We continue our musical trip within Latin America. This time our destination is Chile; the music of Ana Tijoux will get us there. Ana (or Anita) was born in 1977 in France from Chilean parents, who were exiled during Pinochet’s military dictatorship. This certainly influenced her character and her musical style: she becomes a rapper, which allows her to express her strong social and political convictions. She writes, composes and performs her own songs.

In 1993 she returned to Chile, and after some years performing in different bands and collaborations, she started her solo carrier. In 2009 she released the widely acclaimed, Grammy-nominated album 1977. The song 1977 featured, among others, in the American series Breaking Bad.

Her latest album Vengo, released early 2014, thrilled critics worldwide: “Virtually flawless” stated NPR; “Some of the most dazzling hip-hop this year” said MTV. Fair enough, Vengo just received a Grammy nomination for Best Latin album in the category Urban, rock or alternative.

Personally, I find very interesting the way she combines hip hop, traditional andean music and very thoughtful lyrics, talking about social justice, capitalism, the environment, feminism…

Recently, she was asked by the Walker Art Center to write and op-ed: the outstanding “La Cultura de la Basura” (The Garbage Culture), where she analyses, without mincing her words, misogyny and the hypersexualization of the woman’s body in the music industry.

The song I chose is called like the album, Vengo (I come) and this is a live performance at the KCRW studio.

….“I come looking for an ideal

of a world without classes that can raise, I come …

With our black hair, our high cheekbones,

With the Indian pride tattooed in our souls,

I come.”…