Zemmoa
Zemmoa is the stage name of María José Becerril Silva, a Mexican singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, writer, filmmaker, videographer, painter, jewelry designer, actress, and model. Life and career. 1986-2005: Early life. She is the daughter of Rodolfo Becerril Straffon. Her father was a Mexican politician, writer, professor, columnist, consultant and economist from the State of Morelos, professor at the Polytechnic University of the State of Morelos. Zemmoa's stage name derives from the French "C'est moi" which means "it's me". She had her musical debut during Paris Hilton's first visit to Mexico City in 2005. She  grew up surrounded by classical music. Her grandmother was a piano teacher at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música (Mexico); her grandfather, Jesús Silva, was a guitarist, a colleague of maestro Andrés Segovia and with a scholarship named in her honor at Virginia Commonwealth University in the United States. Zemmoa mentioned other transgender artists such as Honey Dijon and Wendy Carlos as her influences when she started in music as a self-taught person. 2006-2012: Career beginnings. In 2006 her song "Fashion Victims" was part of the soundtrack of "Así del precipicio" directed by Teresa Suárez. In that year she  was the opening act for Peaches (musician), Technotronic, and Erasure. In 2008, Zemmoa hosted the Latin Grammy Awards party in New York. In 2009, she made the "Born To Tour" tour of Mexico as well as in Paris, Berlin, Barcelona, Madrid, Brussels, Vienna, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Bogotá. In 2010, she released her first video with Zemmporio Records titled "Zeuz". In 2012, she made a cameo appearance in Julieta Venegas' music video "Tuve Para Dar". She has been a model for fashion designers such as Marvin Durán, Quetzalcóatl Rangel, ManCandy, Carlos Temores, Denis Marcheboud, and the Peruvian photographer  Mario Testino. She was also the Bouncer (doorman) of the MN Roy club, which was the home of Manabendra Nath Roy, one of the founders of the Mexican Communist Party. 2013-2014: Puro Desamor vol 1. Zemmoa created Zemmporio Records after being told by a record company that they were not ready for an artist playing with gender identity. Then she raised funds for the production of her album through the collective financing campaign "#YOYAYTÚ" on "Fondeadora Arca" platform. In 2013 she was the cover of the "OHM" magazines, the weekly newspaper "Frente MX", and "Animal Gourmet". She visited Paris  on the "Age of Aquarium" tour where she released her new album "Puro Desamor Volumen 1". She participated in the video "Mextasis" by "Simpson Ahuevo" along with Tito Fuentes Molotov (band), Ricardo O'Farrill and Charles Ans. She participated in a show at the "Cabaret d'Amour" in Paris. In that year she also appeared in magazines such as "Maxim", "Quien", "Vice", "Out", "TimeOut", "Vanity Fair", "Marie Claire", and newspapers like "Milenio". She was invited to the Opera Ball in Vienna, one of the most important events in the world to support people with HIV, and graced the start of the 11th  «International Jewish Film Festival» in Mexico. She acted together with "La Prohibida" in the Spanish show «Que Trabaje Rita» in Madrid, Barcelona, Guadalajara and in Mexico City. She gave a concert on a visit to Mexico by Jean Paul Gaultier. Was an actress in the movie "Deep Gold" from Julian Rosefeldt in Berlin in 2013. 2015-2017: NNVAV. In 2015 Zemmoa presented her second album "NNVAV" (Nothing is going to beat us) produced by Yamil Rezc (Julieta Venegas, Zoé, Hello Seahorse!), Juan Soto, Renato del Real and Andrés Jaime (Wet Baes). Appeared in the music video "Flash" of Lorena Herrera  and "Rookie" magazine and QueerBio. Opened the Hercules and Love Affair show. In 2016, she participated in Youth Week that took place on at the Zócalo and Plaza de Santo Domingo in the Historic Center of Mexico City. She collaborated with Moderatto for the tour celebrating their 15 years as a group as a guest keyboardist. She participated in the Ruidosa Fest festival along with Ximena Sariñana, Mon Laferte, Jessy Bulbo (Las Ultrasónicas) and Teri Gender Bender (Le Butcherettes), moderated by Francisca Valenzuela at the Centro Cultural de España in Mexico. Was an actress in the movie "BDAY" directed by  Andrew Lush in Los Angeles (2016). She participated in the film "Acapulco Sunset", directed by Lino Georg Von Saenger (2017) with the song "Un amor de verano" extracted from "Puro Desamor Volumen 1", plus a special appearance in it. In "Veintañera, divorciada y fantástica" by Noé Santillán-López with the song «Mucha mujer para ti» where she also appears as herself interpreting it. She also collaborated on the soundtrack of the series "Los Espookys" of HBO with the song "Te enterraré el tacón". Acoustic shows at «La Teatrería», accompanied by guest musicians, the Museum of Mexico City and «Piano Show » at Cine Tonalá and Tijuana, and closed the «Pink Screens» film festivals in Brussels and «Zinema Zombie Fest» in Colombia. 2018-2020: Zemmoa Covers. In 2018 Zemmoa presented her album Zemmoa Covers which is a tribute and thanks to various artists. Participated in the album "Querido tributo indie al divo", a musical tribute in honor of Juan Gabriel with the song "Para no olvidar". This album was presented live at the Zócalo of Mexico City during the closing of the 40th edition of the LGBT Pride on June 23, attended by about 250 thousand Mexicans. On its way through the  Paseo de la Reforma to the Zócalo. Zemmoa participated at Centro Cultural de España in the Gay pride held in the Carpa Astros of Calzada de Tlalpan which with Fey (singer), Lis Vega and Belinda. In that year "La Carrera Drag de la CDMX", a drag contest, made an episode dedicated to Zemmoa. She inspired the Detroit gothic industrial rock band Ritual Howls, who named one of her songs "Zemmoa" on their "Turkish Leather" album. At the MTV Millennial Awards, Zemmoa sent a message to celebrate sexual diversity along with "La Divaza" (Pedro Luis Joao Figueira Álvarez), Victoria Volkóva and  Los Jonas Vloggers. In that year she also appeared in magazines such as Chilango and Paper. She participated in the Gael García Bernal series, Here on Earth (TV series) (2018). In 2019 she was presented at the 2019 Sor Juana Festival of the National Museum of Mexican Art and the festival of cultural diversity and social justice «Pilsen Fest» in Chicago together with Reyna Tropical. She appeared in the magazine "Rolling Stone" and is also presented her new album at the Zócalo during the Pride parade. Vice Media made a short documentary about "La Hora Trans" where she appears. Was  an actress in the movie "The Visit" from Ana Mancera, Mexico (2019). In 2020, She offered a concert via streaming, sponsored by the Bumble social network, for whom she also recorded the advertising campaign for "Matchingones". Zemmoa was part of the Spotify pride 2020 and Deezer pride Latino 2020 campaigns along with Georgel, Niña Dioz, Francisca Valenzuela and Valentina (RuPaul's Drag Race). She inaugurated the sexual diversity film festivals «Gender Mix» at the Esperanza Iris City Theater and the International Festival for Sexual Diversity (FIDS) at the Museo Universitario del Chopo. In 2020 she was interviewed by Alejandra Bogue  and "La Diva de Mexico" for the radio comedy. In 2020, Zemmoa performed at the OutMusik Festival, a livestreaming celebration of National Coming Out Day, featuring a list of performers that includes Vanessa Zamora, Georgel, Javiera Mena, Mabiland and Christian Chávez. 2021-2022: Lo Que Me Haces Sentir. In 2021 she released her fourth studio album titled Lo Que Me Haces Sentir and was awarded with the Premio Maguey Queer Icon Award in honor of her work as a Mexican singer. Zemmoa participated on the music video "Mujeres Ya!" for International Women's Day along with Alba Messa, Ainoa Buitrago , Mery Granados, Angy, Ania, Lolita De Sola, Natasha Dupeyron, Soy Emilia, Violetta Arriaza and Volver. In 2022, Zemmoa was interviewed by "El Once", "Sistema Público de Radiodifusión del Estado Mexicano (SPR)" and the "Instituto Nacional de las Mujeres (INMUJERES)", for their project “Yo, ellas, nosotras”, a digital production in the format of Draw My Life among other transgender women: Láurel Miranda (journalist), Amelia Waldorf (drag queen), Natalia Lane (sex worker), Mickey Cundapí (content creator), Eliza Sonrisas (comedian), Samantha Flores (activist), Alejandra Bogue y Salma Luévano . During the 20-meter flag signing, at the International Transgender Day of Visibility held at  the foot of the Monumento a la Revolución, Zemmoa with Kenya Cuevas and Lepaline, gathered over 20 thousand signatures from people around the world showing their solidarity with the transgender community in Mexico City.