The song sung by the “Velea Brothers”, two children aged 9 and 11: “I won't leave until I make it mine” / A psychologist talks about the risks and responsibilities when children use such language

Two children aged 9 and 11, the sons of singers Alex Velea and Antonia, released the song “Mamacita”. The lyrics quickly drew backlash and criticism, with many deeming them age inappropriate.

• “The problem is that some adults decided that their own children should become the ambassadors of this language in the public space, assuming the risk of hate in their place”, Yolanda Crețescu, clinical psychologist and psychotherapist, explained in a dialogue with HotNews.
• HotNews tried to contact Alex Velea by phone and sent him a request for a point of view, but he did not respond by the time of publication of the article.

“I go to the club, I take her dancing, I like that she has fun,
mother, what a crazy girl, she seems to be giving me trouble.
I mean it, I really like her,
but I won't stop until I make it mine.”

“The lights are fixed on her,
everyone around: “look at that girl”,
small colored, comes from Colombia,
ola, que pasa mi chica,
mommy, come here.”

(…)

“Shakalaka, this girl is beautiful,
i want you to come with me to punta cana or belize,
take money from mommy and we're going to the caribbean.

(…)

My blood boils because it's Latin vero,
mamasita, que bonita, dame, dame tu cosita.”
(in trans. Mommy, so pretty, give me, give me your little thing)

They are the lyrics of the song “Mamacita”, released by “Frății Velea”, the 9- and 11-year-old children of Alex Velea and Antonia. The two children's names are Dominic and Akim and they are minors. They recently launched into music under the name “Velea Brothers” on their YouTube channel. About a month ago, they released their first track, “I Love You”, marking their debut in the music industry.

According to the credits published on YouTube, the lyrics of the song “Mamacita” are signed by Akim Velea, Dominic Velea and Bote, the music is made by Akim Velea, Dominic Velea, Bote and Florin Buzea (Bonny), and the production belongs to Florin Buzea (Bonny).

Reactions after the release came immediately, on YouTube and Facebook, as well as on the post where Alex Velea promoted the track.

Online reactions include comments such as:

• “I went completely crazy. What lyrics are these for some children (…) Is this the model we propose to the new generations?”
• “At your age the only club you should be in is the reading club”
• “As a parent, in all honesty, I would be ashamed of something like that”

There are also harsher messages: “The promotion of children in such contexts should be much more strictly regulated and prohibited”, along with reactions such as “They are still children! What a world we live in!” and “Horrible, grotesque, vulgar! Minors exposed to such situations…”.

“It's the kind of line you hear everywhere, but when you hear it said by a child…”

Among those who reacted publicly is Andreea Raicu, who criticized the message conveyed by the piece. In a message published on Facebook, she says that the song “did not shock her, but it saddened her”, precisely because such formulations have become “frequent and are rarely questioned”. His post garnered over 10,000 reactions, hundreds of comments and shares.

“Today I listened to the song “Mamacita”, released by the Velea Brothers, in which they talk about an 8-year-old girl and at one point they say something like “I'm going to make her mine”. And I admit that it saddened me. It didn't shock me, but rather hurt how normal it seems.”

She says that such lines, once spoken by children, take on a different meaning: “It's the kind of line you hear everywhere: in plays, in jokes, between people, and you don't even dwell on it. But when you hear it said by a child, about a little girl, it starts to bother you.”

Raicu draws attention to the message sent about relationships and how girls are viewed: “Because, beyond innocence, there is a message that we learn very early: that a girl can be “someone's”, that she can be conquered, taken, claimed.”

In the same message, she says that the problem is not with the children, but with the environment in which they grow: “It's not about the child, he just repeats what he sees and what he hears, but it's about us, about the culture we grow up in. At 8 years old, a child should not be reproducing dynamics of seduction or possession.”

“Where did it end up?!”

Among those who reacted was Dan Amariei, the lead singer of the band OCS, who criticized the song in a post on Facebook.

He declared himself surprised by the existence of the song and reacted to the message sent by the children: “wtf.. I didn't know about this song (well, I don't know much), but hey, good people, we're not normal anymore?! 7-8 year old children talking about how they're going to “do that little girl”… hey baby, what did you eat? where did it end up?! what kind of God's world have we ended up living in?”.

Psychologist: “Responsibility belongs to adults, not children”

Psychologist Yolanda Crețescu, clinical psychologist, Adlerian psychotherapist and president of the Happy Minds Association, explained to HotNews that the situation must be analyzed by separating the responsibility of adults from the needs of the children involved and the young public.

She says that the decision to expose children in such a context belongs to adults and can be interpreted as an attempt to use language close to that of teenagers, but points out that children's needs are different.

“Let's look at the adults' decision vs. the children's need for protection. What the adults do (parents-artists, producers) is a conscious choice to expose their children to mature content. This decision can be understood as an exercise of courage in using the suburban colloquial language – that register that teenagers already use among themselves, but which adults usually censor”, says Yolanda Crețescu.

At the same time, she points out that public exposure comes with risks that children cannot handle emotionally.

“However, what children need is something else entirely: to be protected from massive public exposure and the hate that inevitably follows. Regardless of the justifications, two 9- and 11-year-old children cannot emotionally process the wave of criticism, ironies and moral judgments that descend on them. The feeling of inferiority is chronicized when the child is repeatedly exposed to social failure – and here the failure is not theirs, but the adults around them.”

“Provocative language for them is a passport to the world of adults”

Crețescu also explains why children can be attracted to such language, without this meaning that they understand the content itself.

“Children (especially pre-adolescents) have an imaginary final goal – to become big, important, mature. Provocative language, lyrics about clubs, attraction, money and exotic trips represent for them a passport to the world of adults – they imitate what they perceive as “cool”, desired, powerful, a badge of belonging – in today's culture this language is the code of the group. Using it, the child feels that he is not excluded and can be seen as an antidote to the inferiority of age – when you are small and controlled, singing about «dame tu cosita» and «sangele mi ferber» creates the illusion that you have access to an intense, adult life.”

“Let's direct criticism where it's due”

She pointed out that, in general, “children do not have an appetite for explicit sexual content as such, but for the status and power that this language signifies in their social imaginary.”

“The problem is that some adults have decided that their own children will become the ambassadors of this language in the public space, taking the risk of hate in their place. From my point of view, authentic courage is not exposing your child to the storm, but teaching him how to build a storm with you – as he grows,” she continues/

At the same time, the psychologist emphasizes that the responsibility must remain at the level of adults involved in production and promotion: “Let's direct the criticism where it should be: to parents, producers, record companies, platforms. They are the ones who have the power to filter, to choose age-appropriate themes, to protect.”