As the child of a musical legend, it can often be hard to establish your own path. Sure, you’re gifted with the famed connection and the initial benefits of it. But when you choose to go out on your own path, especially in music, it can often be hard to move out of your parent’s shadow.

That’s sort of the case with Stella Santana. The daughter of Latin Jazz luminary Carlos Santana and activist Deborah Sara Santana (whose father was legendary blues artist Saunders King), she has found inspiration from both of her parents. She credits them for providing her with as normal a childhood as possible – even growing up in San Francisco to avoid much of the celebrity ringer that is Los Angeles. Even still, Stella’s been making a way for herself from a young age while possessing much of the musical chops of her famed father.

Releasing her newest project Distant next month (July 14), Santana says the EP is a culmination of the emotions she initially felt during a 2016 breakup from her then boyfriend, and now husband, that started a rollercoaster journey through a COVID pregnancy and move from New York to L.A. Much of that feeling is very present on Distant – as evidenced by singles “Attention” and “Highways,” where she describes the lack of presence one experiences when their mind is occupied with someone or something else.

During a recent interview with BET, Stella Santana discussed her latest work, growing up in San Francisco and with a famous father, the advice he’s given her during her life and career, her admiration for Lauryn Hill and much more. Read below.

BET: You grew up in the Bay Area. Take me back to that time and sort of how that environment nurtured your interest in music…

Stella Santana: Yeah, well it’s definitely not the same as it was. I haven't really been since 2020. And even then, I was only back for a few days and I was pregnant and you couldn't really see anyone. And so I was just seeing the family. We drove up there. But I feel like growing up in the Bay in the late 80s/early 90s, it was cool. There was Haight Ashbury, everyone was still remembering that and respecting it and loving it. It felt super artsy and very diverse and very open and less performative as it might feel now.

I'm grateful that my parents raised me outside of L.A. and they have never really been in like the celebrity. I feel like there's something that happens to you, and you're good at what you do, and people watch you, but that's different than being a celebrity who's like, trying to be watched. So my family was never trying to be watched. If anything, they were trying not to be watched and raise us in that sort of environment.

BET: Last Friday you released your latest single and video for “Attention,” which is fantastic. Talk about putting that together and the creative direction behind both the song and video.

Santana: The song I wrote in 2020 during COVID, as one does when they're locked in…

BET: I’ve heard that story before [laughs]...

Santana: Not original at all. I'm not a producer really – engineer wise, but by ear. So I was like just like making some things and writing some things, and a lot of those things I took two other producers and they kind of reproduced around my vocals, which a lot of my vocals were like gibberish at that point. I sent it to this producer Omen, but I haven't actually met him before. We were just passing things back and forth. I did another song with him called “My Summertime,” which came out in 2020.

And then for the visuals. I just wanted it to be outside. I wanted it to be in a natural place. A lot of the themes, or the theme of the projects is distance or space, and how actually taking space can give you more connection, and can actually give you more clarity than holding on to something or like getting super close and microscopic. I think it's good to be able to move your view. And also just let go of your story around what your narrative – whatever it is, and be open. So I just feel like nature is the place where that is just like constant.

BET: That and your single “Highways” are off your upcoming EP Distant, slated for a July 14 release. What can fans expect on that and the sort of creative direction behind the project?

Santana: I had this concept around 2016 or 2017, when my heart was actually broken because I went through a breakup as one does. Now he's my husband and we have kids together. But at the time there was a lot happening. In my own world, I had a relationship that I was shocked because this is actually someone that I think I could have a life with, which I didn't really think I was going to meet because I'm very picky. I was just kind of like, I'm never gonna meet anyone. And that's fine. I love being alone. It's great. And then I met him, and he was 22. And I was 30. And I was like this is so random and weird. Obviously, he had to go do some growing, and I wanted to let him go do that. I didn't really want to participate in that because I already did that. Having that knowing of like, this isn't good for right now doesn't make it hurt any less. It actually also sometimes makes it harder to choose everyday to continue to take that space and trusting that it was all going to unfold in a beautiful way. I didn't have to see it. I just liked that as a nice lesson to take everywhere with anything.

BET: You’ve previously stated that you were around the studio when your dad was recording his classic album Supernatural. Take me back to that and your memories if you have any…

Santana: I don't think I was actually ever in the studio, but I do remember because I was obsessed with Lauryn Hill, and they have a song that they did. A few different songs, and I'm determined to find – I feel like they did three and one obviously made the album – but there was another one. This is the one that needs to be on the album. I was 14 and I've asked my dad. He probably doesn't know, but someone knows where that song is because I want to hear that song. I did get to meet her and she was pregnant at the time. She's small and cute and pregnant and I love her. So I wasn't really in the studio. I think I went like one time when it was her session because he knew that I was obsessed with her.

BET: That was actually my next question, about Lauryn Hill’s influence on you. The crazy thing is that the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is turning 25 this year. Can you talk about why she’s so inspiring to you and what that album means to you?

Santana: Honestly, I don't really know. It just felt like what I needed. I didn't really listen to albums all the way through I feel like, but that one I was listening to all the way through [for] days and days and days and days. I think I saw her perform on tour for that album like four times.

BET: Over the years of recording music, what are some of the lessons your father has taught you about recording, the business or in general about being a professional musician?

Santana: He always, and my mom, they always have told us to just do things from our heart – even when we were young. As you get older, you realize what it means. When you start from that space, it affects who you work with and how you show up with that person. It really sets the tone for the journey that you're going on – in any collaboration or in any sort of creation. So I feel like that is the core of everything and that's always where it’s coming from. So if I'm coming from there, it's always going to feel good.

BET: How have you grown musically from recording an album like Selfish (2016) to now with Distant?

Santana: I feel like the better you get at what you do the less serious you take it. I know that sounds counterintuitive, but it's not that it’s not serious, it's just like failing. People who don't fail a lot are so scared of it. But if you're always failing, you're just like, ‘Okay, cool, I get up and I keep going.’ It doesn't feel as horrible as it does, if you're constantly trying to avoid it. Before was like, I want to say this and there's all these things you feel like you need to do or that you want to do and that it's authentic to who you are as a growing artist, as a developing artist, saying it's wrong. It's just a stepping stone on the path. So I feel like now I'm super focused and I just feel embodied now.

BET: You really love New York. What about the city really excites you both personally and creatively?

Santana: I mean, I love New York. I lived there for 11 years. Honestly, I don't know if I would have moved back being pregnant. I think I just moved back because of COVID. I was pregnant during COVID. I was like, This is crazy. I want my mom and L.A. I'm just constantly inspired by New York. The energy, the art, the people, the attitude, the strength. I feel like I always had that in me. But I was in California, and everyone here is like, soft. So then I remember being told you can't say stuff like that Stella or you’re being too bossy.

Growing up, I guess it's like typical girl stuff. But when I got to New York, like those parts of me that I had kind of been trying to suppress, they were like, “Why are you weak?” And I was like, Wait, what? And I was 24 when I moved. So you know, you're still definitely becoming yourself at 24. You're super young. [It] gave me the permission to be like, No, if you think that's wrong, you should say something instead of questioning how you should say it in a way. That is how I've always been, and I feel like New York showed me, obviously, with grace and like respect, say what I feel like saying if I notice something. I'm always trying to be helpful. I'm never trying to make anyone feel bad or sad or like s**t or anything. I just have a strong intuition and I feel like in New York, I learned to listen to it.