[youtube=http://youtu.be/yiQ7S38nKog]
On her break-out album, 1977, Chilean rapera Ana Tijoux spit out spotless, effortless Spanish-language rhymes over brazen beats so good that she garnered a Grammy nod. This, despite the fact that she was born in France to Chilean parents and didn’t feel comfortable with Spanish until later in life, struggling to make it as an emcee after the family returned to Chile in 1990. Tijoux’s rap is introspective and socially conscious enough to earn her cred among both hard-edged rappers as well as the NPR set. Her most recent album, La Bala, came out in January.
Youtube: Nacional Records
Must Hear Track: “1977”