Lupita Infante: La Corona She Forged Herself

By Isis Antonio

For an artist whose name is synonymous with Mexican music royalty, Lupita Infante is remarkably grounded. While her lineage, as the granddaughter of the legendary Pedro Infante Cruz, is an undeniable part of her story, it’s not the whole story. In fact, it’s a story she’s actively rewriting, carving out a space all her own. She’s not just an heir to the throne; with her new album, La Corona es Mía (The Crown Is Mine), she is declaring that the crown is rightfully hers, earned through her own creative vision and a relentless pursuit of authenticity.

The road to this declaration wasn’t a gilded one. Before she was a two-time GRAMMY® nominee, before she was a critically adored voice in a new generation of música mexicana, Lupita was a student at UCLA, studying a subject that would prove to be a fascinating bridge between her past and future: ethnomusicology.

“I would write about Mexican music and research women in mariachi, and study machismo in Mexican culture,” she says, reflecting on her time at the university. “I found ethnomusicology very fulfilling, because I was able to connect with my roots.” 

This academic approach to her heritage wasn’t just a classroom exercise. It was a journey of rediscovery, a chance to understand the cultural and societal currents that ran through her grandfather’s work and the genre itself. It was also a period of immense sacrifice. To pay her bills and tuition, Lupita worked as a music teacher and later as a Lyft driver, a stark contrast to the spotlight she would later embrace. “I knew I wasn’t the kind of person who was going to be stuck in an office, even though it meant sacrificing financial stability.”

That drive for independence, instilled in her by her own mother, is a core value that permeates every aspect of her career. “My mom, she came to this country because her dad wouldn’t let her pursue a higher education,” she explains. “My mom told me, ‘I didn’t want to stay in that little town, because I knew what my life was going to look like. I was going to get married and have kids. I was not going to be able to do what I wanted to do, and I felt like I was not going to have any freedoms.’ That limited role is what my mother saw modeled where she grew up. So I think my mom knew that, and even having her as my mom, it was like, ‘no, you never depend on a man. Always be independent.’ Why? Because that’s power, and I think that just naturally reflects in my music and what I do.”This sense of power and self-belief is the engine behind La Corona es Mía. It was a project where Lupita took more creative control than ever before, producing the album alongside her production team. “Part of me in this process grew a lot, and even in that growth, I feel like I started believing in myself and what I’m capable of,” she says. “And I think in an industry where you see all of these amazing artists having incredible success, part of my dream is to be up there with my idols and have comparable success of my own.”

Read The Full Article on RYM Magazine – August 2025 Special Edition – Out Now!

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