Skip to content
  • self-released


Via SoundCloud

Homages to ’90s New York rap are rarely as historically nuanced as Princess Nokia’s “Brujas,” a highlight from her recent 1992 mixtape. On “Brujas,” the Bronx-based artist (born Destiny Frasqueri) explores her own diasporic roots over a thumping jungle-inflected beat. “I'm that Blackorican bruja/Straight out from the Yoruba/And my people come from Africa-diaspora Cuba,” Frasqueri raps breathlessly and authoritatively, throwing a listener into her deep-rooted family tree. The production by Blanco and DJ Bass Bear pulsates, bounces, and brightens Frasqueri’s flow, making the song a party anthem as well. While she explores the magic of her roots (“I vanquish your evil... My grandma was brujas”) she solidifies the song’s theme of self-possession (“Don’t you fuck with my energy!”). It’s a rare track that is dizzying not only because of its actual sonic power, but because its take on genealogy, legacy, and expression feels empowering and free.

Back to home