Unraveling The Creative Depths Of Schia’s ‘La Vida Loca’
Rookie Ghanaian singer and rapper Schia (pronounced Shy-ya) launched her career in September 2023 with the lively single ‘La Vida Loca’.
Born Natashia Akonnor, the newcomer describes ‘La Vida Loca’ as a feel-good song that encapsulates the excitement of falling for someone. This article takes a deep dive into Schia’s song-making process.
Initially inspired by the beat, Schia recalls getting the itch to pen a song despite having a deadline for her coursework. The thrill of a looming deadline got her creative juices flowing and she finished the melody in one sitting.
For the singer, her songwriting process often starts with hearing the beat, creating a melody, and then crafting fitting lyrics. Schia also notes that her approach was influenced by artists like Tems, Lauryn Hill, and Nicki Minaj whom she had listened to that week.
‘La Vida Loca’ was written as a fun song thus the United Kingdom-based singer focused less on punchlines and more on the beat and melody. This shows in the expert way she played with her flow throughout the song, switching it up like a rollercoaster.
Despite not being in love at the time of writing, the singer wanted to channel that feeling of exhilaration into the song. Schia sees this as a form of manifestation of wanting to be excited about someone in the future.
However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing during the song-making process. Choosing the beat, in particular, was difficult as she was torn between two options.
However, Schia believes her choice in the end was the correct one. She also struggled with the recording as she wasn’t satisfied with the results and thus went through a total of three recordings.
The final recording with producer Jayso brought her vision to life. The singer-rapper also considered bringing in a feature but decided against that in the end.
Though the emphasis was not placed on lyrical punchlines for ‘La Vida Loca’, it doesn’t mean Schia did not have some fun with them. With lyrics like “Got a sharp mouth but I’m speechless”, “Unleash in me the beast. May look like a butterfly but I sting like a bee” and “Got me on my toes, ballet”, the artiste shows her clever penmanship.
Schia also shows her wit by splitting the lyrics “Boy, you make me feel la vida loca into the last part of the pre-hook and the beginning of the chorus.
With her musical sense and desire to carve her own path, Schia proves she is ready to take the industry by storm.