equality factor: her human factors led her to success
work: Logistics and production, personal manager, and road manager of Cazzu
based in: Buenos Aires, Argentina
From the beginning on, her human factors led Yanina Alvarez to become the right hand of one of the most important Latin American trap artists of today, "Cazzu". In our interview with Yani (as she likes to be called) from her home in Buenos Aires, she talks about how she carries out and interprets her work in the industry, the pros and cons of being a woman within the scene, and most importantly: the human relationship that connects her with her team.
Yani arrived in the entertainment world at a very early age. At 11 years old, she got to know the world of "Murga", an artistic genre that combines music and theater. It is a musical tradition that varies according to the cultural tradition of each country and is usually very popular in Argentina during the months of Carnival. For Yani, her involvement with music immediately became a passion. Without knowing it, was taught many lessons in the school of murga. She was the one who organized the logistics of the Corsicans (the parade taking place during the celebration of the Carnival), who networked with people, who managed the activities, who asked for the permits. At the age of 20, she became the director of a murga of more than 80 people, and for the next 7 years, she was giving workshops and traveled tour in the interior of the country. There, she really learned what collective work was; she learned to make projects that communicated and at the same time became self-managing. She was involved with murga until she was 27 years old, and there she learned things that when she started working with Cazzu, she didn't know she already knew. Through murga, Yani learned to be who she is today.
Yanina was by Cazzu's side from the beginning of her career.
Her calling led her to teach others what she had learned. She taught in the school for 5 years, in that period she moved to a new apartment and met Juli (Cazzu) who was her floor neighbor. As time went by, their friendship grew closer, and she began to accompany her friend on her quest for making music. She introduced herself to new genres and places, supporting her and learning about everything a little bit. Through their friendship and collaboration, these two strong women established the firm base of feminine power that would, later on, be the base of Cazzu's success.
"My work is a responsibility, it started as a game so to speak and ended up being a way of life"
The musical impact that the Latin American industry has been experiencing for a few years now has been transforming itself into a block, which particularly in Argentinian music, is re-establishing the music industry of an entire continent. If there is something that the future of music has at the moment, it is talent and optimism. Yani is part of this future generation, thanks to working alongside Cazzu. Despite the size of the structure needed to manage an artist of her caliber, the team is as small as it is empowered, and nearly free of hierarchy when it comes to working and making decisions. The main team making decisions is made up of Cazzu, Flor in administration, Leo who is the manager of Cazzu, and she, who works in logistics and production, a personal manager, and tour manager. On several occasions, Yani has also worked as a press representative for her friend. "My work is a responsibility, it started as a game, so to say, and ended up being a way of life," she told us. Yanina does not see work as a passion, because that would limit her to herself, she feels her work as her own human revolution, she has seen how she has advanced, how she has learned, and how she has changed throughout this time. Her overall motto is that where there is a problem, there is a solution. Since she started working in the field, her life and her interests have changed a lot. She understood that working for an artist moves mountains, that everything changes, that there are no more birthdays, hangouts with friends, that you always have to be ready for everything. "It is fundamental to find a balance in these cases. Many times, I wonder if I really believe in the person I am representing, or if what I do is really my passion, is really what I want, or how to manage that. So it is super important to work with an artist with which you feel identified, an artist who really has human values, who really honors life, that's what she does, she values the dignity of your own life because when you work with someone for whom you feel respect, admiration and you see that they really have it with others it simplifies everything," she said.
"I'm very proud to be part of this team".
The history of each member of the team led them to be what they are today, they all came from different backgrounds and reinvented themselves within a new generation. Yani made her place in the industry well from below, knowing, researching, studying, and learning from her colleagues, citing particularly the support and confidence of Leo, Cazzu's manager. He was a great teacher and remains so today.
"We are not far from achieving equality, we are closer than before, it may be a utopia or not, but it is a determination".
The road for women in the industry is less obstructed than it was a decade ago, but Yanina tells us that in many fields you still have to assert yourself and be someone you are not in order to gain the respect of other colleagues."Today, we cannot continue to measure ourselves by gender, it does not give more - that is what inclusiveness is about. We must understand that there are different types of genders because there are different types of people and different types of human beings." The industry is not the same for a woman as it is for a man both on and off the stage. In Argentina, in particular, behind the scenes, there is a very large team of women, in logistics and production, and in other Latin American countries, this is far less common. "We are not far from achieving equality, we are closer than before. It may be a Utopian dream or not, but it is a determination, and as time goes by, there will be more women who can play major roles within the industry" she said.
When they travel for business or award ceremonies abroad, Yanina is the only member of the team that flies with Cazzu, she is the person that accompanies Cazzu to the signing of her intentional contracts, the same person that when Juli (as she likes to call her), would arrive at her house after weeks of touring (with another band), was waiting with a plate of noodles.
Yanina works with an artist who saw her growth from scratch and lived through her development without any kind of infrastructure and without knowledge of what the music industry is. She shares that with Cazzu. However, following her basic principles of "faith, practice, and study", she found a direction and dream of achieving the goal of making projects within the industry that honor people's lives, and the quality of musicians and artists.
