A Reimagined Fairy Tale
Songwriter jame minogue in the music video “You’re Thinking of Me,” from his latest EP Principe Azul released in June 2022. Official video stills from the video directed by Camila Noriega and shot by Paula Crichton
As a mixed-race Latino boy, he was told that being an artist wasn’t for someone like him, that he should get a job in construction. Instead, he made music
Words by Rosy Alvarez, @aroseinbklyn.
Dominican American singer/songwriter jame minogue experienced love, loss, and rejection growing up in Perth Amboy, N.J. From losing access to creative outlets to learning life lessons through heartbreak to eventually moving away from home to find himself, music has always been minogue’s survival tool and what he uses to share the most intimate parts of his life. Creating Principe Azul, his newest EP released in June 2022, has allowed this up-and-coming artist to reclaim his Dominican roots through the exploration of sounds and instrumentals found in Dominican music. More so, the EP serves as validation for the young boy who was told he would never succeed beyond Jersey state lines.
Born to an Irish father and Dominican mother, minogue struggled with his identity as a biracial child of immigrants who never seemed to fit in with his peers: He wasn’t perceived as being fully Dominican but was also not considered fully American. That led to confusion. While navigating the Black and Brown working-class community of his youth, he also had to contend with a public school system that was underfunded by a local government that cut many of the art and music programs he loved — all this while having to interact with wealthier neighbors who, in his words, “openly expressed racism towards us.”
All his life, minogue was told that music was a pipe dream and that he should go into construction or work as an electrician — fields considered to be the best available to those in his community. “Growing up, I was constantly reminded by people around me that music was not a viable career for kids like us, that I should have a backup plan,” he says. “Over the years, I’ve been rejected many times, have been flat broke, and have had projects fall apart. Those moments definitely made me question things but then I’d always remember that it’s all part of the process and that every time I fail, I learn something new.”
Family, determination, and a passion for music propelled him through these challenges. Despite the arts being cut from the school budget, it didn’t stop minogue’s love for music, which he expressed through drumming. minogue recalls a childhood visit to New York City, where in passing, he saw a bucket drummer in the subway. Impressed by the drummer’s skills, he grabbed two branches off of a tree on his way home, carved them into drum sticks, and began banging them on any surface he could find.
Soon after, a friend of the family was giving away a drum set. His parents agreed to let him have it with the condition that he could only have one piece at a time and only after he mastered each piece would he be awarded another. He eventually earned the whole set, and taught himself how to play by listening to and emulating his favorite music. minogue grew up watching MTV, and listening to a variety of genres from grunge rock to Saturday morning salsa, the musical styles that were popular in the ’90s and early 2000s. He vividly recalls seeing mostly white artists and rarely people of color or Latinos like him in the mainstream music space.
jame minogue says he dreams of touring the world with his music and giving Latino kids the encouragement to pursue a career in arts that he didn’t have at first. Official video stills from the video directed by Camila Noriega and Paula Crichton
minogue’s musical journey flourished in high school and after his college years at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he and a few friends formed an indie band called the penthouse. The band did not include people of color except for one other mate who was also Dominican but “had not yet embraced their culture; a pretty common feeling at that age where I’m from,” says minogue. In one of their jam sessions, minogue brought up the idea that they should write a few songs in Spanish, but felt that the idea was brushed off. After they graduated high school, the band broke up and he recalled “not being able to relate to many people in college because I grew up very different and I remember trying to fit in so I could stand out less. Once I stopped pretending to be someone I wasn't, it was much easier to make friends.” minogue dropped out of the Berklee College of Music in Boston in 2016 and moved to L.A. in 2018 to pursue his music career.
Deconstructing the fairytale
minogue took his experiences and the complexities he encountered in his love life and injected it into Principe Azul, his sophomore EP. In collaboration with drummer Omar Tavarez (Pitbull), and guitarist Mark Pelli (MAGIC!), minogue deconstructs the fairytale of Prince Charming and tells the story of a young man who finds himself in search of love. Our Principe behaves the way he thinks he’s supposed to, only to end up infatuated, jealous, egotistical, and performing grand gestures to no avail. Confused as to why he can’t seem to get this “love thing” right, our protagonist copes with the losses the way most of us do, through trying to replace the person they wanted with someone else, long drunk nights in an attempt to fill the void, and delusions of grandeur.
In stark contrast to his previous singles and debut album Harmless, which were heavy on indie, acoustic, and synthy, trippy tones, in this genre bending EP, minogue embraces his bi-racial identity by combining bachata, merengue compa, synth-pop, 70’s funk, and elements of indie rock. As one explores the lyrics and the intention of the EP’s progression, we’re following a young man who’s navigating his own journey of self-discovery. “Love can be as simple as doing groceries together. You feel romantic doing that because you’re with your person. But we often think it’s supposed to be about how much someone earns and what they have/give you,” says minogue.
The first track opens with a melancholy flute whistling to the sound of crashing ocean waves in the background. “Principe Azul” pulls inspiration from a classic bachata song “Medicina De Amor,” by Raulín Rodríguez, but instead of yearning for the pure love that will cure him, minogue opens the album with the expectation of pain and disappointment to get hurt from the start. In “Hate Being In Love,” the layers of instrumentals at the very end evoke the chaotic feelings bouncing around in his head and the complicated situation he may have stumbled into with this person. While not an inspiration for the song, minogue recalls his first big heartbreak, when he discovered the girl he was dating was seeing someone else at the same time. “It was my first major confrontation with love and when it was over, I felt like the world was collapsing but then I was fine. Life goes on. Love goes on.”
The funkiest track is, appropriately, the most cocky and egotistical. “You’re Thinking Of Me” opens with a smooth, rapid drum roll and our protagonist begins by telling himself something akin to him being the best that his love interest ever had. Later a sly little background flute, inspired by The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever,” emphasizes a feeling of mischief. “I was going to lay down a part but I forgot what key the song was in…so I turned on my keyboard to look for the key and it so happened that the last sound I had turned on the keyboard was this flute sound from a mellotron,” says minogue. “So I had the song open and just kind of kept noodling to it and I actually liked it…that little flute is the voice in your head.”
Then the track ends with an ode to the iconic “Boricua, morena” chorus from Big Pun and Joe’s, “Still Not A Player,” but rather than borrow the verses word-for-word minogue replaces them with “you better, forget it” and mixes it into a group chant that resembles a West Side Story-esque theatrical duel. Dripping in 70’s era inspired aesthetics, the music video for “You’re Thinking Of Me,” was beautifully directed by minogue’s girlfriend, professional visual artist Camila Noriega, who creates visuals professionally at Sony Music, and on her own time. It was shot by Paula Crichton, a director/cinematographer who thrives off collaborating with groundbreaking artists who seek to expand genres. Noriega and Crichton, longtime collaborators, have brought a variety of music videos to life for many artists.
One of the boldest tracks on Principe Azul is “Morir Soñando,” a vibrant merengue-compa that was composed during a jam session. “This is the first time in my life that I’ve ever recorded a project where it was multiple people coming together and building it from the bottom up together…it was such an equal collaboration on everyone’s part,” said minogue. Omar arrived at one of their jam sessions with the classic, upbeat songs of Dominican merengue icon Juan Luis Guerra songs rolling through his headset and told the group that they should build off of that similar style with “something like a compa meets pop and then I jumped in with my guitar and eventually we built the song.”
Once a song is released into the world it belongs to the listener, “it’s theirs to either hate or love,” says songwriter jame minogue. Official video stills from the video directed by Camila Noriega and shot by Paula Crichton
During his post-high school years, minogue thought dating was all about charming people and getting them to like you. The goal of the album is to tell the story of love outside of the material aspects commonly associated with it. “I think over the years ‘material’ has taken on different meanings for me, when I was starting at the beginning, ‘material’ could have meant ‘he has a car’ or ‘he’s popular’ and eventually it evolved into emotional materialism and idealism,” explains minogue. “And then, as I got older, it evolved into, ‘What’s this person’s job? How much money do they earn?’ Previously, I thought giving someone flowers and chocolates was just something I was supposed to do, versus now — that's what I want to do and I understand… it’s about getting to know someone and wanting to make them happy.”
Music from the heart
Principe Azul was the first time minogue says he has truly enjoyed making music rather than feeling like he was in a box. He credits Tavarez and Pelli for encouraging him to break his own boundaries. “I like to make music for everyone, for people, and I realized that all this time I was limiting my mind and had all these ideas and directions I wanted to go in,” minogue says. “(Tavarez and Pelli) told me ‘it doesn't matter what style of music you make as long as it's good and people can connect to it so once I heard that I started thinking about how the songs will make someone feel.”
minogue wants to make music for people and that comes from the heart. He personally believes that once a song is released into the world it belongs to the listener and that everyone forms their own attachment, “it’s theirs to either hate or love.”
In his quest to assert his identity, jame minogue realized that once he stopped pretending to be someone else, he made friends. Photo by Camila Noriega
minogue is on the way, and has already reached musical milestones, such as opening for The Marías, an LA-based, Puerto Rican-fronted pop band that collaborated on Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti.
Asked about his ultimate goals with his music, minogue says, “I’d love to tour the world, performing my music. I dream of being someone who can represent Latino kids who grow up with little to no opportunity in the arts. I am a major advocate for mental health and will do whatever I can to promote wellness and quality of life. I dream to work alongside charities some day and continue to use music as a universal tool that brings people together in times of need.”
Principe Azul is available on most streaming platforms. Make sure to check it out and to reminisce about your first love while you listen.
Rosy Alvarez is a freelance writer based in New York City who focuses on music, entertainment, and lifestyle stories.