Maluca Mala

Maluca
Maluca featured at V Magazine
Background information
Birth name	Natalie Yepez
Origin	Dominican Republic, New York
Genres	Eclectic Urban Pop
Labels	RPM MSC, Mad Decent
Associated acts	Diplo, Gilbere Forte, Dillon Francis
Website	www.malucamala.com

Natalie Yepez, better known by her stage name Maluca, grew up in the Bronx, Roosevelt Island, and the East Village. Fashion and genre-hopping have drawn comparisons to M.I.A., Santigold, and Lady Gaga while the fiery Dominicana has at her songwriting disposal, the duality of growing up Latina in the United States. Raised on a steady diet of mambo, bachata, and other Latin sounds, not to mention a healthy dose of ’90s hip-hop, freestyle, and downtown club music, Maluca and her music ignore traditional boundaries and drag Latin music out of the so-called “world music” doldrums. Although a bad case of stage fright kept her out of the spotlight for much of her life, a chance meeting with Diplo while performing karaoke eventually led to “El Tigeraso,” a speedy slice of electronic mambo released as Maluca’s first single.^[1]

2009-2010 saw her touring, performing, and releasing what she calls "tropical punk" tracks.^[2] Since the release of her single in 2009, Maluca has recorded tracks that range from merengue mashups to kuduro to old-school deep house and focused on her stage show, which includes two dancers named the Cookies. ^[3] China Food is her latest release as she prepares for a second visit to SXSW.

The name Maluca in Spanish is a derivative of Mala which means bad or mean girl. In Portuguese Maluca means a crazy or mischievous girl. ^[4]