Reynor Hernandez is a Spanish singer-songwriter who has released five albums. His latest album, La Vida es un Sueno, was released in 2016.
Mala Rodrguez, a Spanish rap artist who has worked with some of Spain’s best hip-hop producers and gained a lot of attention for her socially conscious lyrics and strong femininity, came to prominence fast. She emerged from Seville’s thriving hip-hop culture in the late 1990s, dubbed “La Mala” because of the hardcore character of her early work, and moved to Madrid once her career chances seemed good.
Her first album, Lujo Ibérico (2000), was published by Universal and quickly established her as one of Spain’s most well-known rappers. Jota Mayscula, Supernafamacho, and Dive Dibosso, three of Spain’s best beat-makers, contributed to the album, which produced the famous song “Yo Marco el Minuto,” which was included in the well-known film Luca y el Sexo (2002).
Because of its portrayal of a drug-dealing young girl, the video for “La Nia,” a song from her second album, Alevosa (2003), was banned from Spanish television. Rodrguez gradually lightened up her music and started experimenting with new sounds, but she remained a powerful rapper and insightful writer, and her music grew in worldwide popularity as a result.
Mara Rodrguez Garrido was born on February 13, 1979, in Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz, Spain. She grew up in Seville and got engaged with the city’s flourishing hip-hop culture as a youngster. She came to popularity in the late 1990s with other Sevillian hip-hop groups La Gota Que Colma, SFDK, and La Alta Escuela.
She was then known as La Mala and featured on La Gota Que Colma’s album Mordiendo el Micro (“No Hay Rebaja,” “Dando Guerra”), published by Zeroporsiento in 1998; SFDK’s Siempre Fuertes (“Una de Piratas”), released by Zona Bruta in 1999; and La Alta Escuela’s En Pie de Vuelo (“Espectáculo en la A Jierro/Toma la Traca, a maxi-single published by Zona Bruta in 1999 (originally intended for distribution by Zeroporsiento, a Sevillian label for whom she’d recorded the songs), was her solo debut.
Rodrguez transferred to Yo Gano/Superego the next year, a joint label run by impresario Sergio Aguilar Pereira and headquartered in Madrid, where she’d moved at the age of 19. In the early to mid-2000s, she rebranded herself as Mala Rodrguez and released two more maxi-singles, Yo Marco el Minuto/Tambalea and Tengo un Trato, as well as appearing on Jota Mayscula’s album Hombre Negro, Soltero, Busca (“Tirititi Tirititero”).
The next company to sign Rodrguez was Universal Music Spain, who teamed up with Yo Gano/Superego to release her first full-length album, Lujo Ibérico, in 2000. Lujo Ibérico, which included Mayscula, Supernafamacho, and Dive Dibosso on production, was a big hit, selling over 50,000 copies and achieving gold status.
In turn, “Yo Marco el Minuto” was used in Luca y el Sexo (the soundtrack was published in 2002 by Palm Pictures), and “Afila el Colmillo,” a duet with Titan, was featured on the Y Tu Mamá También (2002) album. Rodrguez worked with the same producers from her debut, Mayscula, Supernafamacho, and Dive Dibosso, for her second album, Alevosa (2003), while almost half of the songs included guests (e.g., Kamikaze, Giggi Mantequilla, Kultama).
Universal also issued La Nia/Amor y Respeto (2003), a 13-track maxi-single that included remixes of the co-featured songs as well as previously released tracks like “Yo Marco el Minuto” and “Tengo un Trato.” “La Nia,” in particular, created a sensation when it was released as a single; the video was contentious and was prohibited from Spanish television because it showed a drug-dealing young girl. Alevosa followed in the footsteps of its predecessor, becoming a gold record.
Rodrguez remained busy for the following three years until releasing her second album, Malamarismo (2007), on Universal. Mayscula (“Como un Titere,” 2004), R de Rumba (“Fabricante,” 2004), Full Nelson (“La Carta,” 2005), Akon (“Locked Up [Remix],” 2005), Vico C (“Vamonos Po’ Encima,” 2005), Kultama (“Nacional e Importación,” 2006), Antonio Carmona (“Ay de Ti,” 2006), and Calle 13 (“Ay de Ti,” 2006) were among the many collaboration (“Mala Suerte con el 13,” 2007).
“Por la Noche,” a new Rodrguez solo song produced by Supernafamacho, was used in the Spanish film Yo Soy la Juani in 2006. In addition, a maxi-single including various versions of the song as well as a music video was published.
Malamarismo was released in 2007, with the song “Nanai” as the lead single and “Por la Noche” as a bonus track. Malamarismo is different from previous albums in that it doesn’t only contain basic hip-hop; instead, it has collaborations with Mexican pop singer Julieta Venegas, Puerto Rican reggaetonero Tego Calderón, and Solo las Solo producer Griffi, among others.
