TikTok Sensation Ana Saia learns to let go on debut EP ‘Besos & Despedidas’

Best known as “The Redhead Latina” on Instagram and TikTok, Ana Saia has spent the last few years establishing herself as a vibrant Internet sensation. Known for her humorous videos depicting her daily experiences as a Mexican-American woman, Saia’s platform thrives on the comedic moments that come with navigating her cultural identity.

Now, Saia stands in the midst of a new chapter of her artistry, as today sees the release of her debut EP, Besos & Depsedidas. Intertwining elements of reggaeton, pop, and Latin music to convey themes of relationships, love, and culture, Saia’s introductory release finds her opening up more now than ever before. Fueled by her signature comedic charm and radiant persona, Besos & Despedidas is an accessible and incredibly relatable body of work.

While Saia is just now releasing her debut musical project, her career in the spotlight has been a long time in the making. In 2021, she was studying journalism at the University of Nevada Las Vegas with hopes of becoming a news producer. After posting a video depicting herself receiving a bad grade on an assignment, the video went viral, and Saia discovered her love for content creation. Since then, she has become known for her comedic videos online that depict her life as a Latina in the “No Sabo” generation, and now holds a following of over four million followers across all platforms.

Continuing to build upon her artistic path and always holding a special love for music, Saia entered a new era when she released her debut single “The Reason (La Razón)” in 2024. Using her skills as a content creator to hone in on her songwriting, Saia now stands as an exciting up-and-comer in modern music, blending nostalgic pop influences with a unique Spanglish approach to maintain an artistry that exudes confidence and acceptance.

Across five tracks, Besos & Despedidas explores a past relationship of Saia’s. While undeniably a breakup EP, the album is decorated with a radiant musicality, using upbeat, danceable tracks to balance the vulnerable and heartfelt lyrics found within.

Ahead of the EP’s release, Saia sat down with Melodic Magazine to talk about her musical journey thus far, where she finds inner confidence, and the power that comes from letting go.

I know you were a journalist at one point — Is it ever weird being on the other side of the interview sometimes?
You know, it’s definitely made me more prepared. It’s like I’m home, is what it feels like sometimes.

Right, like you’ve done this before, you’re used to it (laughter).
Yeah, I know the rundown in a way. Like when I go onto TV sets or stuff like that, I’m like, ‘Wow, this was another life for me.’

And now you’re a musician! What are the emotions like right now with your debut EP Besos & Despedidas coming out?
God, I mean, the one that pops out to me is always just excited. I think there was somebody who told me, ‘Your nerves and being excited, those are the same frequency.’ So I have a tendency to get nervous around things like this, but I’m just so excited to have it come out and to share what I’ve been putting so much work into. It feels like two years, but that’s just how long my journey’s been with music. And it’s just something so new. So I’m very excited.

Definitely a super exciting moment. We mentioned it earlier, but you were originally in college studying journalism, and then you became a content creator. Was being a musician always part of the plan?
I was always interested in music, ever since I was young. I begged my parents to let me play the violin, of all things. I went to a performing arts academy in high school here in Las Vegas. And I think playing violin was just my way of coping with not being able to use my voice. I used music with a different instrument. But I recently found an old dream journal of mine, and the very first entry said, ‘My dream is to be a pop star.’ I dated it too, so I was nine years old. It’s a nice thing to look back on now, knowing that no matter how far you trail off, somehow someway the universe guides you to where you’re supposed to be. I feel like music is always where I was supposed to be.

I love that! It’s sweet to think you’re doing this for your nine-year-old self. She’d be so happy to see what you’re doing now.
No literally, I’m rooting for her all the time. 

Coming from your background as a content creator, are there any skills from that career that you apply to your career as a musician now? Do the two worlds overlap in any way?
They really do. I studied social media in college a lot, so I used the skills from there to make content. And now I use the content that I’ve learned over the years to market myself as a musician. I’ve been trying to learn how to do that properly with my audience, because I don’t want to ever disappoint them either. I think one of my best gifts in life is to just make people laugh. I make people laugh and relate to my songs, in a way, with comedy and music now. So that’s kind of how I blend the two. Everybody takes a little bit of everything from where I was to where I am now.

The EP deals a lot with relationships, love, and identity, and I love how you incorporate all these themes into the record. What made you decide to explore these topics for the album?
I think a lot of musicians, when they start to write things in the studio, it’s just wherever they are in their lives. And last year, when we started this project, I had been coming out of a three year-long relationship. I was learning not only who I was outside of that now, but also where I wanted to be with my future partner and who I am by myself, and finding my own independence and freedom, really, and loving and thanking that cycle that I needed to break in order to be who I am. That’s why I loved the idea of naming the EP ‘kisses and goodbyes.’ Through every relationship, I just like to look at it optimistically rather than something that was terrible, because it wasn’t a terrible relationship. It was just something that I needed to say goodbye to.

Writing these songs about that era in your life, I imagine there’s a lot of self-reflection. Was there anything that you learned about yourself or about the relationship that you didn’t know before working on this album?
Before working on the album, I really didn’t know what that version of Ana in a relationship and Ana out of a relationship looked like. I think when creating this EP, it was very important to show the side of me that is very confident, because I don’t think I had that confidence in the relationship until the very end and having myself come out on the other side saying, ‘Wow, I love who I am now, and I appreciate everything that this taught me.’ And not only that, but also my parents. I have a very strong connection with my family. So that’s why with “Spanglish Love,” for instance, I put that song for them, because that’s who I want to be and who I hopefully will eventually have a Spanglish love with. That was a very important part of this whole music-making process.

The sound of the album is so upbeat, and you’ve mentioned adopting this Spanglish approach to your music. Who or what influences you as a musician?
God, there are so many. I love to talk about other Chicano and Chicana artists. Obviously, Selena, you can’t talk about being a Chicano artist without mentioning Selena. And now Becky G as well. I feel like, especially within the past decade, there has been this transition of Spanglish music coming out. So I love that I’m able to contribute that now and also use the music that I would grow up listening to, which was like, my mom’s playlist, which had people from Pandora to Luis Miguel to Maná. So many artists that I hear from her playlist that rubs off onto mine, but I grew up in the Disney Channel days, so maybe it has a bit of Selena Gomez pop in there. So there’s a lot.

We had talked about how the album speaks on what you learned about yourself and your identity. And on social media and through your music, your entire artistry is fueled by your bicultural background as a Mexican-American woman. Through music specifically, through making this album, was there anything you learned about your cultural identity?
This is actually something that I still struggle with, but learning to let go of being so perfect. I think that we have this sense of trying to fit this mold of what a Latina should sound like and everything. So I’m learning to let go of that restraint that I used to feel, especially within my culture, and just giving myself that grace to let go and be okay with some of these Spanglish things. Because that’s the thing, it’s not a language. In my head, it’s just slang. There is no right or wrong in that sense. So when people comment saying the lyrics are not the right words or something like that, that’s where I take a step back. Obviously I want to make sure that it is also still coherent enough. The lyrics in Spanish, especially. But at the same time, it’s not that serious at that point in time. And if I want to make it very clear, then I will put out a whole Spanish album for that. But in the meantime, this is for the people who want to dip their toes into the culture and they don’t know where to start. So I’m glad I can at least be that bridge of, it’s not perfect, but it’s also not that bad. It’s somewhere in the middle, which is my life. I live in the middle.

Coming from a mixed heritage background, there’s always this push and pull from people, especially on social media. Despite the criticism or the comments that some people might make, how do you stay confident and positive?
I just try to focus on the people in my life that I actually really care about. My family is my biggest support system, and I’m so thankful for that. They’re always the ones who will tell me how it is and be so honest with me, but also uplift me when I need it. There are days when I call them, and I’m just overwhelmed by haters online or just things didn’t work out the way I planned, and I start overthinking everything. And they are the ones that I turn to so much. Because they’ve been there my whole life, and they’re the only reason why I’m able to do what I do. I owe them everything, honestly. They are my number one fans. So I try to focus on them rather than listen to anybody else that I don’t personally know. That’s another very big one. If I don’t really know you like that, I don’t know why I would listen to some hate like that. My family’s advice is the one I will always listen to first and foremost.

You’re super close with your parents, and they’ve been so supportive. When it came to doing music, what was their initial reaction when you told them you wanted to venture down this path?
I feel like it was kind of a surprise to them. And they were obviously very supportive. But I remember when I first showed them my song, they were stunned. They were like, ‘Oh my God, you can sing!’ Because I was just so protective and scared, really. I was always so scared of my voice, even though I never really had somebody tell me not to sing. It was just probably something deep-rooted way back when. They were always so supportive and they love to take credit that they were the ones that to make me so talented. So I just say, ‘You know what? Sure (laughs).’

Aside from content creation and music, are there any other artistic ventures that you’d want to explore in the future?
Oh, give me any type of artistry I can try. I love cooking. I love dancing. Am I a good dancer? Am I a good cook? Yet to see. But I think for now, I just want to keep it to one project and one focus at a time. Because when I give something, I give my all. So that’s why I give my all to music and to content, because they’re one and the same. I think there’s no such thing as wearing too many hats.

What are you most looking forward to with the album coming out and people finally listening to it?
I’m most excited for people to hear this side of me. I think I’ve spent so much time online now that they don’t really know much about my personal life as far as relationships. And this is a very deep-rooted relationship EP. This is something that I hope, when people hear it, they can relate, and they can feel not alone, but we can all grieve together and say, ‘Okay, I let this go, and this is okay to let go.’ I don’t have a slow song on this EP either. I wanted it to be uplifting and fun, because that’s the type of music I really want to be doing. You hear it, it’s catchy, it’s fun, and you just can’t help but dance. And then you might listen to it and be like, ‘Wow, that’s a little sad.’ But overall, you’re happy. And I think we need a lot more happiness in this world right now.

The EP comes out April 24, but are there any other plans or anything that listeners should be on the lookout for from you?
I’m also doing my EP launch party on April 24. That’s going to be my first big performance. I’m headlining at On The Record at Park MGM. Following that, we’ve got some other collaborations coming that I don’t want to talk about too much, but they’re going to come up in the next month.

I’m glad you mentioned your EP release show. Is this your first ever time performing on stage like that?
Yes, I’m treating it like my wedding almost. The night is all catered to my launch, and then my performance is just a ‘carry the night away’ type of thing. This is the very first time I’m doing this in front of friends, family, fans, everybody. This is a free event for everyone here, too.

With it being your first performance, how do you go about preparing for something like that?
It’s just practice. I’m practicing on my treadmill, singing, and just doing that every single day and putting in that time and energy. I’m a very big Type A personality, so if I don’t do things all the time, then it’s not going to land. I’m just not that type of talent, I guess. But it’s just practice. With anything in life, as long as you’re practicing, that’s how you get better. And so that’s what’s going to keep me less stressed and more excited.

Stream Besos & Despedidas here.

Keep up with Ana Saia: Instagram // TikTok // Spotify // YouTube // Bandcamp