Maria Isa

Born and raised in the Twin Cities to NuyoRican parents, emcee, singer, and songwriter Maria Isa is recognized for her dedication towards celebrating her cultural diversity through music and political activism. In 1992 she started her performing arts education at El Arco Iris Center for Arts, forming Raices in 2002 with other advanced students to conserve their ancestral Puerto Rican folklore music.

Influenced by the traditional Afro-Boricua ritmos of Bomba and Plena, along with Soul and Funk of Motown and Fania's fusion of Salsa and Bugaloo, Isa plants an organic blend of call and response with lyrical "Spanglish" rhymes through the various drumbeats and snares of Hip-Hop, Reggae, Dancehall and Reggaeton.  In 1992 she started her performing arts education at El Arco Iris Center for Arts, forming Raices in 2002 with other advanced students to conserve their ancestral Puerto Rican folkloric music.  Isa joined Emetrece Productions in 2006 to promote her music in the Twin Cities and in Puerto Rico, as well as to study the curriculum of Hip-Hop and Reggaeton.  Maria Isa independently founded SotaRico in 2008. Known for delivering her message through a unique flow, many believe Maria Isa to be a young woman with the rays of revolutionizing the next generations of voices.

Following her nomination in 2006 for the Minnesota Music Award's "Best Hip-Hop Artist" category, Isa released her first independent album M.I. Split Personalities in May of 2007 and has been promoting her music in the Twin Cities, Puerto Rico and nationally.

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