Xenia Rubinos

Xenia Rubinos was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1985 to a Puerto Rican mother and a Cuban father.^[1] She studied jazz composition at the Berklee College of Music.^[2] She spent most of her 20s acting as the primary caregiver for her father as he dealt with a degenerative illness, which inspired her song "Black Stars."^[3] She has lived in Brooklyn since 2006.

Her album Black Terry Cat was released to critical acclaim and was named the 11th best album of 2016 by NPR.^[4]

Rubinos' early music influences include composers like Prokofiev and Ravel,^[5] as her father was a fan of classical music and opera.^[3] Salsa, rumba and merengue, including releases by Fania Records, were popular in her house while growing up.^[5][6] Later, she became enthralled with hip-hop, R&B and Miles Davis in particular, which led her to study jazz at the Berklee College of Music.

She is inspired by her Latin American heritage and Santería practices.^[7] She is also inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement,^[3] and discusses her experiences as a woman of color in her songs, but she sees her music as broader than the category of protest music.^[1]

Rubinos' music is not easily categorized, as she crosses many genres in both her lyrics and her sound.^[1][7][8][9]

• 2013 - Magic Trix (self-released)
• 2016 - Black Terry Cat (NuBlack Music Group)
• 2021 - Una Rosa (ANTI-)