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She fuses general pop with Latin pop and rock, but of late she’s been adding lots of Mexican musical influences: such as the mariachi sounds.

Of course, this is Spain’s own singing sensation, Natalia Jiménez – who recently released Creo En Mi. The album sports 11 tracks, including her most recent single “Creo En Mi” and the infectious piece dubbed “Quédate Con Ella.”

Jiménez, who was born in Madrid but of late has been residing in Mexico, also serves as one-of-three coaches (along with Daddy Yankee and Pedro Fernández) in Telemundo’s acclaimed “La Voz Kids” that airs Sundays in the U.S.

La Voz Kids Season 3 premiered on March 15, 2015.

In an exclusive interview, the 33-year-old beautiful, creative singer-songwriter touched base on many subjects, including what she enjoys out of Los Angeles, Creo En Mi, “La Voz Kids,” and much more.

Living Out Loud: What has the city of Los Angeles meant for your career?
Natalia Jiménez: It’s meant a lot. There are many people from Mexico or with Mexican roots here in L.A., and they are a very important part of my fan base.

LOL: What do you love about L.A. the most?
NJ: I love coming to L.A. because it’s a city that has absolutely everything. Stores, restaurants, anything. Any time. It’s a very open city to all things cultural – music, art, etc. It’s much more fun than most [cities].

LOL: How was your experience at the ASCAP Latin Music Awards?
NJ: It was great. I love coming to award shows like ASCAP because they recognize our work as composers and songwriters. This time around I came as a nominee and won the award for best pop song for “Creo en Mi” which I wrote with Claudia Brandt. Claudia won for best songwriter of the year, and asked me to sign our song together. There was a lot of pride in doing that in front of so many male composers, and showing them that two women can be on top just as much.

LOL: How did the concept for the album Creo En Mi come about?
NJ: The album took about 3 years or so to complete. I started writing songs for this album in 2012. I also did my first song with Claudia, which is also in the album titled “Mariposas.” I wanted to make an album that was completely different from what I have done in the past, and wanted to try different styles and incorporate different genres. I also took the opportunity to work with different people and write about different things. The result was a very cool and fresh album.

LOL: Tell us about the lyrics for the track “Creo en Mi.”
NJ: It’s a song we wrote about self-love. Most of the time we write songs for other people, or inspired by other people we love, people who have left us, so on. But we rarely discuss the love we have for ourselves, which is just as important as the love we may have for someone else. If you don’t love yourself, your relationships with other people will suffer. You won’t be able to enjoy all that life has to offer. The song also talks about how to overcome obstacles in your life, and ultimately gives people hope.

LOL: How would you say you’ve evolved as an artist throughout your career?
NJ: I would say a lot. Thinking back to when I was part of La 5ª Estación until now, I’ve become the artist I admired when I was little. I’ve become an artist who takes charge of her projects and what she produces, her tours, and how promotion is done. I’m very proud of the career I’ve had up to now.

LOL: How have you adapted to the evolution of technology in the music industry?
NJ: Just like most people, barely! (laughs).

It’s now possible to track everything chronologically, and unlike times past when you just did your promotion tour and that was it, nowadays you do your promotion tour, and then during promo breaks, you now have to discuss everything you did on social media, and upload lots of pictures, and tweet about it. Also nowadays everything is done online, so the internet is a very important factor. The exchange of information is a lot easier, and so is purchasing and otherwise obtaining music. Overall, we just have to adapt to it if we want to stay relevant.

LOL: Speaking of which, what’s your take on social media and how do you implement it in your profession?
NJ: I use them all the time, more so recently. I’ve discovered the importance of having a strong social media following and fans. The best thing about it is that it now makes it possible for the fan to be very close to you. They can now develop a more personal relationship with the artist. I respond a lot to people online, and when we finally meet in person it’s as if I’ve known them forever. In times past, artists were more or less unreachable, but now it’s like having them on speed dial almost.

LOL: You’re now again working on Telemundo’s third season of “La Voz Kids.” Tell us a bit about what it’s like working with children.
NJ: Honestly, it’s complicated. It was more difficult last year being my first time doing it, because I wasn’t accustomed to working with kids. When we work with them or teach them things, we always have to keep in mind that they’re kids, and they don’t understand things like you and me. Their perspective of life is WAY different. You almost have to play games with them, and when giving them vocal instructions, you almost have to play pretend so they understand the concepts you’re talking about.

LOL: What advice do you have for the youth out there who might one day want to follow in your footsteps?
NJ: The first thing would be to make sure you learn how to write your own music. When you depend on others for material, that’s not good. If something happens with the people you’re working with or the material gets bad, then you’re stuck. Second, would be to learn an instrument well, and know basic music theory. If you’re on tour or playing a live show, and you want to make changes to the material, that will allow you to communicate with your musicians more effectively. Lastly, once you start doing well and becoming successful, be very careful with what you sign. Some people get desperate and will sign any contract if it means getting a foot in the industry, and later when they make it big, that contract comes back to bite them with legal limitations to what they can or can’t do professionally. A lot of artists also solely focus on the fun of singing and performing, but you must understand that at the end of the day it is a business, and knowing that business is never a bad idea.

LOL: Will you be touring any time soon?
NJ: Yeah, I’ll be in Puerto Rico on May 9, then I’ll be performing at different sites in the U.S. We’re finalizing dates in Florida, and we’ll surely be coming to L.A. and Texas.

LOL: Besides music, anything else you would like to do professionally?
NJ: I don’t know. I’m open to anything, whether it’d be acting or designing. I’m very creative, and everyone is always saying I should act…however I doubt I would remember my lines (laughs).

Creo En Mi is now available. For more information about Natalia Jiménez, visit nataliajimenezmusic.com.

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