Arii Lopez
Meet Cuban born, Jamaican raised, Arii Lopez. Born in Santiago De Cuba, Cuba Arii Lopez is no stranger to turning heads with her charming vibe and alluring personality. Raised across the street from the Cuban National House of Music, La Trova where music pulsated day and night. As a result, Arii knew Cuban Boleros by the time she was a toddler and developed a passion for Latin music. Because of her obsession with Latin music and her admiration of Michael Jackson she knew she wanted a career in music by the tender age of 5. At 6 years old Arii moved, along with her mother, to Jamaica where her father lived for most of her life. Given Arii’s strong Cuban and Jamaican background it’s no surprise that her music style is a unique blend of Dancehall, Latin, and Pop Fusions with Hip-Hop touches. Now is Arii’s time to make waves.
No stranger to delivering a fearlessly majestic project, she represents the new generation of female artists from the Caribbean looking to shake the table and revolutionize what it means to break down barriers. Using her platform and her music to reach her fans regionally and internationally, Arii makes it her mission to change the narrative. Describing her sound as ‘island pop’, she contrasts the many imperfect realities of life, relationship, love, and heartbreak in her music, cementing her ranking in the Caribbean as one of the best to do it.
Arii understands the hardship of being a music industry woman. “My aesthetic is important to me. Being myself is important to me. No matter what situation or room or place I’m in, I want to show that I am always me. To be proud of being a woman and the struggles that we go through and all the things that we’ve been brainwashed by society to be quiet about, I am a big believer in the power of what we can do as women and how we get it done”.
Her sense of style is a way for her to express her creativity, using her mother as a major trendsetter and inspiration. “My mum went to the School of Design in Santiago, Cuba and studied shoe design and would make clothes for me whilst she worked another job at a sandal factory in Cuba. We barely had any resources, but she always made it work and dressed nice, changed her hair color all the time, and that inspired me to do the same”.
While Arii has performed at various locations and shared the stage with the likes of Major Lazer and Beres Hammond she has her eyes set on several international festivals and arenas including Glastonbury and Madison Square Garden. “I have big dreams when it comes to performance, those are the things that I want to do. Be on those stages killing it and showing women everywhere that we can do it too”.
Arii released her first single, the critically acclaimed “Mop it up” in 2017 and has not stopped creating since then. She especially proud of her time with Pretty Boy Worldwide where she had the hit single “Culture” which landed a spot on the UK’s number one crossover R&B Spotify playlist. She is currently working on her first album with Evolved Entertainment. The first single will be released in June 2024.