JOZE: Bilingual Dreamscapes from the Borderlands

STUDIO814
3 days ago
2 min read

Pop poetics shaped by migration, memory, and dual belonging.

From Santiago to SoundCloud

Josephinne Zelaya, aka JOZE, is a genre-fluid storyteller navigating cultural thresholds. Born in Honduras, raised between Chile and the U.S., her work merges Latin pop, experimental ambient, and confessional indie in a form that feels both borderless and deeply rooted.

JOZE’s early tracks emerged quietly on SoundCloud in 2023, but 2025 marks her breakout moment. The single "Me Llamas" threads bilingual intimacy through cinematic production—combining soft piano motifs with lo-fi trap textures and field recordings from her grandmother’s village.

Me Llamas: Love, Distance, and Diaspora

There’s no hype machine around JOZE—just intention. "Me Llamas" has the warmth of a lullaby and the ache of an unsent voice memo. In it, she sings: “Llámame cuando no sepas quién eres,” a line that echoes through reverb like a prayer.

The video, self-directed, moves between archival VHS and choreographed absence. Flowers rot in time-lapse. Letters burn unread. It’s poetic cinema on a zero-dollar budget—and it hits harder than any algorithm-driven rollout.

Live as Ritual

JOZE’s 2025 sets have been word-of-mouth events across art galleries, micro-venues, and hybrid literary spaces. She reads poems between songs. She lights candles. She sometimes performs with her back turned.

This isn’t mystique—it’s method. Each show is a ritual of return: to memory, to identity, to what language forgets.

Visual World: Earth Tones, VHS, and Queer Poetics

JOZE curates everything: zine-style merch, Polaroid releases, and lyric art inscribed on recycled paper. Her visuals live in the grain—handheld, diaristic, honest. No filters. No spectacle. Just presence.

She cites Clarice Lispector, Rosalía, and Frank Ocean as influences. You can hear all three in how she bends genre toward vulnerability.

Why JOZE Is a STUDIO814 Artist

Global but grounded: A voice shaped by diaspora but never disconnected.

Narrative-first artistry: Every release is a short film, a zine, a feeling.

Emotional precision: Queer, bilingual, intimate in a way that resists spectacle.

Scene stewardship: Uplifting fellow artists, hosting house shows, releasing mini-documentaries of collaborators.

STUDIO814 Takeaway

JOZE doesn’t make hits—she makes hauntings. Her bilingual lyrics carry ancestral warmth. Her visuals document longing as architecture. Her performances aren’t gigs—they’re gatherings.

Listen to Me Llamas. Send it to someone you’ve lost. Then write a letter you won’t send. JOZE already has the soundtrack ready.