Viva La Hip Hop

Ana Tijoux started recording demos for her long-awaited solo debut with different producers. At one point, she even had a full band of live musicians, straying a bit from her pure hip-hop roots and exploring new forms and collaborations. During this time, she also collaborated as a guest vocalist in Julieta Venegas’ radio-hit “Eres para Mí,” which suddenly launched Tijoux to the mainstream pop market all over Latin America, Spain, and the United States.

In September 2007, Tijoux finally released her solo debut, named Kaos, under the independent label Oveja Negra. . Thanks to the first single, “Despabílate”, Anita was nominated for the Latin version of the MTV Video Music Awards 2007 under the categories Best New Artist and Best Urban Artist. At the same time, she was nominated for song of the year together with Julieta Venegas for “Eres Para Mí”.^[2]

In October 2009, Tijoux released her second solo album, titled 1977 after the year she was born. It is a return to her rap roots, an homage to the “golden age of hip-hop”, and largely auto-biographical, exploring mature themes from her own life, from the death of a close friend to having a creative crises, from friendship to bad luck, amongst others. It is simple and straight to the point—this being emphasized by her leaving behind a lot of the singing she had been doing of late in other more pop collaborations, and concentrating on rap, both in Spanish and French. After years of sharing the spotlight with her group, collaborating with other artists, and trying to find her way as a solo artist, she has finally arrived in her own right—a raw, direct, and mature MC.