Selena Quintanilla-Pérez’s legacy has continued to live on in the entertainment industry decades after her death — but a new project spearheaded by her brother is causing fans to retaliate online!
Almost 27 years after the musician’s murder, her family is preparing to release a new posthumous album in April. To hype up the project, Selena’s brother, A.B. Quintanilla, sat down for an interview with Tino Cochino Radio in late December, revealing:
“It’s a crazy concept album. I remixed all her vinyls and just, with this album, with an EDM world, with arpeggiators and with keyboards, I made her flow to cumbia. Normal songs that were not normally recorded in cumbia.”
An EDM-inspired Selena album?! That’s different!
Related: Selena Fans OUTRAGED By Her Grammys Tribute — Find Out Why!
Cumbia is a musical rhythm and traditional folk dance that began in Colombia in the 1940s, FYI. Selena was dubbed the Queen of Tejano music for her Tex-Mex influenced tunes, so this new music promises to deliver a pretty different vibe. But a remix wouldn’t be all that surprising — plenty of artists promote remixes of their hottest tracks.
Here’s the really novel move: because several of the tracks were originally recorded when Selena was in her teens, the family decided to “de-tune” her voice so she would sound older! And they chose to age her up to about 23 — the age she was when she died in 1995. A.B. shared:
“We were also able to de-tune her voice to make her sound older than what she was. So, she was 14 or 15, we were able to make her sound like she just stepped out of the booth at 23 years old.”
This process made her vocals sound a lot like they did in her final days, he added:
“By de-tuning her voice a little bit, it actually made her sound deeper, like she sounded before she passed.”
Abraham Quintanilla, Selena’s father and manager, told Latin Groove News that the album will feature 13 songs all produced by A.B., 10 previously unreleased songs and three remastered records. He seems to really like the decision to autotune her voice, explaining last week:
“What’s unique about it is that not only is the music completely new arrangements, but my son worked on Selena’s voice with the computers and if you listen to her, she sounds on this recording like she did right before she passed away. But if you listen to it now, the same song with different arrangements and the voice work to where she sounds like right before she passed away, it’s kind of amazing.”
Huh. It’s certainly an interesting idea, but is it necessary?? That’s what most fans seem to be grappling with. While some are eager for new Selena music, a lot are furious that the Quintanilla family would try to profit off their dead daughter, arguing:
“There’s literally no other reason to do this except $$$”
“This is sickening. Abraham Quintanilla should let his daughter Rest In Peace.”
“How hard up for cash is Abraham?”
“F**king weird”
“I love Selena and always will but the shame of her family STILL milking her name and voice for money is enough. Just stop already. It is enough.”
Someone else simply pointed out:
“It’s not authentic.”
It’s hard to know whether or not the family is really just trying to profit off Selena. We mean, it’s pretty normal for people to create posthumous albums — Michael Jackson’s got a few — and while it supplies additional income, it also can help introduce the artist to a new generation of listeners. So, we can see both sides of the conversation here.
Related: Family Of Astroworld Victim Calls Travis Scott’s New Charity Project A ‘PR Stunt’
For Abraham, he says he just wants to keep a promise he made to the performer, adding:
“I said right after she passed away that I was going to try to keep her memory alive through her music, and we have done that. Twenty-six years later, Selena is very present in today’s music world.”
The Texas native’s story has lived on in the Netflix series Selena, which was authorized by her family, and Jennifer Lopez’s 1997 film of the same name. We suppose these fans’ accusations about money-grabbing won’t become clear or not until the album drops — who knows how much this thing will sell or not?
But what are YOUR reactions, Perezcious readers? Do you think the fam’s trying to profit off Selena’s work or are they simply trying to continue her legacy? Or a bit of both?
[Image via Selena/Entertainment Tonight/YouTube & A.B. Quintanilla/Instagram]
The post Selena’s Family Criticized For Cash Grab With New Posthumous Album That AGES Her Voice! appeared first on Perez Hilton.
