Just two days before the release of her powerful new album, Cosas que Sorprenden a la Audiencia (Things that Surprise the Audience), Mexican singer-songwriter Vivir Quintana stood behind barbed wire at a women’s prison — not as a performer, but as an ally and listener. For the past decade, Quintana has visited women imprisoned for killing their abusers in acts of self-defense. Now, their harrowing stories take center stage in her latest musical project.
This groundbreaking album, launched on Thursday, tells the real-life stories of 10 women who found themselves criminalized for fighting back against gender-based violence. In a bold artistic choice, Quintana tells their stories through corridos — a traditional and often male-dominated Mexican music genre now reclaimed for feminist storytelling.
“This album has a different heart,” said the 40-year-old artist, wearing her signature streak of gray in black hair and striking red boots. “It wasn’t made to sell, it’s to change minds.”
Through the lyrics, Quintana addresses the widespread violence against women in Latin America, where an estimated 10 women are murdered every day in Mexico alone. Many of these women, like those featured in her songs, were charged with “excessive legitimate self-defense,” a legal term that has drawn fierce criticism for punishing survivors instead of protecting them.
Strumming her guitar and singing with raw emotion, Quintana recalls one woman’s words:
“So many times I feared for my life. So many times I didn’t defend myself.
Now I live locked up in a prison, and I feel more free than I did in my own home.”
This theme — of silenced voices reclaiming their power — has defined Quintana’s career. She rose to prominence in 2020 when her anthem “Canción Sin Miedo” (Song Without Fear) became a rallying cry for feminist marches across Latin America. She later co-wrote a moving hymn for Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack and was honored in 2023 as one of the Latin Grammys’ Leading Ladies of Entertainment.
With Cosas que Sorprenden a la Audiencia, Quintana continues her mission of transforming pain into protest — and giving voice to the unheard.
