VICE Spotlight: Cherry Chola’s Fantasy World

VICE Spotlight is our weekly showcase of the best talent coming out of Australia.

Cherry Chola, a.k.a Fabiola, bears the resemblance to a modern day fairy crossed with a lifelike bratz doll. Often, she can be seen posed in baby pink bikinis, a come-hither look in her eyes, against mellow nature landscapes – woodlands, rivers and daisy fields – giving the impression of existing in an ethereal world. But aside from her phenomenal fantasy-esque aesthetic, Cherry Chola is one of Australia’s most exciting musical up and comers.

In 2022, she launched onto the Melbourne music scene with her debut EP exótica, honing a sound that she describes as “fantasy x reggaeton x futuristic hot girl music”.

“Basically, I just wanted a creative outlet and something to channel my obsessive scorpio moon energy into,” she told VICE.

“At the same time, I was looking for ways to connect to my Venezuelan roots and was sad that I was living alone in Melbourne and didn’t have many opportunities to speak Spanish anymore, so making music in Spanish just felt perfect and aligned.” 

Cherry Chola’s discography is a unique fusion of popular Latin dance music that blends reggaeton and Neoperreo, bringing with it a sound usually not heard in the Australian music world. She also has an innate ability to juxtapose the serious with kittenish tracks that are upbeat and danceable.

While her singles appear playful and bass heavy with a Deto Black/ Rosalia-esque tinge, below the surface are deeper messages of upheaving fetishisation, misogyny and objectification.

As a latin woman, her first single “xo” was about reclaiming the word “exotic” – a phrase continuously used to describe her on Australian shores – and in the process, she says, “lowkey [make] fun of stereotypes people put on Latinas”.

The amalgamation of beauty, fashion and smarts is akin to the bimbo-esque movement formed a couple of years ago. Whether that’s Cherry Chola’s prerogative is unknown, yet it makes for a multifaceted artist showcasing their talent in style. As she says: “Synthetic and fake is also the vibe.”

“Overall I want to make sick music for the putas and fairies and let myself be a crazy artist that experiments with whatever I feel like, rather than putting myself into a box that is more palatable,” she says.

“I just wanna have fun and do what I want, follow my intuition, learn as much as I can and align with other creatives along the way.”

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