Thalía set free with ’Todo Suena Mejor en Cumbia’ | AP interview

Thalía says "everything sounds better in cumbia." The Latin pop star's 17th studio album "Todo Suena Mejor en Cumbia" features original songs and covers. She sat down with AP entertainment journalist Leslie Ambriz to discuss the history of Latin pop crossover, her ever-evolving creative process, and how she reignited her love of cumbia after collaborating with Los Ángeles Azules. Thalía became a household name in Latin America at an early age in the 1980s as a member of Mexican pop group Timbiriche, and later starred in numerous telenovelas. The 54-year-old performer says her "Queen of Latin Pop" title was hard-earned. "So, it cost me a lot of pieces. You know, a lot of emotions, a lot skins that I had to peel off and left pieces of me during all these years, all these decades. ... And today I feel kind of free. ... It's amazing how when you just let go of something and just enjoy it in the present moment, God makes a way for you to say, 'Ah, finally you're prepared to receive this gift. Here you go.'" Thalía says it's beautiful to see another "Latin explosion" with stars like Bad Bunny and Karol G embraced by English-speaking audiences on mainstream stages while remaining true to their roots and their native language. "What I'm most amazed and proud of in this last Latin explosion is that is in Spanish. It's in Spanish, because we had to kind of sing in English with the Latin rhythms and it was a big crossover. But now it's pure Spanish. So it's beautiful. It's a big ovation, a big standing ovation for everybody right now." #thalia #cumbia