Kany García on Perfecting the Art of Hitmaking with a Purpose: “How Can I Not Talk?”

When Kany García was a child growing up in Puerto Rico, her father — a former priest turned social worker — constantly took his three children with him to the many public housing projects where he worked.

“My dad normalized the idea for us to come in, to participate. There was always this dynamic of service, of consciousness, of empathy,” says García today. The ability to listen and connect have been constants in García's music, in songs that are intensely personal, but also intensely empathetic and able to connect on many levels. In her 17-year career, García has recorded 30 songs Advertising signthe Latin Pop Airplay chart and eight albums — including five in the top 10 and a 2019 No. 1 Lemonade — on the top Latin albums. They include the most recent, the self-titled Garthiareleased last month.

But at the same time that Garcia, the artist, has achieved global success (she just announced a 20-plus US tour), she's also spread social awareness in many areas—demonstrating a sustained and vocal activism and social commitment that's rare in the world. of Latin music. For her action and conviction, García will be recognized with the Spirit of Change Award at the 2024 Billboard Latin Women In Music Gala, airing June 9 on the Telemundo network.

Receiving the award, says García, “On the one hand, it's like a hug — and in the effort and struggle, it's also an opportunity to continue to inspire new generations of women who are vocal[…] how they raised their voices for my generation and the generations before me.”

In addition to helping many organizations, García constantly promotes gender equality, feminism and LGBQT rights, and often speaks about gender-based violence, both in interviews and in her own songs.

“I think everyone acts according to what they understand and what their personality is,” he says when asked if artists should speak up. “For me it is a necessity. It's something that goes hand in hand with touring – where you get to see first-hand the people who are influenced by your music. You are there watching the reality of each country and you say, “How can I not speak? How can I not contribute? How can I not communicate?'

García is an active contributor to many organizations, including the True Self Foundation in Puerto Rico, which works for the well-being and social mobility of communities of diverse sexual orientation and gender identity. But García advocates every day for those things she feels deeply on a personal level. On her Instagram feed, she often raises her voice to comment on topics as diverse as social politics and feminicide and is constantly engaged with social issues. For example, in December, she sang at the Baamón women's rehabilitation group in Puerto Rico – her second visit to the center – and also visited the headquarters of The Happy Givers, which helps the elderly.

But right now in her life, she says, what moves her the most is “everything to do with gender-based violence and the rate of femicide that exists throughout Latin America. The issue of women has been of primary importance in recent years.”

And it's a topic that García tackles the best way she knows how: with music.

In her song “Se portaba mal” (“She Misbehave”, from the 2020 album Means Para Dos), for example — which he recorded with Mon Laferte — details the daily life of an abused woman in tango strains (“She was treated badly, very badly/ You had to grab her and pull her hair/ Punch her three times before you go to sleep/ And tomorrow, “Forgive me because I love you,” follow the brutal opening lines).

“For me, feminism will always be important in my music – because I live the issue of inequality every day,” she says. “I love that songs are a bridge that allows people to sit and talk, to be aware of what we're going through. For me it was always an essential part of what I did and what gave meaning to my songs and my work.”

Billboard's 2024 Latin Women In Music airs Sunday, June 9 on the Telemundo Network (9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. Central) and will stream live on the Telemundo app and Peacock.