The production is a collage of emotions with rapid but purposeful beats, Pura, a mellow trap-pop song with rapid, tropical beats that slowly washes over you. It may be my favorite off the EP for the duality of it. It balances both the cool, confident chick at the bar and the girl with her hands out offering her heart in her most tender song. It epitomizes the heartbeat of Baby Uniq’s artisty.
“Pura is my own production which was inspired by water and forgiveness. I was trying to forgive myself for making so many horrible relationship decisions. I tend to be extremely hard on myself and I’m trying to be more patient and understanding. I wish I could go more in depth with the water inspiration but that’s just how my brain works. I’m inspired by life, and water is a HUGE influence on my music. Same goes for the sound. It’s quite happy and poppy, everything about it.”
There are different types of divine intervention dancing -when the song just demands it of your body. It can be infectious; a beat manufactured for clubs. It can be coping; your body almost convulsing as you expel anger or grief. Baby Uniq’s falls into the pure and primal; even if you’re sitting, it suddenly feels right to stand up and move. There’s something freeing interwoven into each track that lets you shed. Maybe it’s compounded so because it’s pure, primal and freeing for Baby Uniq too. Her performances put a bold, italic, 42 pt level emphasis on that shared experience.
There’s a pitfall DJ’s and very hands-on artists can fall into and that’s holding back on stage. Whether it’s not feeling comfortable or over-thinking, live shows end up feeling stilted or rote. Baby Uniq is no stranger to performing but when singing, she has an affair with the microphone. That’s not just a poetic way of referencing her passion and intrigue. When performing, she swirls the microphone, her arm and the chord dancing as she arcs it over her mouth. She lifts her face, lips inches from the mic’s skull, and sings. There’s something raw and vulnerable to the sensuality. It’s intoxicating to watch.
While live performances aren’t an option right now, this creative vampire is still nursing her muses, “I’ve adopted two miniature rose bushes. I’ve always sketched and painted, so I’m back at it. Practicing piano and guitar more. I did my first tattoo on my roommate and best friend. I kind of always knew that was going to happen.”
But quarantine wasn’t necessarily going to stop her anyway, as she admits. “To be honest, I’m a bit of a shut-in. I only collaborate with a few people, and thankfully I still do from home. Recording demos and new tracks with artists I’ve never worked with before! It’s interesting how there’s a sort of artistic revolution going on [during shelter-in-place].”
And she is very much a member of the artistic revolution. Her EP is music of the moment, a new wave ushering in authenticity. Baby Uniq sculpted a work that uses her experience to create a world where people can feel themselves. But for her, “I’m really just trying to let go of past trauma by trying to turn it into something beautiful.”
Where others fall and end up just hooks in male rappers’ songs (no shade); she melds genres and accentuates with purposeful inflection creating a hypnotic experience worthy of a whole track. And in then, a whole EP and hopefully much more to come. The EP is currently out.
you can follow her on Instagram and check out her latest featuring Yung Donut Bitch.