Jenni Rivera’s Children Want Their Mother’s Posthumous Album to Create ‘Another Banda Wave’
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Jenni Rivera’s children always wondered what sort of music their mom left behind after she tragically died in 2012. What would her music sound like if she was still alive today? What would she have wanted her legacy to be?
Months ago, Rivera’s youngest child Johnny made it his goal to find the original files of some of the recordings he knew she’d stored in her hard drive.
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“It was just me and my laptop and the hard drive for two days,” Johnny tells Rolling Stone.
“He was up all night!” jokes Jacqie, his sister and CEO of Jenni Rivera Enterprises.
“I knew exactly around what year she had recorded it so I just went based on that and luckily I was able to find it, “ he adds.
Once Johnny located the unfinished tracks, he found covers of songs by ranchera heroes Chayito Valdez, Lucha Villa, and Ramón Ayala, along with a rough demo of “Pedacito de Mí,” a song Rivera wrote while she was pregnant with Johnny. As a family, they decided it would make sense for her daughters, including Chiquis who has an artist career of her own, to help complete the vocals.
“I feel very tied to this because I can understand what she was writing. Growing up, I really rejected her career. I was very much like, ‘I don’t want to be part of it.’ Now, I get to be able to finish something that she didn’t get to finish,” “Jacqie says.
On Friday, Rivera’s family will drop Misión Cumplida, a posthumous album that the Riveras agree is “100 percent what Jenni would’ve wanted,” produced by her righthand man Pavel Ocampo and Banda MS’ Sergio Lizarraga. The cover of the LP features a collage of drawings of Rivera’s biggest career moments and celebrates her life and legacy, 11 years after she was killed in a plane accident.
“Usually, with a posthumous release, you can feel a disconnect from an artist. But I wanted to feel the same emotion I felt when listening to Mac Miller’s Circles,” says Johnny, who helped produce the LP. “I cried when I first listened to that album. And I feel like she’s just so present on this one. And not just her voice, but in the music itself.”
Rolling Stone visited the Rivera children — from oldest to youngest: Chiquis, Jacqie, Mikey, Jenicka, and Johnny — at the set for their music video “Pedacito de Mí” as they spoke for the first time about putting the project together, Jenni’s legacy, and what has kept the siblings so united in the decade since her death:
What’s it been like filming the video for “Pedacito de Mí” today?
Jacqie: Because we’re working, we haven’t let it hit us, but I know I felt a little emotional when I was doing my shots. It’s emotional, it’s a little bit of stress because it’s work, but it’s a beautiful day.
Chiquis: [Jacqie] is the boss, so it’s a lot of stress on her. I was actually thanking God this morning. I said, “It’s always a great day to go to work, but also work with my siblings and do something for my mom.” This is a very special moment.
Johnny, I know you played a really big role in finding the music. What’s that like to see it come to life?
Johnny: I don’t think it’s fully hit me yet. I think about all the little elements and I would expect myself to get a little bit more emotional about it. But I have a delayed reaction to things. And I feel like ever since I found it, I’ve had the producer hat on. I haven’t exactly listened to it as her son.
Some of the lyrics on “Pedacito de Mí” are very personal to your experiences, but also relatable to many families in a lot of ways. Talk to me about your favorite lyrics on the album.
Chiquis: It’s telling my mom, “No vayas a trabajar. [Don’t go to work.] I want to hang out with you.” And I feel we all felt that way.
Johnny: That’s exactly what I thought.
Chiquis: That part hit me, Johnny would even say it growing up, “Why does mom have to go to work?” And it’s like, “Well, she has to go and do what she has to do. She’s the mom and the dad.” So that part, I feel it so much. I know how much it would hurt my mom. She’s like, “Please take care of my baby boy. Please take care of my kids. Take care of the house.” She had no other choice. I think a lot of parents can relate to that.
Jacqie: I think for me it’s the part where, I’m singing, “No fue culpa tuya.” It wasn’t your fault. I think, as me as a mother, you don’t know how to be a mom, and you go learning with your first one especially. There are moments in my life with my oldest that I feel like I can tell her that it’s not her fault. I feel like we have definitely healed with mom. She was growing up, especially with you, Chiquis. But I feel like I sing it to my daughter like, “It’s not your fault. You just live and I’m going to heal the parts for us.”
Jenicka, and you’re singing on this one too!
Chiquis: She’s harmonizing. See, a lot of people don’t know that Jenicka sings beautifully and plays guitar. She’s very shy.
Jenicka: It took a lot.
Johnny: No, she made us all get out of the room.
Jenicka: Yeah, I’m very shy, so it’s like, “I’ll do it. Just give me my little space.” I’m very honored to at least do a little something musically for my mom. I don’t think I would ever do something as a career but I’m happy to do it for her.
Jacqie: We’re Destiny’s Child over here!
What do you think has kept you guys united since your mom’s passing?
Chiquis: It’s something that is one of my missions on this earth, and it’s something that I know is very important to my mom. I’ve learned to respect them as individuals and even though there are issues and we argue and we get on each other’s nerves. It’s my mom, I hear it: “You have to keep your siblings together.” And I think we’re all on the same page. And we truly, genuinely love each other.
Jenicka: We just grew up that way. It’s super important that we all keep communication and just make sure that we’re expressing ourselves. And always keep that in the back of your head, my mom’s voice like, “You can’t leave your siblings.”
Chiquis: She would always say, “It’s us against the world.”
Jenicka: We know what it is to lose, to not have the glue that keeps us together. We know how real it is to have that ripped out. I don’t think there’s ever an issue that’ll be big enough for us to separate.
When big artists die and posthumous releases happen, they’re usually not as great. The Selena one recently, some fans felt, didn’t feel as genuine. How did you make sure it feels real?
Chiquis: It hasn’t been forced. I feel like we all focused on the art. This is a gift that she left not only to us but the fans. We want you to feel the heart. I think you feel that.
Johnny: Before, the original plan was that they wanted to make them all singles, but my mom was old-school and she liked to make albums. I think it’s important to creatively remain true to her.
How would you describe the album?
Jenicka: Powerful.
Johnny: I feel like it covers all sides of her. You have all her different personalities. It’s so authentic and it feels like she’s just dropping it today. As her kid and as her number one fan, the album feels like jumping into the pool on a hot day. It’s refreshing like that. That’s what it feels like.
Jenicka: That’s a good example!
Chiquis: Very nice, Johnny! I saw myself diving into the Corona house pool [laughs]
Johnny: This is my first musical baby, I can really say. This is something I’ve helped curate creatively and just it means a lot to me that it’s for mom. I’m living my Kanye dream. [siblings laugh] I’m a sucker for projects for moms. So, I’m having my Donda moment right now.
Chiquis: He’s my mom’s Wikipedia, he knows everything about her.
How do you reflect on your mom’s career and her life?
Jenicka: I’m grateful for her being the artist and obviously, we wouldn’t be in the position we’re in without that. But all I remember is her taking me to school, her making me breakfast, and things like that. I have very faint memories of going to concerts and getting dressed and all that.
Jacqie: I think it depends on who you ask because Johnny definitely grew up when-
Johnny: She was already becoming a star.
Jacqie: He was in her banda. He had a whole little suit and he played an instrument in her band. And then, if you ask me and Chiquis, we’ll remember helping her sell Polaroids and posters. And being in the van with her as she traveled when she wasn’t as big in Mexico.
Johnny: Ever since I turned 18 though, it’s been a slow process of understanding her as a woman. I think I always held my mom to a really high pedestal, just because she was my everything. And now, I feel like I finally have a separation between the artist and mom. It’s helped me cope a lot.
Is dropping this album what Jenni would’ve wanted?
Chiquis: Absolutely. Without a doubt in my mind. Absolutely. I say that so confidently. It took 10 long years to get to this point. But as a sister, older sister/mom, I like to say I’m super connected to her and I know her better than anyone, según yo. But I really do feel like “Misíon Cumplida,” mission accomplished. Her saying, “This is the moment I was waiting for. For my kids to be grown up, and Jacqie in her position and Johnny helping.”
Jacqie: She’s here to guide us and teach us. I think she definitely would’ve wanted it like this. There are little subtle things where you can tell her hand is in it 100 percent.
What are some examples of that?
Jacqie: My mom had Hugo who did her backing vocals at shows for seven years but never got to record an album with him, and Johnny said, “I think it’d be really cool if we got him on the album.” And I was like, “I’m going to talk to the producer Sergio Lizarraga.” And before I even got to talk to him, he let us know that he was already having Hugo do that.
What are your favorite parts on the album?
Jacqie: I think “Pedacito de Mí” for obvious, sentimental reasons. I think it’s beautiful. The process of being able to be with my siblings and be in the studio and finish something for her. But, “El Que Hoy Está en Tu Lugar,” a Chayito Valdés cover, is a really hype song. It makes you want to have fun and drink and I like that. The accordion sounds really badass.
Chiquis: It’s an album that you can listen top to bottom. Seriously. It’s not just because she’s our mother!
Johnny: My biggest dream for it is that it causes another Banda wave. It has that potential.
Chiquis: The banda queen is back, baby!
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