French-Chilean MC Ana Tijoux is one of today’s most compelling voices, working at the intersection of hip-hop, jazz, and Latin music. The daughter of Chilean parents who lived in exile during Pinochet’s dictatorship, she first achieved success as the frontwoman of the Chilean band Makiza, whose understated lyrics and forward-thinking production earned the group a reputation as a modern classic of Latin American hip-hop.
Since 2007, Tijoux has built a musically adventurous and politically engaged solo career, assailing human rights injustices in Chile and throughout Latin America with her trademark rapid-fire flow. In her words, “hip-hop is the land of the people that don’t have a land.” With both GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY nominations this past year, Tijoux is making her best music yet; her work is “take-no-prisoners, precise, and powerful” (NPR).