Posted at 9:25 AM on January 18, 2007
by Christina Schmitt
(2 Comments)
The friends I ran into at the Best New Bands 2007 concert last night at First Ave. were there for one reason-- to see Maria Isa, the 19-year-old reggaetón star on the rise. Check out Maria Isa on MySpace.
If Maria Isa ever finds her Jimmy Jam, she is going to be a national contender. The girl can rap, the girl can sing, the girl can dance -- and did I mention she's also an empowered hottie in an Adidas track suit? I'm always amazed by people that young who have talent and fashion sense. (When I was 19, I had remnants of a perm.)
I couldn't understand everything Maria was saying last night--she admits to rapping in her own brand of Spanglish--but judging by her shout outs between songs, the themes were community and not selling out.
On a related note, Peter Scholtes wrote a rock-solid story for City Pages about the local reggaetón scene. You can learn a little more about Maria Isa there: Immigrant dreams, dirty dancing, and the revolution: Meet the new Latin hip hop of Maria Isa and Danny y Elliot.
Christina, any predictions on what she'll do @ the TC Hip Hop awards?
I don't feel qualified to make a prediction, since the only two artists I know in the "Best Latin Rap" category are Maria Isa and Los Nativos. (To see all nominees, go to the Jan. 20 the 1st Annual TC Hip-Hop Awards MySpace page.)
Anyone out there with more information about the nominees?
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