Photo Courtesy of Mari Rosa

These are dark times, there’s no denying that. The news is flooded with viruses, social unrest and brutality. We are subjected to horrors on a regular basis that we’re used to only seeing once every few months or years, if ever. And in these times, finding a light to keep you going seems harder and harder. Waking up to repeat yet another day in isolation. Dreaming of cancelled plans and wondering about the future. But that light can always be found, it just depends where – and how – you look. 

For singer/songwriter Mari Rosa, this dark time was felt a few years back when she was working as a musician in Brooklyn. Teaching music to kindergarteners by day and trying to maintain her sense of creativity at night, Rosa began to feel the wear and tear of basic exhaustion. “I began to just run myself ragged… how do I make my dreams come true and take care of myself at the same time?”, she recalls of her grueling 12-hour/seven-days-a-week schedule. 

However it wasn’t until Rosa found herself at the bottom of her tank, running on empty, that she found “Beautiful Prize”. A triumphantly hopeful song that was birthed out of the darkness. What started as just “fiddling” with a voice memo on her phone, resulted in some of her best work. One of the tracks off of her 2019 EP Bicycle Wheel, the song has since become a favorite among listeners. 

The “Beautiful Prize” video opens with the viewer riding alongside Rosa through the dark streets of Brooklyn in nighttime. This sense of intimacy is held as the camera shifts, capturing Rosa as she finds her light in various close ups and tableaux crafted with director Kristen Casazza. Shot mainly around the director’s apartment, Casazza gives Rosa the perfect platform to showcase her strength as a singer as the song builds to its victorious climax. The video cleverly depicts those moments of being surrounded by darkness, but nevertheless a light shining through. 

This sort of unabashed pop music wasn’t always Rosa’s plan. A first generation American with significant roots in Latin and South American culture, Rosa has been succumbing to the romance of music from a very young age. She recalls feeling her palms sweat the first time she heard the Pinball Countdown song from Sesame Street. An exuberant, funky, saxophone-laced bop that could get any tushy shaking. Her appreciation for music was found, along with a desire to discover more. As Rosa matured she enjoyed the works of Chilean poet and activist Víctor Jara, 70s folk rockers Kate Bush, Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon and more modern selections from Bjork and icelandic folk singer Ásgeir. An eclectic and emotional mix that she’s taken with her throughout her songwriting, even releasing a tri-lingual jazz album Honeyspot in 2008.

So what does Rosa hope a listener can get from “Beautiful Prize”? “A moment of pause. [I’d want to] give them the freedom to tune into themselves. What else do you feel? Remember who you are… Terrible feelings can make us feel small & myopic. But as pain contracts, joy expands,” she continues on, “I’d probably just give them a hug. No matter how rough things get we are at the best party possible. Being alive is amazing and we are so, so, so lucky.”