Get To Know: Claudia Valentina

Taken by Robin Boe

Claudia Valentina is an emerging talent in the music scene who has been steadily grafting and honing her craft for several years. New Wave Magazine managed to grab a pocket of time over Zoom while she is in LA, busy in the studio to chat about her journey in the industry so far, and the music she is currently working on.

At the time of interviewing Claudia, she had recently released her single ‘When I’m High’, off her upcoming project which oozes star quality, from the production, the vocals and the visuals. Claudia is known for her ability to transcend genres with an assertive approach that demands your attention.

Growing up, Claudia has always been a music lover first and foremost. So much so, that very few other things occupied space in her life. Claudia explains that growing up she had quite an addictive personality “I’ve always been really extreme…if I like it, I will do it until I physically can’t do it anymore”.

However, this tunnel vision has spurred her on leading her to some amazing opportunities and allowed her to create the music that she is so proud to be making.

Talking about artistry, Claudia has recently been inspired by some of her female peers including Raye, explaining how many of the artists that are flying high now and have recently had a huge break, have been hustling for many years. ‘People are recognising real artists now…the industry is moving in a more real direction which I’m loving”.

The last project that she released was back in 2020, which was her self-titled debut EP and diving into how her music process has evolved since then. Speaking of the EP in particular, Claudia talks about how she was signed to a major label and how it became quite overwhelming at times dealing with the business side of the industry. ‘That EP is a younger, more innocent version of myself that was just trying to do the right thing”.

Off the back of the EP, Claudia opens up about how she left her label and her whole team as she was not enjoying the process of making music where her creative side was being stifled. Claudia then started afresh and moved to Berlin where she took some time to focus on who she wanted to be as an artist and the music she wanted to make. As a result, she became a lot clearer on the messages she wants to put out in her music and her identity as an artist.

While interviewing Claudia, I really got a sense that she was really relishing in the creative freedom of making music without the major label machine behind her. For a while now, Claudia has locked herself away in the studio in LA to focus on her inspirations and create her own world.

“I have a small team", she said. "And the creative side is all from my ideas, which feels as authentic as it can be because there is no one trying to make me do anything I don’t want to do”.

Speaking of the world she is looking to create with her music, Claudia is focused on creating a storyboard that showcases the many lives she has lived at just 23 years of age. Trying to pitch her world into a small paragraph doesn’t do it justice, but she is confident that the music will speak for itself when it’s released, and that her fans will get a better understanding of what the scope of her music is.

“The lyrics in the project are super conversational and raw as f***”.

With her latest single ‘When I’m High’, Claudia sees this song as the start of her upcoming project and her new era as a whole. “I really wanted to strip everything back and have it just be about the song, the lyrics and the story, and I wanted the visuals to reflect how raw everything is”.

Her upcoming project is wrapped in a sense of dark humour, which is how she takes her approach to life. “The funnier you can find things, the less damaging it can be”, Claudia said.

With this song, however, she is going with a more vulnerable outlook but assures me that there are more upbeat songs which have a more “bad bitch vibe”. However, before she unveils that side, Claudia wants to be more open with her fans to create a deeper connection with them.

The conversation then progresses to her new team at Electric Feel after parting ways with her major label, and again Claudia lights up, speaking about the freedom she has been given whilst working with them. “It feels like I’m in a team with really dope music creatives, instead of people who are focused solely on the business…I’m allowed to be the artist that I want to be”.

Right now, Claudia is whittling down the songs she has, to put them into her upcoming project and expresses her frustration that one EP doesn’t begin to cover what she wants to say, so hints that she may be putting out more than one EP.

Although, she doesn’t want to divulge too much as she is still focused on getting the music right before putting a timeline on things. Currently, the plan is to drop a new song, along with visuals approximately every 6 weeks if all goes to plan.

This is only the start of her journey, and we are going to be hearing a lot more from her in the near future. Claudia was recently credited as one of the co-writers for the song ‘Mantra’ by K-Pop superstar Jennie, which has charted worldwide and currently has over 300 million streams on Spotify. She wrote the song intending it to be released on this upcoming project. Another testament to her songwriting talents.

Right now, you can check out her new single ‘When I’m High’ and keep your eyes peeled for her future releases that look to be imminent.

Listen