YEИDRY Performs Live From Her Long-Awaited Debut Live

Summary

All Of It with Alison Stewart – YEИDRY Performs Live From Her Long-Awaited Debut (July 30, 2026)

Episode Overview

This episode of "All Of It" on WNYC, guest-hosted by Bridget Bergen, features multilingual singer-songwriter YEИDRY (Yendry Fiorentino), performing live in the studio and previewing her much-anticipated debut album, Como Agua ("Like Water"), due for release in Fall 2026. The show explores YEИDRY's unique musical blend (bolero, electronica, Dominican palo), her bicultural upbringing between the Dominican Republic and Italy, the emotional landscape of her forthcoming album, and her artistic journey as an immigrant artist. Throughout the episode, YEИDRY shares personal reflections, performs unreleased and signature songs, and discusses identity, healing, and creativity.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Introduction and First Live Performance

• [01:09] – [05:44]
  • YEИDRY opens the set with "Amapolas," an unreleased track named after the poppy flower, a powerful symbol for her Italian childhood.
  • YEИDRY (on the song's inspiration):
    “Amapolas… that’s a symbol of Italy because in there, where I grew up, there are a lot of wild poppy flowers in the springtime.” ([02:12])

2. The Meaning Behind Como Agua

• [05:44] – [07:52]
  • The album title, "Like Water," reflects both healing and the adaptability inherent in the immigrant experience.
  • YEИDRY:
    “I think there’s an analogy between the water and the immigrant. You know, the way we constantly adapt and we take… different shapes based on where we are and the resilience as well.” ([06:02])
  • A transformative seaside moment helped her commit to "flowing" in her life and creativity.
  • YEИDRY:
    “From that point, I decided to just live with the proposal that I’m gonna just flow from now on. And since then, my life has been flowing in a very smooth way.” ([06:48])

3. Approach to Releasing a Debut Album

• [07:52] – [09:35]
  • YEИDRY expresses a mix of nerves and fulfillment leading up to her first album release.
  • The selection process was instinctual, prioritizing songs that "serve the message."
  • YEИDRY:
    “You just have to call it a day and be okay, this is what I need… I’m choosing what serves the message and the album and the music, not what I want.” ([08:45])

4. Songwriting as Catharsis and Cultural Bridge

• [09:35] – [12:14]
  • Describes the writing of Como Agua as organic and intensely cathartic, often channeling emotions directly into lyrics.
  • Shared the origins of “Espejo,” written for her father, and a spontaneous Italian poem written during homesickness in Mexico City.
  • YEИDRY:
    “I hate to use that word, but it’s a very organic album. I just wrote things down that I was feeling, and I didn’t try to make it something else.” ([09:56])
  • Stresses the importance of actively researching and maintaining her Dominican and Italian roots through family, music, and food.
  • YEИDRY:
    “My family is really what keeps me grounded. Family, music and food… those are my three references.” ([11:27])

5. Navigating Immigrant Identity

• [12:14] – [14:00]
  • Discusses the unique loneliness of inhabiting multiple cultures, feeling partially unknown to each community.
  • Explores these themes in songs like “Bendición” and “Mala Mía,” as well as the Italian-language poem serving as a “goodbye letter to Italy.”
  • YEИDRY:
    “There’s a little part of me, a little side of me that they don’t know, and that’s a very lonely place that I think immigrants have to embrace at some point and accept.” ([12:30])

6. Second Live Performance: “Mala Mía”

• [14:00] – [18:05]
  • Performs “Mala Mía,” a heartfelt song addressing goodbyes and acceptance.

7. Family Ties, Fatherhood, and Dominican Roots in NYC

• [18:05] – [20:07]
  • Recently reunited with her father, YEИDRY reflects on the significance of this renewed relationship in her personal growth.
  • YEИDRY:
    “Reconnecting with my father, for me, it was a choice of looking for myself as well… You can learn a lot from others, especially your parents, and you slowly learn about yourself.” ([18:29])
  • Recalls her New York memories, particularly the Bronx, and highlights food as a key cultural connection.
  • Recommends Dominican restaurants in NYC like Puerto Viejo and El Malecon.
  • YEИDRY:
    “Any bodega… you just have amazing Dominican food. New York had a big role… so I could reconnect with Dominican food because in Italy, I just had my mom cooking Dominican food for me.” ([19:27])

8. Third Live Performance: “Espejo”

• [20:32] – [22:52]
  • Closes with “Espejo” (“Mirror”), written for her biological father, encapsulating the theme of self-discovery and familial reflection.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Resilience and Adaptation:
  “Water really molds the rock, and I think it’s very powerful.” — YEИDRY ([06:02])

• On Healing and Artistic Evolution:
  “This album is like a healing album that I wrote for myself.” — YEИDRY ([06:02])

• On Immigrant Loneliness and Identity:
  “There’s a little part of me, a little side of me that they don’t know, and that… is a very lonely place that I think immigrants have to embrace at some point and accept.” — YEИDRY ([12:30])

• On Song Selection:
  “You have to call it a day and be okay, this is what I need… not what I want.” — YEИDRY ([08:45])

• On Nostalgia and Home:
  “Anytime I’m next or nearby, like a body of water, I feel immediately home. Maybe it’s because I’m from an island.” — YEИDRY ([06:48])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:09: Introduction to YEИDRY and her background
• 02:12: YEИDRY introduces and performs “Amapolas”
• 05:44: YEИDRY explains the meaning behind Como Agua and the water/immigrant analogy
• 09:56: Songwriting process and cultural influences
• 12:30: Exploration of immigrant identity and the theme of loneliness
• 14:04: Performance of “Mala Mía”
• 18:29: On reuniting with her father and its personal significance
• 19:27: Food, family, and Dominican community in NYC
• 20:32: Final performance: “Espejo”

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Conclusion

This episode provides a moving and insightful look into YEИDRY’s world: her journey as an artist navigating the intersections of Dominican and Italian heritage, her process of healing through music, and her embrace of fluidity as both a creator and immigrant. The live performances and candid conversation give listeners an intimate preview of her debut album and the spirit of resilience and hybridity at its core.

Transcript

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[Bridget Bergen]

This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Bridget Bergen. Ever since she released her first solo single in 2019, Yindry star has only risen. Now Yindri is ready to release. Her debut album. Como Augment is scheduled for release this fall. The album incorporates many genres like bolero, electronica and Dominican Paolo, and it touches on the ups and downs of familial and romantic relationships and artistic evolution. It also touches on the experience of being an immigrant and feeling like you don't exactly fit in. Yendri was born in the Dominican Republic, but grew up in Italy. Yendry's here now for a special live performance. She's also performing in concert and conversation with comedian Sasha mercy tonight at 7pm at National Sawdust in Williamsburg. Tickets are free. Yendri, welcome to wnyc.

[Yendry]

Hi.

[Bridget Bergen]

It's so great to have you here. Let's start with a song. What are we going to hear first?

[Yendry]

So the first song is not out yet. It's called Amapolas, which means poppy flower, and that's a symbol of Italy because in there, where I grew up, there are a lot of wild poppy flowers in the springtime.

[Bridget Bergen]

Oh, it sounds beautiful.

[Yendry]

Yes. Okay.

[Bridget Bergen]

That was Yendri performing Amopoulos live. She's here to perform live and preview her debut album, Como Agua, due out this fall. The album title, Komo Agua translates in English to like water. What does water symbolize to you in relation to this album?

[Yendry]

To me, this Album is like a healing album that I wrote for myself, really. It's also my very first album. Scary. I think I relate a lot to water. I think there's an analogy between the water and the immigrant. You know, the way we constantly adapt and we take. We take different shapes based on where we are and the resilience as well. Like, if you think about it, water really molds the rock, and I think it's very powerful. It's always been a very powerful and very present element in my life.

[Bridget Bergen]

So is there something that in particular triggered this title for you? A moment or a place or an experience that made you think of it?

[Yendry]

I think two things. One is that wherever I travel, anytime I'm next or nearby, like a body of water, I feel immediately home. Maybe it's because I'm from an island, I don't know, but there's something in there that gives me comfort. And the other thing is that I went through a very rough time around, like, three years ago, like a burnout and, you know, a separation with my former manager. And I think in that moment is, you know, I went to the sea by myself, and I feel the water. I feel like the water really, like, took me back, you know, to life. And I started from there again. And so from there, from, you know, that point, I decided to just leave with the, you know, proposal that I'm gonna just flow from now on. And since then, my life has been flowing in a very, you know, smooth way. So, you know, it changed. I changed the chip. Yeah, the flow, the mindset.

[Bridget Bergen]

You talked for a moment there. You know, this is your debut album. It's gonna be released in the fall. You said scared when you were talking a little bit about how you're feeling, but, you know, is that the dominant emotions, what are kind of. How are you feeling as you approach its release?

[Yendry]

No, I think it's, you know, it's human to have, like. Sorry. It's human to have, you know, fear because it's something unknown. I don't know what's gonna happen. But at the same time, I think, you know, with the idea of flowing, and I always wanted to have a body of work of mine, so I'm basically living my dream right now. You know, the fact that I already made an album, incredible to me.

[Bridget Bergen]

So how did you know as you were going through the writing process that the album was done?

[Yendry]

That's very hard to know and to decide, okay, we're done. I think at some point after you write, I felt like it was hard to choose the songs. You know, you write a lot of songs, and then you're like, okay, I have to choose the songs that are going to be part of this thing. And I think I chose based on my instinct and my feelings. You know, the songs that I could feel the most, those are the ones that are part of this, you know, album. And then at some point, you just have to call it a day and be okay, this is what I need. And some songs don't make it, even though I'm very attached to them, because I think I'm choosing what serves the message and the. The album and the music. Not what I, you know. You know, not what I want.

[Bridget Bergen]

Can you talk a little bit about your writing process? You know, you talked about how this is an album that came out of, I think, of pain and then of healing. So was this a cathartic process or, you know, how did you approach composing this album?

[Yendry]

100%. I feel like it was very cathartic. And some of the songs came to me in a very natural way, like Espejo, the song I wrote for my father. I didn't change any lyrics from the first day that I wrote it, you know, and I didn't think it too much. I think it's a very natural. I hate to use that. That word, but it's a very organic album. You know, I just wrote things down that I was feeling, and I didn't try to make it something else. There's also a song in Italian, for example, that. That was just an acapella that I. It was a poem that I wrote down five minutes before leaving the studio. I was in Mexico City. I was really missing home, and I wrote this poem, and then I just recorded it with no melody in my head. And then after. Then I just put a piano under it. So it's a very, like, casual. Not really casual, because you put a lot of work in there, but, you know, it's a very flowy way. And usually I just write things on my notebook, and when I go to the studio, things come out.

[Bridget Bergen]

You're talking about an Italian poem there. You know, there are different cultural influences that come through in this album. You were, of course, born in the Dominican Republic, moved to Italy when you were 4 with your mom, who'd moved there a year earlier. How did you go about trying to preserve your connection to Dominican culture and your identity while growing up in Italy?

[Yendry]

I think the reason why today I'm so attached to my roots, both Italian and Dominicans, is because I looked for it. I really Researched where I was from. I keep in touch with my family. You know, I feel like they are my tree, that I can come, I can go back to and traveling. You know, sometimes when you're traveling a lot, especially for this job, sometimes you could get lost. And I feel like my family is really what keeps me grounded. Family, music and food. Yeah, it's very simple. I don't take those for granted, but those are my three, you know, references. I would say those are.

[Bridget Bergen]

Those are good things to come back to.

[Yendry]

Yes.

[Bridget Bergen]

In this album, you also explore the tension of being an immigrant. You talked about how feeling like you never quite belonged in either of your homes. How do you explain that and explore that In Como Agua?

[Yendry]

In Como Agua. So I touch things like homesick, you know, the feeling of feeling like homesick. The feeling of feeling lonely as well. You know, I feel like I'm not from. I'm not Italian, but I'm also not just Dominican, and I moved to US Three years ago, and so there's a loneliness in there. I feel like part of my Italian family don't know my side in Dominican Republic, or they never heard me speaking English because they can't understand English. And same with other parts of, you know, like Dominican family and my new friends in us So I feel like there's, like, a little part of me, a little side of me that they don't know, and that that's a very, like, lonely place that I think immigrants, you know, have to embrace at some point and accept. So I talk about that. I talk about in bendicion. I talk about the fact that I'm like water, that I adapt constantly because it came from a survival mode I had to when I was four. But then it kind of became my way of living, you know, or going through life. And then I also talk about goodbyes, you know, Malamia as well. And the poem in Italian is like a sort of a goodbye letter to Italy, you know, the way you have to leave a place that gave you so much, but in that moment of your life, you feel like there's nothing else for you to do there.

[Bridget Bergen]

Well, let's hear another song. I think you're going to perform Mala Mia for us.

[Yendry]

Yes.

[Bridget Bergen]

That's great.

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[Yendry]

Me.

[Bridget Bergen]

That was Yindri performing her song Mala Mia. She's here to perform live and preview her debut album, Como Agua, due out this fall. Yendri, this past Sunday was Father's Day in the Dominican Republic.

[Yendry]

Yes.

[Bridget Bergen]

And I saw on Instagram that you recently shared photos of you and your father together. What does it mean to have your father back in your life today?

[Yendry]

It's. It's a very. I don't know. It's an amazing feeling because I think reconnecting with my father, for me, it was a choice of looking for myself as well. You know, you can learn a lot from others, especially your parents, and you slowly learn about yourself as well. And I think it really helped me to have him by my side growing up, and especially during, you know, the teenage years where you're kind of lost and you don't know who you are, you know? So to me, I don't know. I'm very grateful for that.

[Bridget Bergen]

New York City is home to many Dominicans. Like your dad, There are over 600,000 Dominican immigrants who live here. When you visit New York, what are some of your favorite ways to enjoy the city? You can name check the restaurants. You know, we know food is one of your touchstones.

[Yendry]

I know, I know. My father used to live in the Bronx. He now moved to New Jersey. But my first encounter with New York was the Bronx. And so I used to go get my hair done, my nails done, and eat there. I feel like any bodega, you know, in there, you just have amazing Dominican food. I think New York had, like, a big role for, you know, in my life, so I could reconnect with Dominican food because in Italy, I just had my mom cooking Dominican food for me. And here is where I can find, like, a good, like, pollo Guisado. I like this restaurant called Puerto Viejo where we went yesterday morning to eat, like, a mango with contre golpes. And I like this other place called El Malecon as well. I feel like. I don't know, it's just amazing that you can go to a city and you see there's a big community, and I almost feel home, you know, in New York. That's. That's incredible. I love this city.

[Bridget Bergen]

Well, we are so glad to have you here. My guest is musician Yendri. She's here to perform live and preview her debut album, Como Agua, due out this fall. She's also performing in concert in conversation with comedian Sasha mercy tonight at 7pm at National Sawdust in Williamsburg. And I think we're gonna go out on one more song. This song is Espejo, which translates to mirror, and it's about the relationship with your biological father. So let's go out on that. Gendry, thank you so much for joining us here on all of it.

[Yendry]

Thank you for having me.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Sh.

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