Singer, dancer, social media personality and focus of a recent nationwide controversy is coming to Chico State Saturday. Multi-talented artist, NEZZA, will bring her unique blend of Spanglish and Latin Pop to the Bell Memorial Union Auditorium.
NEZZA got her start on social media platforms such as YouTube and TikTok, where she uploaded song covers and vlogs. She released her first single in June 2018, first to YouTube and then to Spotify. Her music and social media careers have since taken off, with her Spotify profile currently garnering about 45,500 monthly listeners and her social media profiles having over 1 million combined followers.
Passionate Spanglish lyrics and a larger-than-life stage presence are recognizable aspects of NEZZA’s music. In June of this year, her decision to perform the national anthem in Spanish at a Los Angeles Dodgers game sparked controversy. Her performance of the anthem took place amidst a series of protests in LA spurred by unrest over the treatment of the Latinx community by the Trump administration.
While some people accused her of disrespecting the U.S. and anthem — and even called for her deportation — many people found her performance empowering.
Karen Contreras is the lead cultural programmer at El Centro, an on-campus organization that provides resources to Latinx students. Contreras said, “I think it’s really important that she’s coming here … I feel like her singing (the national anthem) in Spanish was kinda giving us our power back … I’m really excited to be there and share that space with her, especially after that.”
Abraham Trujillo, an event and program assistant for the Associated Students, is excited to be bringing an artist that is so relevant to students, such as NEZZA, to the Chico State campus.
“Students can expect more events like this in the future,” Trujillo said. “The goal was to create a new experience for students that caters to their wants and interests.”
Tickets are available for purchase through the University Box Office website or at the door. Tickets are $10 for Chico State students and $20 for the public. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the music starts at 7:30 p.m.
Abraham Trujillo also said, “If any student would like to attend the event, but for whatever reason can not afford the $10 sale, they can reach out to me personally via email at [email protected] so that I may help with a resolution.”
Owen Messer can be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].
