With 'Ring Ring,' Rubio captures the California she grew up in

Niko Rubio knew she always wanted to be a singer. The hard part was figuring out what she wanted to sound like. The 24-year-old singer-songwriter, who was born in the Los Angeles South Bay and is of Mexican and Salvadoran descent, was always encouraged by her family to pursue her artistic ambitions. When Rubio was a preteen, her maternal grandmother even pushed her to audition for "La Voz Kids," the Spanish offshoot of "The Voice" for singers under the age of 15. She wasn't picked for the show, but it reaffirmed her belief that she was meant to be a singer.

- 

"I'm the first generation that is allowed to sing, that has the opportunity to really not have a baby," she said. "To say 'Grandma, grandpa, I'm not going to go to college. I'm going to go figure out how to be a songwriter."

Like many children of immigrants in Southern California, Rubio grew up listening to music in English and Spanish. Her grandfather Sergio would play Pedro Infante and Shakira, while her mother, Vilma, exposed her to the likes of Sublime and No Doubt.