María de los Ángeles Becerra (born 12 February 2000) is an Argentine singer and former YouTuber. She has been dubbed as "a leading voice in Argentina's urban pop movement".

Career

Becerra began her career at twelve years of age on the platform

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

. In 2015, she posted a five-minute-long parody monologue which was seen over one million times in just hours. This encouraged her to create a

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel in which she would later post videos of her talking and singing,

vlog A video blog or video log, sometimes shortened to vlog (), is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in ...

s, and dance tutorials. In September 2019, she released her debut EP ''222'' in which she fused elements of

urban pop Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music. The genre features a distinctive record production style, drum machine-backed rhythms, ...

and hip hop. In November, she released her single "High", which would later gain a remix version with Argentine singer Tini and Spanish singer Lola Indigo and reached the number-two position on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Argentina Hot 100. In 2020 and 2021, Becerra was featured in multiple remixes, including "En Tu Cuerpo" with

Lyanno Edgardo Rafael Cuevas Feliciano ( San Juan; Puerto Rico, April 22, 1995) better known by his stage name as Lyanno, is a Puerto Rican singer-songwriter of R&B Reggaetón and Trap Latino. Music career He studied sound engineering at the Lice ...

, Rauw Alejandro and

Lenny Tavárez Dyland & Lenny were a Puerto Rican reggaeton duo, consisting of Carlos Castillo Cruz (Dyland) and Julio Manuel González Távarez (Lenny). Career Both had planned to become basketball players before making a career in music. They started the ...

, "AYNEA" with FMK and Beret, and "Además de Mí" with Rusherking,

Khea Ivo Alfredo Thomas Serue (born 13 April 2000), known by his stage name Khea, is an Argentine trap rapper and singer. He is a member of the Argentinian trap scene along with artists such as Cazzu and Duki. Early years Ivo Alfredo Thomás Seru ...

and Duki, Lit Killah and Tiago Pzk. "Además de Mí (Remix)" became Becerra's first number-one single on the Argentina Hot 100. In 2020, Becerra became the first Latin artist to be signed to the indie record label

300 Entertainment Theory Entertainment LLC, doing business as 300 Entertainment, is an American record label founded by Lyor Cohen, Kevin Liles, Todd Moscowitz, and Roger Gold. The label's roster includes acts across multiple genres such as hip hop, rock, pop, ele ...

. In 2021, Becerra released her second EP, ''Animal, Pt. 1'' which included the Cazzu-assisted "Animal" and the solo "Acaramelao". Both singles became hits in Argentina, where they peaked at number five and seven, respectively. The EP shifts genres between hip-hop, reggaeton, trap, hip-hop, R&B and hints of

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: A ...

, and explores the themes of

women empowerment Women's empowerment (or female empowerment) may be defined in several ways, including accepting women's viewpoints, making an effort to seek them and raising the status of women through education, awareness, literacy, and training.Kabeer, Naila ...

, love and lust.

Influences

According to Becerra herself, her major personal influence was her mother. As for her artistic influences, María's work is mostly influenced by Amy Winehouse,

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977), professionally known by the mononym Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she has been referred to as the " Queen of Latin Music" and is ...

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...

and Natti Natasha, while she has stated that she always admired

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...

and

Cardi B Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar Cephus (, ; born October 11, 1992), known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper and songwriter. She first gained popularity as an influencer on Vine and Instagram. From 2015 to early 2017, she appeared as ...

Personal life

Becerra is bisexual. In an interview for

MTV News MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...

, she stated, "When I understood and accepted that I also liked girls, that was a difficult time. There was a lot of confusion and prejudice, and I had to think about how my family would take it. It was something very heavy that marked my life". Becerra is a vegan.

Stage

Discography

* ''

Animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...

'' (2021) * '' La Nena de Argentina'' (2022)

Tours

Headlining

* Animal Tour (2021–2022) * La nena de Argentina tour (2023)

Awards and nominations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Becerra, Maria 2000 births 21st-century Argentine women singers 21st-century LGBT people Argentine feminists Argentine reggaeton musicians Argentine trap musicians Argentine YouTubers Argentine women rappers Argentine women singer-songwriters Bisexual feminists Bisexual musicians Bisexual women Female YouTubers Feminist musicians Latin trap musicians LGBT singers from Argentina LGBT people in Latin music LGBT rights activists from Argentina LGBT YouTubers Living people People from Quilmes Women in Latin music