Tiger La Flor Talks Breaking Country Music Status Quo With Hit Single ‘MOST WANTED MAN’

This year is for the country girls!

If you’re looking for a new song to add to your ultimate country music playlist, then we happily suggest ‘MOST WANTED MAN’ from Tiger La Flor, a music artist quickly finding her place in the music scene.

We had the pleasure of speaking with Tiger about her rising fame, her favorite song she’s released so far, and more!

When did you first realize that you wanted to pursue a career in music?

T: “It sounds cliché, but I’ve known I wanted to be in music for as long as I can remember. I remember being on the playground in elementary school trying to recruit band mates. By middle school, I felt like I was behind schedule so I recruited my cousin to play bass and my sister to play drums for me, and they’re still my band mates to this day. So it’s been a long time coming!”

Tell us more about your amazing new single ‘MOST WANTED MAN’.

T: My song of the summer was Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive.” While I was working on this record, I’d blast it on max volume in my old convertible with my bedazzled cowboy hat driving on the freeway up to the recording studio (in LA you spend like half your time stuck in traffic driving somewhere, so I try to make it fun). I wanted to make a song that was a play on that phrase and came up with the lyric “you’re stuck with me boy, I’ll take you dead or alive” which turned into this song, “MOST WANTED MAN.”

If you had to choose, what is your favorite song you have released so far and why?

T: “This is constantly changing for me, but “james dean” always will have a special place in my heart because it was the song that really gave me the creative and sonic direction for my artist project. To me, that song doesn’t sound like anybody else in the music industry and I just think the production Jeremy Schmett did on it is epic; it feels nostalgic and grunge and disco all simultaneously in the best way.

It’s a cute story. I met Anthony Russo the same day Jeremy and I recorded that song. I was trying to play it cool when we met but I was (and still am) a huge fan of his music. I remember afterwards I messaged him to let him know his music is great and he messaged back that Jeremy had played “james dean” for him and he really liked it and to keep it up. 

At the time, I wasn’t even living in LA and only had like two songs out; I was sleeping on a friend’s couch in Hollywood and that was my first real “session” ever, so to have that happen was such a crazy motivating experience for me. Looking back on it now all these years later, I’m just so grateful there are artists like that out there.”

You have over 5 Million streams on just Spotify alone! What has been your reaction to your rising fame?

T: “It’s a dream come true! My number one piece of advice is, it’s nice when other people believe in you and see your potential, but most importantly you just have to believe in yourself and trust there will come a day when other people will see what you saw in yourself all along. Like I mentioned, I started in music really young. I dropped my first album when I was in high school, so watching things start to take off now is exciting because I’ve trusted for years this moment was going to come, but now having other people start to see what I’ve seen coming all along is so exciting.”

How important do you think diversity is in the music industry, especially within country?

T: “Diversity in every industry is important, but the music industry I’m obviously particularly passionate about. I think consciously or subconsciously, our dreams tend to be limited by what we see around us. If you’re a kid who loves country music, or any genre, but you grow up never seeing anyone like you on the Billboard charts or onstage performing that kind of music, it’s going to affect what you think is possible for yourself. I know, for example, as an Asian American kid, I never dreamed I would be seeing success in a genre like country music. 

There were so many times in my music career I found myself thinking I really want to do that, but since I’m Asian American, I don’t think people will think this makes sense for me. And lately I’ve just been defaulting to responding to that thought by doing it anyways. For example, putting out a country record. 

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous how people were going to react, but I feel blessed the reaction so far has been overwhelmingly positive. Spotify put my latest release “MOST WANTED MAN” on both their “Jasmine” playlist which highlights Asian artists globally, as well as their “All New Country” playlist, and that just made me so happy. 

As an artist, my main purpose is to create music I deeply love. But I also feel beyond that, I have a duty to make decisions in my music career that are bold; to put myself out there and speak up about things I’m passionate about, even when it may be uncomfortable, because that is how change happens. Even if I’m just one artist on a mission, I still feel like I can have an impact, and that’s true for every artist out there. I want to create music that leaves an artistic legacy, but I also want to leave the music industry a more diverse and inclusive space than how I found it.”

What country artist would you love to collab on a song with and why?

T: “Oh my, so many so bear with me. My music taste is very eclectic so I wouldn’t call all these country artists, but a couple songs that I’m always blasting in the car are “He Could Never Love You” by Henry Morris, “jesus christ in a mini skirt” by Meg Smith, “Wanna” by Paul Dally, “Moon Girl” by Ha Vay, “Picture of You” by Estrada, “Twin Flame” by Dreamer Boy and Gouldie Boutilier, “El Paso” by Howdy, “HORSES IN HEAVEN” by Pink Pablo, “Plage Coquillage” by TaoMon Amour, “God Hired You To Be My Baby” by atlgrandma, and “Come Over and Love Me” by Love Spells. The coolest thing for me is collabing with artists I genuinely listen to all the time… that’s actually like the coolest thing about being an artist I think. Like what could be cooler than making art with the artists you’re a fan of.”

We think that your fanbase needs a name! Any ideas off of the top of your head?

T: “Tiger cubs is the best I’ve come up with at the moment but open to suggestions haha.”

Where can we follow your amazing journey?

T: “@tiger.del.flor on Instagram and @tigerlaflor on all other platforms. Please feel free to reach out, I always love to hear from you guys!”

Make sure to stream ‘MOST WANTED MAN’, available now on all music platforms!

Je’Kayla Crawford– Founder and Director– Je’Kayla has been a journalist for years and decided to start a publication of her own, New Scene. When not helping her team and working on the monthly issues, you can find her watching a movie on Netflix or baking using a viral Tasty recipe.