Young Miko is far from her home island of Puerto Rico, curled up in an oversized hoodie and tucked away in a quiet hotel room in south-central North Carolina. The lights are low and the room hums with stillness. It’s a rare moment of calm as, for the first time in her young career, Miko is playing arenas as the supporting act for Billie Eilish on select Latin market–heavy stops of the American singer’s fall tour.

It’s the silence between shows that forms the backdrop of her sophomore album, “Do Not Disturb.” The project captures everything that came after her whirlwind breakout: “Att.,” which launched her career and earned her a 2025 Grammy nomination for best música urbana album. At the time, she was the youngest artist ever nominated and the only woman in the category.

After months of constant motion, it’s easy to understand why Miko felt an urgent need to shut out the noise to begin writing again. She calls “DND” a document of “personal growth,” and admits its creation was “an emotional roller coaster.” Across 16 tracks, Miko drifts between drum and bass on “Ojalá,” R&B on the sensual “Sin Pausa,” Afrobeats on “Meiomi,” and her foundational strength — reggaeton — where she holds court alongside heavy-weights of the genre like Eladio Carrión and Tainy.

“This record was not easy to finish. I had so much self doubt, creatively and as a person,” Miko tells Variety. “The outside noise was louder than ever and I was overwhelmed by it. This project, specifically, was not meant to be explained or over thought. It was just meant to be felt, because that was what I needed the most. I went from feeling like I needed to be in total control to trusting the people and collaborators I love most to bring the best out of me.”

Creative chemistry is on full display in the intricate textures of “DND.” Take “Ojalá,” where Miko raps about hoping a love interest won’t forget her. The track started as piano lyrics, but, she explains, “just like my thoughts at that time, I felt a need to disrupt the song with intense [production.] It’s the perfect description of how I feel when I’m opening up emotionally… chaos all over me. Things get loud; I feel like I’m being attacked… when I’m really not.”

Mauro, Miko’s frequent collaborator and the producer behind “Att.,” is also credited as across “DND.” “Mauro knows my voice so well, and he knows my taste,” says Miko. “Having that trust at a time where I didn’t know where I wanted to begin — which was very different from how I felt creating ‘Att.’ — was so important in the moment creating without any expectations.”

Ultimately, Miko surrendered to the most playful and sensual version of herself. “I’m very Scorpio-coded, and that is probably the biggest takeaway from the record,” she says with a smirk, citing fellow Scorpio, Drake, as a major influence on “Sin Pausa.” (In the song, she winks: “It could only mean one thing when you throw me that ‘Hotline Bling.’”) On “Wassup” she interpolates Lil Wayne’s 2008 hit, “Lollipop,” and Lil Jon makes a cameo at the end, proclaiming through his signature grit: “It’s Mauro and baby Miko in this bitch, don’t get it twisted or they be takin your bitch.”

“These eras were so fun to lean into… the [‘Hotline Bling’] era of Drake! I had a Tumblr page that went viral during that time, but it had no pictures of me. Completely anonymous. It was just moodboards and music from Drake and The Neighbourhood… it’s funny to think back to that now.”

Music may be her origin point, but Miko has her sights set beyond it. Her recent run with Billie Eilish has already expanded her audience among English-speaking fans — an opportunity she doesn’t take lightly. “I’ve truly taken the challenge to heart,” she says. “Billie has awesome fans. They remind me of my fans who are full of energy and Gen-Z-coded. I’m so blessed and honored to share the stage with such a great person and artist. And having this space for Latina queer representation in such a different crowd has been eye-opening.”

That openness extends to her ambitions offstage as well. Miko wants to act — in anything. “Acting has always been on my list of things I want to do. I would even play a straight girl,” she says laughing. “Literally any type of role. I want to do it all.”

Grounded and creatively fulfilled, Miko says this is the most present she has been in a long time. With “Do Not Disturb,” she hopes listeners meet her where she is.

“We live in a fleeting moment, so the least we can do is capture the feeling of it,” she says.