Nomi Ruiz is on the precipice of world domination. The Nuyorican multi-hyphenate is thriving as a songwriter/producer, performer, writer, poet, podcaster, activist, and now actress, using her multiple disciplines as a platform for her advocacy in the trans community.
Ruiz is best known as the musical force behind Jessica 6, a New York-based electro-pop band she formed in 2008 with Andrew Raposo and Morgan Wiley (drummer Jim Orso joined in 2010). Their 2011 debut album, See the Light, went on to become an instant EDM classic, with Ruiz’s smooth velvety voice over throbbing beats mesmerizing global dance floors for more than a decade. (The group disbanded in 2013, and Ruiz now operates solely as Jessica 6.)
But music is just one the many avenues Ruiz uses to channel her creativity. Her personal essays on toxic relationships, self-love, gender identity, trans sexuality, and feminism are illuminating and palpable. Her podcast Allegedly NYC with Ava Sanjuro, now in its second season, is all things sex, dating, and pop culture through the lens of two Latinx girls, one trans and one cis, living in New York City. Through her indie record label Park Side Records, where she released her debut album as Nomi Ruiz, Lost in Lust, the artist is offering opportunities to fellow POC and QTPOC artists, starting with multi-media artist Martine Gutierrez earlier this summer.
Ruiz grew up surrounded by music. She began singing as a child and writing songs at 12, with ’90s hip hop, R&B, and freestyle surrounding and influencing her. She got her big break as a featured vocalist on Hercules & Love Affair‘s self-titled debut album in 2008, touring extensively to support the now-iconic dance album. This is where Jessica 6 began; Ruiz met Raposo and Wiley, who were also involved with H&LA, and during tour breaks, they began their collaboration. The trio debuted their first single, “Fun Girl” in 2009.
Throughout her journey, Ruiz has been unapologetically vocal about trans discrimination, something she faced early in her career. She’d been shut out by music executives who found her “sexually threatening” or were more accepting of Ruiz when she was included in a group fronted by a cis gay male. Even a major fashion brand cancelled a performance when they discovered Ruiz was trans. But Ruiz remained focused and honed her craft: Writing, performing, producing, connecting, hustling, and believing in herself.
Chile, Greece, Mexico, Los Angeles: Ruiz navigates the world for her art and equity for the trans community. Last April, Ruiz and Daniela Vega, famed actress and star of the Oscar-winning film A Fantastic Woman, connected and created the The Resistance Show at Blondie, an LGBTQ nightclub in Santiago, Chile. Introduced by a mutual friend who sensed their synchronicity, Ruiz and Vega connected in New York and continued bonding creatively in Santiago, where they conceived TRS, a dazzling two-hour collaborative performance piece which incorporates Ruiz’s and Vega’s solo work and focuses on dismantling gender norms. Recently, Ruiz made her acting debut, guest-starring on FX’s Sons of Anarchy spin-off Mayans M.C., centered around the trials and tribulations of a Latinx biker gang. She’s also set to appear in the upcoming Muay Thai action film Haymaker. And in October, Ruiz released her third Jessica 6 album, The Eliot Sessions, which features eights songs dripping in her signature smoldering nu-disco sound. Ruiz has carved out a very unique space for herself, and promises there’s a lot more to come.
Harper’s BAZAAR: You’re an outspoken activist for the trans community, leading conversations surrounding sexuality, self-worth, and beauty. How did you step into this role and how do you see your activism evolving?
Nomi Ruiz: I started making hip hop and people started talking about my gender. I wanted to be known for my music first, my voice, and I feel like I’ve accomplished [that] over time. And as I felt more secure and more respected as an artist, I wanted my work to mean something after that. I started traveling. I see how all these kids look up to me. There are different levels of evolution with the LGBTQ community in different parts of the world. Everyone is not so advanced as the U.S., and some parts are more behind. Being popular in all these different territories, I feel like I have the opportunity to bring people up to a certain level, to educate and bring awareness, and let people know that they’re not alone.
With the work that I do with Daniela Vega, [for example] we removed gender from the restrooms at the nightclub Blondie in Santiago. We just started this dialogue. Even the government officials and cardinals of the Catholic Church started to come for us, and I felt the power of just resisting. We’re here, we’re not going to stop, we’re going to spread more of that message. South America is such a different place, it’s so behind when it comes to gender laws. I feel like men need the most help. We need to get to the root of the problem. The root for me is this toxic masculinity that exists in the world. With my last single, we had this press release where my song talks about how men are afraid of their desires and they’re oppressed when meeting different females in the world. A lot of people didn’t want to talk about or write about it. It was interesting to see that people didn’t want to print that. That’s the next phase: Talking about their perspective.
HB: Your third Jessica 6 album, The Eliot Sessions, has so many amazing tracks. It has a strong late ‘80s/early ‘90s dance inspiration and a freestyle vibe. Can you talk about the inspiration behind tracks like “Get Loaded” and “Body Talk”?
NR: I was thinking of classism when I wrote “Get Loaded,” and how that affects people dating or looking for a mate. I’ve [seen] so many people who think of “dating up” or “marrying up” in order to upgrade their lifestyle. Sometimes they avoid working class people or they avoid artists or people that don’t have the stable “American Dream” life. I was drawn into that, being one of those girls who’s like, “F*ck it, I’m going to date up.” I was toying with that theme with “Get Loaded.”
On “Body Talk,” that was actually the first record [producer] Eliot and I wrote when I had first met him. He had done the “Prisoner of Love” remix, and I loved it. When I got to Greece we got together, he brought me this poem he had written, and said, ‘I really want to turn this into a song.’ He played me the track and the sound of it was so dope. I took his poem—it was like a puzzle—and I put it all together and wrote a top line to it. We really connected over making that track. Everyone reacts really well to it.
HB: For your record label Park Side Records, you’re working with multi-media artist Martine Gutierrez, whose music you’re releasing. How did your joint single “Origin” come about?
NR: “Origin” was something Martine had been working on and she presented to me. I was a fan of her EP Blame The Rain that she self-released a while back, so I was like, “I would love to re-release that, and anything new you have coming up. I would love for you to be the first artist we really focus on pushing out.” She played me “Origin,” [and said] “I want you to sing on this, I had this in mind for us.” I was honored to be a part of her creation and I love the message behind it. She’s awesome—she’s like my daughter. I love diving into her world. She’s really in control of every aspect, from image to production of the music, to her art in general, her photography. She’s one of those people I trust, whatever she wants.
HB: You just wrapped a guest role on the FX show Mayans MC, which was renewed for a second season. Can you talk about your character Gracie, who operates a dog shelter and also uses it to treat detoxing heroin addicts?
NR: Yes, that’s the cover-up for the makeshift rehab. She’s kind of an informant for the Mayans, which is cool. She’s part of the gang in a way; they come to her for her intel. And they save her in the end from another cartel. I survived! She survives! So hopefully they’ll bring her back.
HB: What spoke to you about your character, Gracie?
NR: When I got into acting, there were all these opportunities that came my way, but they were all for these characters that had trans narratives that were written by mostly cis men, and it was just so on the surface. This was way more complex and had so much nuance to it, even in the first few scenes. It had a complexity that had nothing to do with the trans narrative. It was more interesting for me and a little more challenging for me; I want to do more roles like that, where the trans narrative is not the main focus of this person’s life and how they interact with other characters.
HB: So much of the DNA of Mayans MC is about family and community. Did you feel a connection to the cast from your upbringing in Sunset Park, Brooklyn?
NR: I did! I wasn’t able to go to the table reading, [so] when I shot the scene it was the first time I met all the guys. It was kind of intense being thrown right into it. I grew up around street culture and was really welcomed into that world, which is unexpected because of the machismo. It brought me back to that time in my life, and that community vibe and that chosen family aspect, and I kept that in my mind as I was getting into a scene.
“Where are all the trans screenwriters telling stories from a trans perspective?”
HB: In a recent episode of Slutever you said Hollywood has exploited the trans narrative. What do you mean by that specifically?
NR: The trans narrative has mostly been told from a cis perspective. There are few trans writers, directors, filmmakers, who are controlling our narrative. Where are all the trans screenwriters telling stories from a trans perspective? And why are trans characters in television mostly tokenized bit parts written, directed, and sometimes even played by cis people? Where are all the lead characters? The door is beginning to open a bit with Ryan Murphy’s Pose and I hope it doesn’t end there, because we’re finally seeing how powerful and beneficial it is for trans narratives to be told from our own perspective, and how we can lead a show.
HB: How did your collaboration with Daniela Vega for The Resistance Show come about?
NR: We linked when we were both in New York. Instantly we were like sister wives. I had already planned a trip to Santiago to see friends, and she was there when I was there. We became closer. I was only going for two weeks and ended up staying for six months. They are having a movement there now, kind of like what we had in the States—people recognizing that gender is more of a spectrum, that we have to bring that into reality, that we have to change laws to catch up with society.
Daniela is the only trans person that visible in the media [in Chile]. It’s intense, in the States there are so many advocates. When I was there, we supported each other in that way too. She’s also into music, she’s a vocalist and she loves to perform, and we organically thought that we should work together. The Resistance Show is my Jessica 6 show, a full survey of all the songs, and different collaborations [under my eponymous solo act] Nomi Ruiz. Then there is an interlude and the vibe changes and she performs a piece from the film [A Fantastic Woman] at the end. Then I come back out and we collaborate together on the stage. It was such a beautiful and powerful concert, one of my proudest moments. We’re thinking of bringing it to different places.
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