Yahoo Lifestyle In Her Own League: Young Miko Unpacks Her Grammy-Nominated Debut Album, What She Hopes to Represent and the ‘Miko Effect’
It’s noon in Puerto Rico, and Young Miko is eager to get home.
Just a few weeks ago, the 27-year-old, born María Victoria Ramírez, completed a 20-date headlining tour across the United States. She’s back in her element now but still in transit, making the two-hour journey from the east side of the island to the west to meet her parents for dinner.
More from Variety
“When I’m visiting my parents, I still look through their vinyl collection. My dad has the best and most exclusive stuff,” Miko says in Spanish. “Ever since I can remember, music has always been a guide for me.”
A rapper-singer with the confidence and cadence of a seasoned pro, Miko began developing her style as a preteen by participating in local talent shows and observing Lauryn Hill and Gwen Stefani. She learned how to play guitar at 15 years-old and later pursued a career as a tattoo artist while studying visual arts. But music kept calling. After some tunes she released on SoundCloud got a strong response, Miko began to pursue rapping full time.
The focus has paid off: Her debut album, “Att.” (the abbreviation for “atentamente,” Spanish for “sincerely”), debuted in the top 10 of Billboard’s Top Latin Albums and Latin Rhythm Albums charts, and is nominated for a 2025 Grammy Award in the música urbana album category. The youngest artist to be nominated in the category, Miko also will compete this year as the only female artist against Feid, Bad Bunny, Daddy Yankee and J Balvin.
The 16-song LP arrived just after Miko scored her first pair of Hot 100 entries thanks to collaborations with both Bunny and Feid on “Fina” and “Classy 101,” respectively. She was also uplifted by her female peers, especially Colombian superstar Karol G, who selected Miko as an opening act for her blockbuster “Mañana Sera Bonito” stadium tour (and chose Miko to play her love interest in a music video).
Over these last few months, Miko has toured relentlessly, including appearances at the Coachella festival and on “The Tonight Show.” She will be honored for these achievements as Variety‘s Hitmakers Trailblazer of the Year on Dec. 7.
“I’m incredibly grateful to say that I feel welcomed,” she says. “We jokingly call it ‘the Miko Effect,’ because, it happened with every one of Karol’s shows or at festivals like Coachella. At first, you can see the audience is not quite sure what’s going on — I’m not so girly-looking, my voice is deep and the beats are hitting hard — but they’re vibing. After the first 10 or 15 minutes, they can’t help but to really get into it and dance and let loose. I’m gonna make sure they remember who I am. That’s the Miko Effect.”
“Att.” boasted streaming hits like “Rookie of the Year” and “Offline,” introducing her as an unapologetic and free-spirited songwriter with a distinct swagger and delivery of quick-witted innuendos. She raps of navigating romance and sexuality as a queer woman, and in rarer moments, Miko drops the fast-paced reggaeton drums for more guitar-based melodies.
She describes the weeks leading up to her album’s release as “bittersweet,” and says she wishes she would have enjoyed the anticipation more, and stressed less. “It all makes sense now,” she says. “But at the time, my hair was borderline falling out of my head. I was so worried that nobody would understand what I wanted to say. I included more acoustic moments, and they weren’t all going to be what people usually expected from me – the party songs.”
Catering to a visuals-obsessed Gen Z fanbase, the stage design for her fall “XOXO” tour mimics her actual bedroom — the same visual seen in her anime-inspired album cover art. “It’s a cozy space where people are encouraged to let their guard down,” Miko says.
The tour and marketing visuals for the album were all Miko’s original ideas, sharpened with the help of her go-to producer, Mauro, who is credited across “Att.” “It’s exactly what I wanted,” she adds. “Because now I look out at a crowd, and I see girls crying to a song like ‘en la pichi interlude.’ It feels really fulfilling to have people be so receptive to me challenging myself. It’s been super empowering.”
Her relationship with her fans — including her 7.8 million Instagram followers — is synergetic, Miko adds, because they give her a platform to speak about important issues. During the recent presidential election cycle, Miko urged her listeners to vote by interacting with them on social media, encouraging an open conversation about what issues were at stake.
“I can’t help but feel responsible for speaking up to the world, when I rap how I rap and I am who I am,” she says with a smile. “I usually know in my gut when it’s the right time to speak up, and I only follow that instinct because, ultimately, I was given a space to represent something.”
“It’s not like I had a scheme to make gay music and play it for people all over the world,” she concludes. “But here I am.”
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
