Chiquis is getting animated…
The 35-year-old Mexican American singer and television personality has released the animated music video for “Jolene,” her cover of Dolly Parton’s 1974 hit single, featuring Becky G.
Chiquis, the daughter of late banda singer Jenni Rivera, and Becky G revamped Parton’s iconic song, giving it a saucy Western-cumbia twist.
“Her and I have been wanting to work together for so long, but we didn’t know what genre,” Chiquis tells Billboard of working with Becky G. “She thought she was going to come to Regional because she sings really pretty with mariachi. I sent her two songs, one a little bit more urban, which I thought she was going to choose, and also ‘Jolene,’ which she absolutely wanted to do because she’s a huge fan.”
“Jolene” is the lead single from Chiquis’ 10-set album Playlist. In the lyrics, the two powerhouses confront each other about liking the same man.
“You think of country music and you think Dolly. We both loved the song and it happened so organically,” she adds. “I was happy because we can bring something new to the song, which is great as it is, but together we brought the Latino flavor with cumbia.”
The track was recorded at the studio right before the coronavirus outbreak. The music video, however, was recorded at home during the quarantine. In the animated clip, Chiquis and Becky G star in an action-packed Old Western film.
“It was all done with a green screen. I was at my house and Becky was at hers,” Chiquis says of the process. “There was a photographer that made us do all these crazy moves as if we were holding a gun, bending over and running away. It was very cool and something very, very different for me to see it all come together. It’s crazy cause we look real but we’re drawn at the same time.”
“A lot of people were waiting for Becky and me to do something together because we have a really nice friendship,” she notes. “Even though we were not together in the video, people won’t even tell because of our crazy connection. I think people are going to love it; it’s something different, it’s something fun.”
