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For the first time since she began releasing music in the early 2010s, Lorely Rodriguez owns that music.
Ive been through the label situation, she says over the phone from California.
To just have a go at do something on my own feels really good.
It feels incomplete to not be in those rooms and feel that energy, she continues.
Rodriguezs attention, in the meantime, has been on her label.
Its idealistic, she says.
Why start a label, and why now?Ive been wanting to do this for a while.
Technically, I got out of my deal a couple of weeks ago.
It is the very beginning, so I have no idea what the future holds.
Just to see his contracts, out in the open, and see like how little things changed.
The wording and everything, the transparency, was pretty mind-boggling.
Youre not selling records anymore; youre doing Spotify streams.
Which is very difficult for an artist, [especially] a new artist who doesnt have a following.
I think the ownership that indie artists get is more over creativity.
But the splits are still the same, most of the time.
I dont know why Im doing that, but thats what Im doing.
I made this beat after coming home froma Black Lives Matter protest.
I was going out every day for protests.
So I came home from the protest and I was like,I just need to do something.
I made this beat, I started singing the riff, Youve got to feel to let it heal.
And I was like, You have to feel this.
But I couldnt come up with the verses.
Happy Birthday Breonna Taylor.
You should still be alive.
George Floyd should still be alive.
Sandra Bland should still be alive.
Eric Garner should still be alive.
Trayvon Martin should still be alive.
The list is too long.
Been out peacefully protesting with the Los Angeles community.
I sent the song to her.
I was like,This is so right, so spot on.
I was like,Okay, she went there!
With my label, it would be amazing to elevate other artists I feel passionate about.
Making a song with such sobering inspiration and then making it a dance track how does that work?
Writing this song, I wanted to feel the energy of the streets.
The energy of people coming together, the energy of change, and the energy of work.
So movement I dont know, to me, this energy isnt a ballad.
It is feet on the ground.
I feel very comfortable, but also confident and still challenging myself, when I make dance music.
Like, Give Me Another Chance is just a little club song about being so heartbroken.
I learned on that record that I love living in that zone.
Its just about getting it to a place where it sounds like one of my songs.
Its like Marxist bops.
I just hope to keep doing shit that I feel passionate about.
I will not hope, I will!
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
