María Rodríguez Garrido (born February 13, 1979), known as Mala Rodríguez, is a Spanish Latin hip hop rapper and singer based in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. She appeared as a judge on Spain's '' La Voz'' prior to releasing her first album in seven years, ''Mala'', in May 2020. Rodríguez released her memoir, ''Cómo ser Mala'', in June 2021. Rodríguez is also the first female artist to win both Best Urban Album and Best Urban Song at the

Latin Grammy Awards The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music, Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish language, S ...

, as well as the first urban artist to win Spain's National Music Award.

Early life

Maria Rodríguez was born in Jérez de la Frontera (

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

) on February 13, 1979. She grew up in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

and became involved with the city's thriving hip-hop scene as a teenager. The daughter of a hairdresser in an Andalusian family, she describes herself as being from a working-class family, saying, "My mother and I are both young, and all I know is that my family experienced hunger back then er parents' times and that sticks with you. I didn't grow up with luxury, but I never missed a meal either." At age seventeen, she performed onstage for the first time, and adopted the stage name La Mala.

Musical career

She rose to prominence in the late 1990s alongside fellow Sevillian

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

acts such as La Gota Que Colma, SFDK, and La Alta Escuela. After she adopted the stage name La Mala, she appeared on La Gota Que Colma's album ''Mordiendo el Micro'' on the songs "No Hay Rebaja", and "Dando Guerra". She also appeared on SFDK's ''Siempre Fuertes'' and La Alta Escuela's ''En Pie de Vuelo'' on the song "Espectáculo en la Gancha". She made her solo debut with A Jierro/Toma la Traca, a maxi-single released by Zona Bruta in 1999. The song was originally planned for release by Zeroporsiento, a Sevillian label for which she had recorded the tracks. In 2000, she signed to Universal Music Spain, and released her full-length debut album, ''Lujo Ibérico''. In 2001 Her song "Tengo lo que tu quieres" was part of the BSO of the Spanish movie Sex and Lucia. Her second album, ''Alevosía'', featured the single, "La Niña". The song gained notability when its controversial music video was banned from Spanish TV because of its depiction of a young female drug dealer. MalaRodriguez

On the soundtrack of the film ''

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'' her single "Volveré", from the ''Malamarismo'' album, was featured. In 2008, Rodriguez was invited to join

Julieta Venegas Julieta Venegas Percevault (; born 24 November 1970) is a Mexican singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, and producer who specializes in pop-rock-indie music in Spanish. She embarked on her musical journey by joining several bands, including the ...

for her MTV Unplugged performance singing the song " Eres para mí". She performed with Maroon 5, Björk and LMFAO at the Festival Imperial in the Autódromo La Guácima racetrack in Alajuela, Costa Rica in March 2012. In April 2013 she revealed on her Facebook page that her album, ''Bruja'', would be released on June 18. On September 12, 2013, she went back to Costa Rica. In 2015, Mala Rodriguez was one of the many artists featured on President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

’s Summer Spotify playlist.

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named one of her earlier singles "Yo Marco El Minuto" as one of the 200 Greatest Songs by 21st Century Women. After a four-year hiatus, Mala released the single "Gitanas" on July 6, 2018. ''

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'' called her vocals "bold and unflinching, when she boldly asks 'Quién me protege?' ("Who will protect me?") you can almost feel the ground quake beneath her feet. Mala already knows the answer to her question. Without missing a beat, she cries out, "Yo!" ("Me!"), daring anyone to doubt her." In 2019 Rodriguez became the first urban artist to win Spain's National Music Award and was a judge on Spain's ''La Voz'' (''The Voice'') leading up to her first album in seven years, ''Mala'', released in May 2020. Rodriguez released her memoir ''Cómo ser Mala'' in June 2021.

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

Featured in

Collaborations

* La Gota que Colma – "Mordiendo el micro" (1998) * SFDK – "Siempre fuertes" (1999) * El Imperio – "Monopolio" (1999) * La Alta Escuela – "Espectaculo en la cancha" (1999) * Jota Mayúscula – "Hombre negro soltero busca..." (2000) * Ygryega – "XXL" (2000) * Poison – "El Poeta de Mi Barrio" (2001) * Dnoe – "Que Piensan Las Mujeres 1: Personal" (2002) * La Super K – "Agüita" (2002) * VV.AA. – "Laboratorio Hip Hop CD1" (2003) * VV.AA. – "Flow Latino (Habana – Madrid)" (2003) * Jota Mayúscula – "Una vida Xtra" (2004) * R de Rumba – "Fabricante" (2004) * Full Nelson – "Confía en mí" (2005) * VV.AA. – "Bien Sobre Mal Vol.3" (2005) *

Akon Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam (born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon (), is a Senegalese-United States, American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, businessman, and philanthropist. An influ ...

– "Locked Up (reedición)" (2005) * Vico C – "Vamonos Po' Encima" (2005) * Upsurt – "Втората цедка" (2006) * Kultama – "Nacional e importación" (2006) * Antonio Carmona – "Vengo venenoso" (2006) * Griffi – "Los Impresentables" (2006) * Calle 13 – "Mala suerte con el 13" (2007) * Bajofondo – "El Anden" (2007) *

– "Tiempo Pa`Pensa" Malamarismo (2007) * A.B. Quintanilla III y Los Kumbia All Starz and Vicentico – " Vuelve" (2008) * Jota Mayúscula – "Juega con el monstruo" * Jota Mayúscula – "Como un títere" * Mentenguerra – "Por La Noche" *

Nelly Furtado Nelly Kim Furtado ( , ; born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 45 million records, including 35 million in album sales worldwide, making her one of the most successful Canadian artists. Critics have noted ...

and

– " Bajo Otra Luz" (2009) * Diego Torres – "Mirar Atrás" (2010) * Sebastian Yepes – "De Lo Oscuro a Lo Puro" (2011) *

Romeo Santos Anthony "Romeo" Santos (born July 21, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer who is best known as the frontman and lead vocalist of the Bachata (music), bachata group Aventura (band), Aventura. In 2002, the song "Obsesión ...

– "Magia Negra" (2011) * Kinky – "Negro Día" (2011) * SOJA – "Like It Used To" (2014) * El Guincho – "Comix" (2016) * Ibeyi – "Me Voy" (2017) * Beatriz Luengo – "Caprichosa" (2018) * Juan Magán – "Usted" (2018) * Stylo G – "Contigo" (2018) * Dellafuente – "Tenamoras" (2019) * Denise Rosethal – "Agua Segura" (2019) * Dyce - "Solito (remix)" (2023)

Notes

External links

*
BrownPride.com

RockEnEspanol.com

DiarioLasAmericas.com
Article in Spanish posted July 13, 2007, in Miami's Diario Las Americas daily newspaper
Mala Rodriguez Concludes Her Appearance at the LAMC with Great Success
Mala Rodriguez article posted in Chicago's Extra News, July 13, 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Maria 1979 births Feminist musicians Hip-hop singers Latin Grammy Award winners Latin music songwriters Living people People from Jerez de la Frontera Romani rappers Singers from Andalusia Spanish Romani people Spanish women rappers Spanish women singers Spanish women songwriters Universal Music Latin Entertainment artists Women in hip-hop Women in Latin music