Ava La’Rae speaks on the LA dating life, Tex-Mex heritage, and her recent single, “AIN’T IT FUNNY?”

Words by Anita Filippova

Graphics by Amelie Lamberti

Texas born and raised, Ava La’Rae doesn’t shy away from her heritage. Growing up in a Mexican family and community right outside of Corpus Christi, on the border of Mexico, she recalls being in a mariachi band as a kid and listening to Tex-Mex legends Selena Quintanilla and Los Lonely Boys around the house. Although she was born after Selena’s reign in Texas, her memory and influence were felt within her community, which celebrated Selena’s achievements with yearly festivals, a statue in her honor, and the Selena Museum. 

La’Rae’s first music-related memory was of a Los Lonely Boys concert at just three years old. “It was like 2004 maybe, and my mom and dad loved their debut album. They ran it to the ground in my household and took me to this concert because they both wanted to go, so they had to take the kid because no one was gonna watch me,” she said. “This is one of my first memories of music and being immersed in it. I knew every word to every song. Just shows how my parents were in love with the project.” Being one of the youngest kids at the concert and on her dad’s shoulders caught the band’s attention - the guitarist and drummer pointed to her in the crowd and handed her a guitar pick and a drum stick. “I still have them to this day. A crazy introduction to music and the music world for sure,” reflected La’Rae.

Fast forward to today, La’Rae lives in Los Angeles, pursuing her dream of making music. Her latest single, “AIN’T IT FUNNY?”, is a portrayal of her frustrations surrounding the dating scene in LA as a woman in her twenties. After yet another annoying dating experience, La’Rae said she felt that “I am not so incredibly sad, I am not broken, this wasn't the love of my life, but it is just another situationship, and it is the same exact story, just a different person, and at this point, it is comedic.” She explained, “It is annoying, funny, even. I have no choice but to laugh, because you got me again.”

She did what was only natural, and told her group of friends that same dating story again, as they all agreed and laughed it off together. “Our generation, when something happens, we just laugh it off. We don’t take it too seriously, and that’s at the heart of [the song].” The visuals accompanying the single, produced by Jasper Seven, reflect exactly that atmosphere. La’Rae, chatting on the phone with friends in her bedroom, makes light of the situation. However, the lyrics depict the truth of the situation - which isn’t as fun or upbeat as the girls make it seem.

One of the things that La’Rae hopes to achieve with her songs is to create a sense of relatability “for the girlies” that present reality in a more upbeat light, giving them an excuse to dance and sing along. More importantly, she aspires to show all the Mexican girls from small towns that there are more options in life than what is being shown.


“Whenever I say that I want to make music for those girls, of course, I would want it to be for their enjoyment, and for them to have something that feels representative towards how they identify and how they have grown up, but also as something that they can refer to whenever they have dreams that might seem a bit out of reach or out of the norm,” she said. “I genuinely really think that if everyone just takes their first step, the second will be a lot easier. Whether that is something that is not music at all and it is to go be an artist in Europe, or to be a film director, the possibilities are endless. But when you come from a place where I come from, those things feel like they could never happen.” 

La’Rae relates her Tex-Mex background and goals of representation to listeners by including a few Spanish lyrics in her latest single. This is one of the first glimpses into her hope to write songs entirely in Spanish, and to embrace the addition of Latin-inspired instrumentals. The Spanish lyrics came to her naturally; she recalled being so frustrated during a studio session that she unknowingly switched to speaking in Spanish. Reflecting on the differences between songwriting in English and Spanish, La’Rae says she believes “the Spanish language is a lot more… dramatic. It is also beautiful, the way we speak, you don’t say ‘blue eyes,’ you say ‘eyes of blue,’ so it becomes a lot more poetic, truly. There is definitely something that leans into that poetic description and approach to writing that comes with whenever I speak in Spanish.”

It took her some time to reconnect with that part of herself and allow herself to put it on display in such a vulnerable and public manner. “Initially, when I began writing and creating music, I didn’t write or really sing in Spanish, because I think there was a hesitancy in it,” she said. “I wasn’t from Mexico, so I felt like that wasn’t something that I could do in a way that was accepted. You know, it’s like a really famous quote that Selena says, that we are too American for the Mexicans and too Mexican to be Americans.” She continued, “Once I took the pressure off having to have this perfect 50/50 split or nothing at all, it kind of just relieved me and I was able to create a more fun space for myself.” La’Rae is continuously inspired by and recommends artists such as Kali Uchis, Omar Apollo and YENDRY for their mix of English and Spanish songwriting. 

While working on new music, La’Rae has been trying to draw inspiration from less obvious sources, such as the sensation of watching movies or reading books that make you feel so much that you go on to watch cast interviews and investigate plotline theories. She has cultivated a habit of writing these emotions down and bringing them to her studio sessions to try and make sense of what exactly touched her from those works. When this gets tough, La’Rae is lucky enough to have her roommate as a creative director, making it easier to bring abstract ideas to light. She describes a typical situation with her roommate/creative director/friend; “She’ll see a random National Geographic picture of a bird on Twitter, and then will be like, ‘I am gonna do a makeup look inspired by this,’ or maybe just use the colours for something else. She’ll create makeup inspired by a fruit!”


As La’Rae basks in the release of her latest single (and more on the way, shhh), I wanted to know about the last time that an event in her daily life made her think… ain’t it funny? Luckily, she had the perfect story for us. “Do you ever doom scroll on TikTok and accidentally come across Tarot readings? They’re like, love is coming in, and I am like ‘Yes girl, love is coming, can’t wait!’,” she gushed. “Of course, I watched the whole thing. It said that a blue car would be relevant, so I'm like, okay... So I’m texting my friend that has a blue car, or asking if anyone has a blue car. One of the guys that I have a little crush on, I ask him if he has a blue car. He’s like ‘No, it’s grey’. Then, the next day - literally the following day - I get in a little car wreck, a little bender, and the car is blue. The blue car was relevant, but no love came out of it.”

With the debut of “AIN’T IT FUNNY?” and more singles, visuals and performances on the way, La’Rae has a busy year ahead. “I am really excited to be jumping in this consistently,” she said. “I have never done this before, so it is kind of like debuting myself in such a real way. It’s gonna be a great year, I am really excited.” 

La’Rae’s single “then go” came out June 17th, and “AIN’T IT FUNNY?” is available on all streaming platforms. For readers based in and around Los Angeles, you can catch La’Rae’s performance at Breaking Sound Los Angeles on June 27th. Make sure to follow Ava La’Rae (@avalaraeok) for updates on future singles and shows!  

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