‘Spanglish R&B’ singer Bia Javier opens up about motherhood and new music
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(styling and photography by Chenara Lam)
R&B singer and Berklee College of Music graduate Bia Javier incorporates her Latine roots and the Spanish language into her artistry, paying homage to her culture and her parents’ homeland, the Dominican Republic.
A bilingual artist, Javier uses storytelling as a way to relate to audiences. She’s known for exploring diversity in her music. Songwriting has been therapeutic for her, she says, and influences her musical process. Growing up in the Seventh-day Adventist church, she says her faith also lays a strong foundation for everything she does. When she became a mother in August 2022, a moment of deep transition, she leaned into her faith, letting her trust in God guide her.
“It’s also something I intentionally pass on to my daughter, instilling in her the same sense of trust, purpose, and spiritual grounding,” Javier says.
Known for using storytelling and incorporating personal experiences into her songwriting, her latest single is “IDNYE.” An acronym for “I don’t need your energy,” “IDNYE” is a line from the song’s chorus. Javier says it captures the emotional release and clarity she felt three months after the birth of her daughter. At the time, she says, she was inspired by the postpartum experience and challenges in her relationship.
“There’s so much that goes unsaid about the silent battles new mothers face after giving birth — the emotional shifts, the identity changes and the strain it can place on even the strongest partnerships,” Javier says.
Read our interview to learn more about Javier.
Could you share your background, and where are you from?
I am a singer-songwriter from Lawrence, Massachusetts. Boston is my second home, because I went to school at Berklee College of Music (in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood) and have a big community in Boston. My music is mostly R&B and Spanish, so I like to call it “Spanglish R&B.” I write all my songs and talk a lot about my journey as a woman, as a person who has been in and out of love.
Can you think about your first musical memories?
I was raised in the church as a Seventh-day Adventist, which is Christian. I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember. My parents have very fond memories of me singing as a kid. But one of the first memories was when I was 10 and in public.
In your earlier interviews, you have stated that you draw inspiration from your life experiences. Can you tell us more about that?
A lot of my music is just about the hardships that I’ve experienced within love. I think that that’s something that a lot of people can resonate with because we all find ourselves on that road in some way, somehow. There’s this one song that I have, it’s called “Note to Self,” positive affirmations that I tell myself. With my newer music, though, there is one about my journey in motherhood.
Please elaborate on how you incorporate vulnerability into your songwriting approach.
I would say with this new song, “IDNYE,” I was in the postpartum stage right when I wrote this. I remember, three months after having my baby, I was just sitting in my room — one of my most vulnerable moments.
In an interview with the magazine Boston Voyager, you said: “I believe that freedom of expression holds significant value.” How does this influence your current career?
It’s been more applicable now as I get older. I’ve realized you’ve got to be more carefree, live life for you and be able to express that. After I became a mother, too, there’s more of an urgency for me to want to do things and be out there as much as I can, since my time has become limited with many different things. I’m an artist. I will always be an artist who wears many hats.
For any Latinx woman aspiring to have a music career, could you share an important lesson that has guided you over the years?
Believe in yourself and in your art. Know that it is enough, and that at the end of the day, there’s space for everyone.
Being a woman in music is a masterclass in confronting self-doubt and questioning self-worth. Positive self-talk is crucial, and so is believing there’s room for all of us to shine. I remind myself: I am one of one. No one who came before me, or who will come after me, will ever be me — and that truth is incredibly powerful.
Please talk to us a little bit more about what it’s like to go through these life changes and come out the other side. What was it like?
The first thing is wanting to tell the story of what it means to be a woman in her postpartum stage — how much that affects us as women in our relationships, whether it’s romantic relationships or friends that you might lose throughout the journey … I’ve been surrounded by a lot of loss within the past three years, realizing that we only have one life to live.
See Javier perform at Grind Con 2025 in the historic Faneuil Hall Marketplace on Oct. 11, 2025.
– Story by Chabelli “Latina Bohemian” Hernandez
– Copy edited by Kami Waller
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