Xenia Rubinos Releases New Lyric Video For "Mexican Chef"

Xenia Rubinos just premiered a provocative new lyric video for the track. “Mexican Chef” off her new album Black Terry Cat. Pitchfork wrote of the track in their recent album review, which awarded the disc an 8.0, “ With its sharp percussion and infectious polemic, it’s like M.I.A. signed to Daptone, which is to say that it's a total KO.”

The accompanying lyric video offers a spirited visual homage to Judy Garland’s dance routin from the 1950 film Summer Stock and the "Queen of Latin Soul”, La Lupe’ with Rubinos dancing defiantly before a vivid background as her propulsive funk song details the immense contributions and systemic devaluation of the many laborers of color in America.

As Rubinos says, “In making the lyric video for “Mexican Chef” I took inspiration from two of my all time favorite performers Judy Garland and La Lupe. The set we created is my take on Judy Garland’s performance of “Get Happy” from the 1950 film “Summer Stock”. In that song she’s essentially singing about dying, but she does it in such a joyful over the top song and dance type of way that you might miss it. Known to many as the "Queen of Latin Soul”, La Lupe's performance style carried a lot the same exuberance and tragedy but unlike Judy, she wasn't choreographed or measured. She was a master freestyler who fell into her own flow and let it all go, she was raw magic. Some of my moves in this video are a nod to La Lupe who while performing would often pretend to be washing her clothes, throw off her jewelry, and pull at her shirt collar. There’s something wildly joyful and tragic about both of their performances, they transmit so much soul power.”

Watch Xenia Rubinos “Mexican Chef” lyric video here. On her hit album Black Terry Cat, the talented singer-songwriter and multi instrumentalist uses her soulful voice to traverse an array of genres from R&B to Hip-Hop to jazz and beyond, all of delivered with a New York punk-funk abandon. NPR recently included the record their “Top 30 Favorite Albums of the Year So Far” and the song “Mexican Chef” in their “100 Favorite Songs of The Year So Far.”

Raves For Xenia Rubinos Black Terry Cat:

• "A star is born when Laurie Anderson meets De La Soul" - Mojo
• “Black Terry Cat sees the proud “Cuba-Rican” often extract the maximum impact from a startlingly nimble rhythm section that disregards any boundaries between soul, rock, jazz and salsa, plus a voice that evokes Sarah Vaughan, Joyce Moreno and – on the brilliantly squelchy R&B of “Black Stars” and “Right?” – Erykah Badu at her wildest.” - Uncut
• “unrivalled talent... once Xenia Rubinos begins to sing, nothing else matters.” – DIY – Neu
• “a singer whose originality and talent are uncotainable” – The Sunday Times – Breaking Act
• “if great music is all about the mind behind, then the intelligence at work here is exceptional.” – The Sunday Express
• “is this the sound of the summer? Supercool.” – The Daily Telegraph – Pop CD Of The Week
• "self-determined, female, glamorous - a fabulous record with a truly amazing soul voice" – Intro
• "Black Terry Cat" is a phenomenally varied album, one of the most exciting this year.” – Tagesspiegel
• "The Brooklyn artist truly crosses borders with her multi-genre-hyphenate instrumental textures beneath Billie Holiday-esque croons.” – SPIN Magazine
• “Xenia’s magical voice gives each of these songs their own distinctive character and magnetism.” – Pitchfork 8.0

You can catch Xenia live at the following dates, more dates to be announced:

• 24/10 London, UK – Birthdays
• 27/10 Mannheim, DE - Enjoy Jazz Festival
• 28/10 Hamburg, DE - Mojo Cafe
• 29/10 Berlin, DE - Kantine am Berghain