SotaRico and Maria Isa

Regalo Para el Mundo 

Gift to the world. The sentiment might seem a bit excessive, even wantonly gratuitous, upon first glimpse of the arrestingly pretty, slight but sultry, Minnesotan Boricua as she turns up for a performance sporting a Coach shoulder bag and her signature Chanel diva-styled, black-rimmed sunglasses.  But if, by the time she hits the stage, “tunes” the mike, and belts the opening bars to her first ballad, there seems more to the saucy songstress than meets the eye…well, that’s because there is: for this fast-rising music maven is both soul and substance to SotaRico, an independent record label bringing a unique blend of Afro-Latin flavor to the Heartland, the Continental USA, and the world beyond its borders.

Founded by Maria Isa (our Minnesotan maven of opener fame above) and Harrel Perez to develop, promote, and represent the sounds of Latin hip-hop emanating from the urban Midwest, SotaRico quickly expanded its reach to embrace the diverse sounds of Afro-Latin blues, funk, soul, R&B, and reggaeton…all shaped as much by the urban strums of Latin hip hop as by pan-African euphony and eurhythmy. This expansion is, in part, what drives SotaRico’s incessant search for emerging artists on the cutting edge of their craft, and informs its work with cultural and learning institutions across the country to promote a hip hop youth culture that is equally positive and transformative.  

More important is the fact that SotaRico works through a superfluity of musical styles to advance social justice and social change on behalf of those whose voices are seldom heard above the grind of political machinery. It is indeed a gift for community as well as for country.

And it is a cosmic gift, personifying the spirit and freedom of Puerto Rican heritage and pride that are global in perspective. As such, it cannot be confined to any one region, country, or culture, but is in every way as singular as it is universal.

And Maria is its gift to us, to mankind, delivering riffs and rips on waves of seismic sound and exquisite tonal quality that belie a quiet, thoughtful disposition and effortless ability. She is our national and global treasure—and SotaRico is her voice, her gift, through which she speaks to us and to the world.

St. Paul Evening Skyline photograph by: Marina Castillo

"Planera de SotaRico" Photography by Marshall Franklin Long (www.marshallfranklinlong.com)

Additional Photos by Bfresh Photography and SotaRico