\n<\/p>\n
\n\tOne summer night this June, the Hollywood Bowl was glowing. Niko Rubio<\/a> was onstage with Zuri Marley, standing beneath the amphitheater\u2019s familiar sweep of lights, as she and Zuri performed their collaborative single \u201cRing Ring.\u201d Ziggy Marley<\/a> was headlining the show with Burning Spear, and the air was thick with the sound of harmonic lineage.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cYou don\u2019t understand what this meant to me,\u201d Rubio says, still sounding a little awestruck by the memory.<\/p>\n \n\tIt was exactly the type of music Rubio had spent years absorbing through headphones long before she knew what to do with it. She cried throughout the show, not entirely sure why at the time, but certain that she would venture into the studio the next morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tAll of it reaffirmed a thought she\u2019d been having a lot: \u201cI\u2019m trying to make pop songs right now for a bunch of other people, but this is what I like. What am I doing, not focused on that?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n