Raquel Sofia

Raquel Sofía is a Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter and recording artist whose distinctive, reedy alto straddles musical traditions past and present, from her revisioning vintage Latin doo wop and soul, to roots rock, blues, jazz, Mexican regional, salsa, cumbia and Latin pop presentation. She also sings in three languages: Spanish, English, and Portuguese. After paying her dues as a touring backing vocalist for Juanes, Shakira, Jean Carlos Canela, and Prince Royce, she was featured in advertisements for Target, which garnered her a record deal with Sony Music Latin in 2014, leading to her acclaimed NPR Tiny Desk Concert, which was her first official EP. Her debut album, Te Quiero Los Domingos, and follow-up EP Te Odio los Sábados were issued the following year. The former topped the Latin streaming charts and earned her a Best New Artist nomination at that year's Latin Grammys. She also performed during the ceremony. That same year she was selected as the first Latin artist for Lift, Vevo's artist development program. Her 2018 offering 2:00 AM scored three charting singles, resulting in a chart hit nominated for a Grammy as Best Latin Pop Album. Sofía was raised in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico and began playing guitar, writing and singing her own songs as a teen. She attended University of Miami and graduated with a bachelor's degree in studio music and jazz from its Frost School of Music. Her first high-profile professional gig was as a backing vocalist for Juanes' Grammy Award-winning MTV Unplugged performance in 2012. Carefully crafting her melodious Latin acoustic sound, she toured with Shakira and Prince Royce as a backing vocalist in 2013, and her version of the Illya Kuryaki & the Valderramas track "Ula Ula" was picked as the summer campaign song for Target. The year proved a busy one for the singer as she wrote tracks for an Ednita Nazario album and for Juanes and released her single "No Me Importas." She signed to Sony Music Latin and Warner/Chappell Latin publishing in 2014 and released the digital streaming chart-topper Te Quiero Los Domingos and the Te Odio los Sábados EP. In addition to her Best New Artist Latin Grammy nomination, she wrote and recorded songs for the official HBO album Game of Thrones Mixtape. In 2016, she was a guest vocalist on two songs by American supergroup Levee Walkers, comprising members from Pearl Jam, Guns N' Roses, and Screaming Trees. She delivered four charting singles as well: the salsa track "Rie y Llora," the pop Caribbean cumbia ballad "Que Precio Tiuene el Cielo," the steamy fusion of jazz, cumbia, and mariachi in the ballad "Con Tu Nombre," and the modern banda "No Me Queda Mas." In July 2017, Sofía released "Sonrisa Vertical," as a precursor to her sophomore album. A second single, "La Persona Que No Eres," was issued in August; the track was inspired by late-'50s and early-'60s doo wop and R&B. She followed it with the nostalgic ballad "Déjalo Go" in October. Sofía and Sony kept pushing with the November issue of the single and video for "Tengo Historia" while she toured and made a bilingual guest appearance on D-Rashid's Latin Village 2017 anthem "Donde Vas," which also featured Deadly Zoo. The following year Sofía migrated to Mexico just as Sony released 2:00 AM, her second album; it topped Latin streaming charts and scored at radio and with club DJs in North and South America, and in Europe. In August she was a featured guest on Internacional Carro Show's single "Amor de Unas Horas" and in December, her rock & roll song "Espiritu Libre" was chosen for the Más de un Siglo compilation alongside selections by Bad Bunny, Prince Royce, and Charlie Aponte. In early 2019, 2:00 AM's chart success and critical acclaim won Sofía a Grammy nomination for Best Latin Pop Album. ~ Aneet Nijjar