Singing for women of all sizes

STORY BY BRITTANY MCAULEY

An Edmonton woman is generating an overwhelming amount of attention after she posted a YouTube video of her own version of Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass.”

Natty Valencia, 20, put a new spin on the already body-positive pop song, which celebrates women’s curves, and altered it for women of all shapes and sizes.

The video, posted just over two weeks ago, has already gotten more than 300,000 views.

When she first heard the song she loved how catchy and bouncy it was.

“I loved the kind of doo-wop old-fashioned twist that she added,” says the aspiring artist.

Like any popular song she hears, she started to take a closer look at the lyrics and pull it apart to see what makes it so great.

“There’s so many really cool and great messages in [the original song] but they’re kind of hindered and overshadowed by some messages that don’t really have a good positive vibe to it,” she says.


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 Valencia’s version, “Not about your waist,” sends a positive message to women celebrating their body no matter the size, with lyrics like, “Love the skin that you’re in, girl you can shine so bright.”

In addition to the page views, the video has attracted more than 600 comments – a response she was not prepared for.

Most of the feedback has been positive.

“Thank you for this beautiful message! A real woman is whoever the hell she wants to be,” wrote one commenter.

Still, there are some who miss the point.

“This is so stupid and I’m tired of you skinny bitches complaining about body positivity,” complained another.

Valencia knew it was going to generate conversation and says she was interested in hearing people’s takes on the song.

“I think this could be a cool message to share and it might get me in a little bit of trouble but I would love to share this with people,” says the songwriter.

Valencia moved to Toronto this summer to focus on her music career and to take advantage of any opportunities and relationships she could build.

She has been singing for a while she says, but has only been doing it professionally for the past couple of years along with playing the piano and recently learning to play the guitar.

“My musical background came from my baba [grandmother],” she says. “She was a singer and she loved singing so much so I think that kind of rubbed off on me.”

Although Valencia does a lot of tailored covers online, she says she considers herself “first and foremost a songwriter.

“With writing, I’m able to express myself really freely based on my own experiences and I love telling a story. I love the release I get when I get to write my own song,” she says.

While she is a self-proclaimed pop artist, she really enjoys writing country music, though not necessarily for herself. She is fascinated with how country singers can “weave relatable stories together so well.”

She likes to make sure there is a message to get across in her music and loves songs that express them instantly.

“I don’t think listening to music should be work,” she says.

“The best thing I could ever ask for is to write a song that someone says ‘Oh my god, that’s exactly how I feel.’ That would be the best,” Valencia says.

Valencia’s first song when she was young however did not meet her current criteria.

“I wrote this song about jellybean flavours,” she laughs. “I can’t remember what it was called, but it was definitely about candy.”

She currently works at Lululemon Athletica with an equally artistic and understanding team of coworkers.

“There will be times when I’ll think of a melody and if I don’t write it down or record it on my phone right away I’ll totally forget,” she said, “So I usually lie and go ‘Oh you know what I just have to go use the bathroom’ but they really know I’m going to my phone and humming into it for a bit.”

Valencia tries to attend open-mic nights every week. She’s only had two shows since she’s been in Toronto, but continues to post her videos on YouTube whenever she can.

Last Friday she posted an original song to her YouTube channel called “My Body.”

“I think the most important thing is getting really good content out, so I post actively but I don’t have a set schedule.”