Because the rap sound continues to make waves throughout the globe — usually removed from the Black communities that birthed it — a younger artist is rising within the worldwide scene, who’s utilizing the style as a platform to talk up for her group. J Noa, a 17-year-old Dominicana from the San Cristóbal area, was lately signed to Sony Music Leisure. Calling herself “La Hija del Rap,” she’s rising within the scene as an artist with a method that’s paying homage to the style’s rebellious beginnings, all whereas including her personal recent take, her native Spanish language, and genuine circulation to the combo.
“With me being young, people are often like, ‘Wow, her with that age, she’s already with Sony?'” she tells POPSUGAR throughout an interview, reflecting on navigating the business as a younger teen. “But also because of my age and because I’m a girl, people don’t take me into account, and so it can be difficult to make it in this genre filled with men . . . it’s a little complicated, but that doesn’t stop me.”
J Noa, whose start title is Nohelys Jiménez, speaks with confidence in her voice. The younger artist’s presence is uplifting and empowering in an area that too usually overlooks younger negras like herself. “I don’t care what people say, ‘Oh that’s for men’ or whatever. I like it — so I do it. And that’s it,” she says.
The rapper’s skills first turned evident via freestyling competitions she’d partake in within the streets. Within the barrios of the Dominican Republic, freestyling is prospering, particularly among the many youngest of all of them. Whereas it is principally the younger boys and males rapping, ladies of all ages are taking over their due house too. J Noa started freestyling when she was simply 5 years previous.
“In the barrio where I lived, they called me ‘La Biblia’ (The Bible) because I’ve always been like this. I’m not afraid of expressing myself,” she says. “The first fear we [teenagers] have to let go of is the fear of adults, because that’s the problem. “
J Noa composed her first track at 8, about teen and underage being pregnant. By her music, she has turn out to be one of many faces of an expression being revived within the barrios of the Dominican Republic, the place residents are confronted with exceeding monetary shortage and a scarcity of alternatives, leading to a rise in violence. For younger ladies, these considerations in addition to a lack of sexual education and the oversexualization of teenagers imply the violence is compounded. Amid all of this, the cultural manufacturing within the barrios is gaining newfound energy as a type of expression and as an emotional outlet. Artists like Angel Dior and Tokischa, rising from these situations, have gained worldwide notoriety. Whereas Dominican girls in dembow like Melymel, La Perversa, and Gailen La Moyeta maintain it down inside the nation amid sexism within the music business.
J Noa is a product of these worlds, and he or she addresses this in her music — whereas talking up for the necessity for one thing new. In “Qúe Fue?” she features a line about her fellow teenagers going through drug addictions, including that she would not need to partake, “Solo pretendo abrir la conciencia” (“I only want to open consciousness”).
“Betty,” the primary single J Noa wrote and launched since signing with a label, is a storytelling journey into the situations that teen ladies her age dwell in within the barrios. Within the track, she flows seamlessly all whereas rapping about harsh points that plague her group, from teen being pregnant to rape. Towards the tip of the only, she raps, “It’s not too late for you to be a tender girl,” studying like a love letter to ladies whose innocence is usually taken too quickly.
“The song was based on stories of what happens in the barrio,” she explains, “I put them all together and made one song, ‘Betty.’ The process for the song was fast, you know? Because when you already know something it’s not the same as when you’re starting [to write about] something you don’t know about.”
Whereas J Noa stays assured, navigating the rap scene hasn’t all the time been a seamless course of. Usually girls come up solely with the cosign of males rappers or some kind of collective. But J Noa really has emerged via the facility of her penmanship, her circulation, and the assistance of her crew. Maybe the largest testomony to this can be a latest on-line debate she bought into after the discharge of a brand new model of the only “Capea el Dough” that includes all lady rappers. J Noa’s followers rapidly famous her exclusion from the only meant to spotlight younger Dominican girls rappers.
“Capea el Dough” began as a single in 2006 by common males rappers Lapiz Conciente and Poisonous Crow. Since its launch, it has turn out to be a basic, and a number of other remakes have been produced that includes completely different artists. The latest one was an all-women version. J Noa mentioned that when a connection was made amongst others within the business for her to be featured within the single, she was excluded and instructed she was not match for the venture. So, a couple of weeks after the debacle, as soon as she was signed with Sony and the promo for her single “Betty” was accomplished, J Noa launched her personal model of “Capea el Dough” — shutting down any doubts about her expertise.
“Don’t talk so much drool, the wordplay that I bring, you have to take it with a spoon so they can digest the heaviest female rapper,” she raps, shutting down any doubters. Dembow, and rap general, is usually derided as violent and regarded down upon by the elites of the nation, and but for these within the barrios, freestyling and music making usually function an outlet from the violence that they face — relatively than a explanation for the violence itself. J Noa has been a defender of the style and has spoken out on this situation earlier than.
“Urban music has given more color to the movement, but also rappers, we speak on what’s going on and what people who are on the outside don’t see.”
“Urban music has given more color to the movement, but also rappers, we speak on what’s going on and what people who are on the outside don’t see,” she mentioned in a Noise Colectivo documentary relating to her artwork. When she started working with Sony, J Noa mentioned that she and her supervisor took on the duty of working with about 12 numerous beats that have been despatched her approach. In these beats, she recorded dancehall, entice, and reggaeton, amongst different genres. And whereas a lot hasn’t modified when it comes to her course of since signing, she could be very enthusiastic about exhibiting her versatility as an artist.
“I’m an artist, and being a true artist is about showing versatility,” she says. “I’m a rapper first, but I can do any rhythm that’s in those beats.”
As J Noa continues to shine, she’s additionally turning into a strong mirror of the hood that made her. Because the younger rising star speaks on her plans for this 12 months, she welcomes the rising platform with anticipation and enthusiasm. Nonetheless, it’s no shock that whereas she’s reaching new heights and audiences, she’s most enthusiastic about reaching her folks.
“For this year, I want to establish myself in my country, [so] that everyone here in the Dominican Republic knows who J Noa is. I don’t want to be famous somewhere super far while no one knows me here,” she shares. “Then I can have tours and establish myself elsewhere. But my goal this year is to establish myself here.”
Picture Supply: Edgar Núñez
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