Tokischa
Tokischa Altagracia Peralta (born 17 March 1996), known mononymously as Tokischa, is a Dominican rapper. After working as a model for photographer Raymi Paulus, she was asked to enter the music industry. She signed a recording contract with Paulus Music and released her debut single "Pícala" to great regional success. Her lyrics and public image have often been catalogued as "controversial" yet "liberating" by international media outlets, sparking controversy and receiving widespread media coverage. Early life. Tokischa was born into poverty in 1996 and spent most of her childhood and adolescence in the small town of Los Frailes, a  neighborhood of Santo Domingo, on the southern coast of the Dominican Republic. Despite initial reports that she had suffered from constant bullying in high school, she denied it and stated that "I did not suffer bullying, I have always been a very rebellious person, I have not been like children who understand that they must respect and silence everything that is told to them, no, I defend myself". Tokischa demonstrated her talent and creativity for art and music since age ten. She later studied fine and dramatic arts. At the age of sixteen, she dedicated herself to professional modeling, in  addition, she worked in a call center for a year. At age twenty, while Tokischa was doing a photoshoot for a magazine in her hometown, she met producer and designer Raymi Paulus, who was fascinated by her voice and talent for music, asking her to record some songs in her studio. She eventually signed a record deal with her label Paulus Music. Career. 2018-present: First releases and regional success. In 2018 Tokischa debuted with the song “Pícala”, with Dominican singer Tivi Gunz. The music video, which reached one million views in the opening week, has scenes that show a  psychedelic and hallucinogenic trip caused by the consumption of some substances. In November, she released the song “Que Viva” with Químico Ultra Mega. It was also presented at the Dominican Trap Festival, which takes place annually in different locations around the country. In February 2019, Tokischa released the single “Perras Como Tú”, as part of the soundtrack for the Mexican film "Miss Bala: Merciless". In September, she released the extended play "Freestyle #007", featuring DJ Scuff. She parallelly released the single “Empatillada”, with Jamby El Favo. The following month, she released the single “Twerk” with Eladio Carrión. Its music video  reached more than five million views on the YouTube platform in a short time. The following year, Tokischa premiered the song “Varón”, one of her most controversial songs. In February, she collaborated on the single "Amor & Dinero" by Jinchoo. In October, she released the song "Desacato Escolar" with Yomel El Meloso and Leo RD, which was partly censored on several platforms for a limited time. The following month, she released the single “Hoy Amanecí”, featuring Tivi Gunz. In December, she published “El Rey de la Popola”, with Dominican singer Rochy RD. The song became a hit on the social network  TikTok. In January 2021, Tokischa published the single “Yo No Me Voy Acostar”, alongside Yailin La Más Viral and La Perversa. That same month she premiered “Bellaca Putona”, with Químico Ultra Mega, which managed to position itself at the top of the charts in her home country. During the year, she continued to release songs in the urbano umbrella genre and collaborations with regional artist. Tokischa made international headlines in the summer of that year after several collaborations with A-list Latin artists like J Balvin and Rosalía. Both music videos were filmed in Santo Domingo. Both Tokischa and Rosalía  largely teased their song "Linda", which was produced by Leo RD. It was released on September 1. They collaborated again the following year on "La Combi Versace", from the latter's album "Motomami". A week before, "Perra", the Balvin collaboration, was released for digital download. Tokischa, together with her record label Paulus Music, had previously signed a distribution deal with Equity Distribution, Roc Nation's indie distribution company earlier that season. Artistry. Tokischa cultivates various musical styles, where trap, hip hop, rap and urbano stand out. However, she has stated in different occasions that there is no genre that identifies  her. Her songs have quite personal and "the most honest possible" lyrics. One artist who inspired her early in her career was DJ Scuff. Tokischa is also a fan of rock music. She has stated that: "I chose to trap because it is the closest thing there is now to rock, which has always been my favorite genre. Trap is modern rock. At that time I was very unleashed, and I expressed myself that way". Controversies. In December 2019, Tokischa signed up on OnlyFans and started to post sexually-explicit content after having previously been censored on Instagram. The popular  opinion on this move of Tokischa was negative, with many attacking her for "selling herself online". In 2021, the singer opened up about the controversy to "ABC", stating that "I opened my account because I have always liked explicit content, sexuality, sexiness and morbid. That had always caused trouble to me as a child since my family saw me taking hot pictures. Instagram deleted a couple photos of me some years ago so, when OnlyFans became a thing, I saw the opportunity to do it with no censorship nor explanation. I also met a team of professionals who taught me  how to make an economic profit out of it. That helped me quite a lot during the pandemic. All investment I did in my music in the last months has come from this platform". In October 2020 she released the track "Desacato Escolar", a collaboration with Yomel El Meloso and Leo RD, on streaming platforms. The track caused controversy for its lyrics referencing prostitution. It even got taken down off YouTube. Nevertheless, it saw a Streisand effect and grew rapidly in numbers. Tokischa talked about it to "RTVE", stating that: "I think that those people who criticize him do not  want to accept life as it is. Dembow and urban music in general are the expression of the neighborhood and the underworld, of what is lived. If the rap tells you about crime and weapons, it is because that exists, not because the artist is inventing it. We cannot ignore those realities. Prostitution is the same, it has always existed, and if they talk about it in songs, it is because it is like that. If that person who criticizes feels very neat, then perhaps it is because he does not want to know about these realities or that  all that comes to light, but we sing about what we live, and that is inevitable". Her most notorious and recent controversy came in August 2021, when the rapper posed semi-naked at the sanctuary of the Virgin of Altagracia in La Vega. The town's mayor, released a statement in which he condemned that Tokischa "failed to the ethical norms and values that that govern the civilized and exemplary coexistence of our municipality". The rapper later expressed her regrets online and stated that "I didn't do it with the intention of offending, if not more to show that  anyone can pray, come from wherever, or whatever it represents". Despite the apology, the La Vega Prosecutor's Office ruled that the performer will not be able to visit the sanctuaries of that province for a year, after Mayor Kelvin Cruz filed a complaint against her.