Maluca's China Food

Maluca's infectious first single, "El Tigeraso", will make you want to dance. I am a little late in the game considering the fact that the song was released almost a year ago, but I have been eager to hear more from this Dominican American rapper. Her sound and style is a hodgepodge of meringue, playero and electro. The music video for "El Tigeraso" debuted on MTV Tr3s and was recently on MTV Iggy.

Diplo and Maluca
Born Natalia Yepez, Maluca was born in the Bronx and grew up in Manhattan. According to Mad Decent, she met producer Diplo at a karaoke bar she worked at on the Lower East Side. Diplo is known for his collaborations with his former girlfriend M.I.A. and Santigold. There have been some comparisons between Maluca and M.I.A., but her sound has more Latin beats. Her EP "El Tigeraso" features remixes of the title track. It is a playful song about trying to blow off the men who hit on her while she attempts to walk down the street.

Download Maluca's China Food Mixtape For Free
Maluca has been working on a mixtape that was mixed by Paul Devro. It features various musical styles that have influenced her over the years. It can be streamed or downloaded for free here through BandCamp. Visitors just have to enter their e-mail address and they will receive instructions on how to download the album.

Mad Decent Block Party
Maluca is signed to the same label as Diplo, Paul Devro, Major Lazer and Andy Milonakis. Her label, Mad Decent, recently threw block parties in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles. Maluca has also performed at South by Southwest and footage of shows sponsored by the Fader magazine can be seen on YouTube.

Maluca on Myspace and Twitter
One of the things I really like about Maluca is how accessible she is to her fans. She has some hilarious tweets and can be followed @MALUCAMALA. She even asked fans for their address on her Myspace account so she could write them handwritten letters while on the road. Some fans posted pictures of the letters they received from her and it made me wish I had sent her my address.

Sources:

Artist Index, "Maluca", Maddecent.com

MTV Iggy
http://blog.mtviggy.com/2010/08/16/maluca-diplos-new-york-dominican-ghettotech-find