Premiere: Aura - "Pushback 5" (Ayesha Erotica Remix)

The song discusses getting up after you've been knocked down, and the Rhode Island born artist surely exemplifies strength and resilience. As Aura refines her sound, which is some kind of hip-hop/house/dance/trance blend, her shine becomes brighter and brighter. Her unique taste comes through in more ways than one- don’t sleep on Ms. Aura! Check out our conversation and her’s and Puglia’s collaboration below, in the music video for “Pushback 5 - Ayesha Erotica Remix."

Hi! So where are you from, Aura?

Aura: I’m from Providence, Rhode Island. Do you think growing up there had influence on your music taste? Aura: Not really, because growing up there, the art scene was pretty dry. I think it wasn’t until I was maybe 18, like 5 years ago, that other artists started popping up, and there were alternative music scenes. There was just more to offer. But I also was pretty much a basic bitch until I was 19, so I also can’t be too sure if there was anything going on.

So what sort of music did you listen to growing up?

Aura: Oh, god, so it’s funny; I grew up in a white suburb, so they would listen to a lot of techno. I’ve always loved techno, always loved rock.

And there are some techno vibes in your Pushback 5 remix.

Aura: I would say the original Pushback is more house vibes, but I honestly like all kinds of music. I love 90’s hip hop.

What’s the first song you put on in the morning?

Aura: It depends if I’m tryna twerk or if I’m tryna meditate and pray.

Okay, say one for each.

Aura: If I’m tryna meditate and pray, I’m gonna put on some healing frequencies. Maybe a clearing of negative energy healing frequency. If I’m tryna twerk, it could very well be City Girls, or some reggaeton.

How did you start making your own music?

Aura: I had some friends in highschool that made music, and I thought that was really cool and wanted to do that as well. I started producing first, for a few years. And I started putting words to my beats a few years afterwards.

That’s awesome, so you produce all your own music?

Aura: Not too much anymore, but I'm always co-producing my songs once I get to work on them. I do like to go off other producer’s vibes. I know so many sick producers, so...

So you still like to collaborate with other artists and stuff…

Aura: Yeah.

Okay, cool! How did the song Pushback 5 come to be?

Aura: Well, I was very heartbroken. I feel like I’ve always been pretty bad at love. So Pushback 5 is definitely me being like, Oh, I don’t wanna do this anymore, but, like, lowkey I do. So it was kind of like a diary entry, really. My friend, Astro, from Miami, who also goes by eqobKING, made the beat. He’s a really cool, diverse artist. He sent that to me, and I wrote the song within ten minutes. That was that!

And what about the music video?

Sam: I just wanted to help. We’ve been friends for a while. I had a variety show, and she came on a couple times.

Aura: And I shut the show DOWN!

Sam: Yeah, and she kept communicating that she wanted to work together on a video. Finally, I dropped other projects I was doing because I wanted to focus on making music videos for artists. So, this is kind of me and Aura’s first collaboration. The video is her film. It’s a collaborative thing, but I directed it, in a sense. But it’s a film that I’m directing, but I’m going off her vibes and aesthetic and vision.

Right, so you’re kind of translating her vision into something visual.

Sam: Yeah, like a moving picture. It was hard ‘cause, we planned to do other videos because she just came out with an album and she really wanted to do videos for that. But I was like, This is my favorite song of your’s. Even though it’s a remix of her original song. I was like, This almost needs to be "Pushback 5".

Aura: Yeah, like this needs to be spotlighted as well.

Sam: I like the original Pushback 5, too. I love the producer she worked with, and it’s an amazing song. Ayesha Erotica, just taking her vocals. Sometimes remixes scramble and chop up the vocals. I felt like she made a whole new song, but enhanced Aura’s vocals.

Aura: Definitely shoutout Ayesha Erotica, who’s the producer.

How did “Pushback 5” become a remix? Did she come to you?

Aura: Yeah, so I’m really into House music. Usually, House songs, the popular ones, will have a remix tape apart from the actual single. So I was like, Oh, I really wanna remix this, so I started reaching out to friends, and stuff. The way I got Ayesha Erotica remix was that she had commented on the YouTube video. And I’m like, Ohmygod she likes the song. I hit her up and she was like, Yeah, I was actually gonna hit you up, I wanted to do one! And she sent it back the same day. The finished version within ten hours. She’s amazing, she’s a legend.

That’s so sick.

Aura: Shout out to her for taking this sad-ass, weepy song and making it pop! That’s so crazy.

Sam: It literally was a little emo.

Aura: It’s so emo! “A little,” where?!

Sam: It is very emo. I remember hearing it and it didn’t seem so emo until I heard the remix, and I was like…

Aura: I’m sad!

What was the creative process like?

Aura: I mean, just piggy backing off what Sam was saying, I’ve been a working artist for about six years now. I have made a lot of my own videos, I’ve made a ton of merch and stuff, so I feel like my aesthetic is super grounded already.

Fleshed out.

Aura: Right. So I think he just picked up off of that and amplified it, you know? So it was really nice.

Are you guys going to keep making videos together?

Aura: We hope to, we plan to!

Sam: That’s the plan! That’s why I wanted to start with this because it’s her most played song.

Aura: It’s viral.

Sam: There’s a lot of people who have seen it already, but, like I was saying with the video, I was like, This song deserves a really polished video, but we’re gonna do our best and go off of each other. We literally used like 20 different people that collaborated with us on it.

Aura: Oh my god, there’s so much collaboration in the video.

Sam: The creative process was like a community effort. That’s how I want to keep it. So maybe after this one, hopefully it’s gonna get people to stop sleeping on Aura, you know? But then we’ll be able to maybe have a budget for the next one!

Aura: We’re definitely just trying to level up.

Wow, yeah, I feel that.

Aura: I do wanna talk about the collaborations. It’s so sick, I have some designer friends on there, some stylist friends on there, a bunch of photographers. And these are all friends who are just really sick artists and were down to come together and make this shit happen.

Sam: And Ryan, he’s like one of the main photographers, he helped us out a lot. He has a cameo.

I do want to talk about the virality of Pushback 5. What is that like for you? Do you know how or when that happened?

Aura: I mean, it’s interesting. I think for starters, it definitely started going viral during COVID, which is hilarious because I only knew it was going viral because of the numbers. I wasn’t hearing from a ton of people; I would just check in on my stats and be like, Oh, shit, this has like 200,000 listens.

That’s on Spotify?

Aura: Yeah, that’s just on Spotify, but I’m on everything! I’ve got it all. It’s been nice, though. Of course it’s validating, which is also an issue in its own because artists are always depending on other people or other outlets to be like, This is cool! Even if it was cool from the beginning. But it’s nice to have the music being appreciated and resonated with, especially since it’s such a personal song.

I can imagine that that would be validating, but it’s like… You’re never gonna not do it just because you’re not getting attention for it. So when you do get that recognition, it’s satisfying.

Aura: We want our work to be appreciated!

And to reach people.

Aura: Yeah, exactly.

Why don’t you tell me a bit about your album? What story are you telling with the Understanding as a whole?

Aura: It came out last May, literally the day that the riots began. It’s funny because of course there was all this discourse on social media, but I really wanted to drop it because I made the album intentionally to share the discoveries I made within myself and with magic and manifestation and believing in yourself and spirituality. I had just seen my life change with all the lessons I had learned, and I wanted to make an album that embodied that, but also embodied my change throughout the last few years. Because I hadn’t released an album for like three years before that. So I was catching people up on my evolution, essentially. I had gone by another name prior, which was Iris Creamer. That was more of a character, and I wanted to be more of myself, and I let it loose in that album.

What’s your favorite song on the album?

Aura: Probably “I’d Pay 4 That Dick” or “Gracious Queen”. What’s your favorite, Sam?

Sam: “It’s always Sunny in Vagina.” Is that on there?

Aura: Yep, “It’s always Sunny in Vagina” is on there, too! That’s a really good song.

Oh my god, these titles.

Aura: Shock Value.

What can fans look forward to seeing from you in the coming months?

Aura: I think they can look forward to this new music I’m working on. I’ve been traveling a lot within the last year, just catching a breath of fresh air. I’m Dominican, and I’ve been really wanting some Reggaeton, some Dembow, I’ve been wanting that for ages. So I finally linked up with the right producers and we’re just making some fucking sick party music. It’s so twerkable! Which is so exciting.

Check out the "Pushback 5 - Ayesha Erotica Remix" video below!

An Aura production, directed by Eugene Puglia.

Additional footage shot by DARVIS, starring Robot MoonJuice, Infinite.

Stylists: DeMarcus Johnson, Kimberly Goedhart, Aura Moreno.

Makeup: Melena Lipman

Edited by Eugene Puglia, Aura Moreno.

Shot by Eugene Puglia, Darvis.

Special fx and graphics: Sydney Rosenfeld, Ivy.

Photography by Ryan Cardoso, Tyahra Angus, Kleo Sincere, Jay Almeida, Chloe Cusimano, Tyler Borchardt, Alexander DeJesus, Pedro Bello, Kimberly Goedhart.

Designers: Duality Junkie, Shay Galla.