"La Mala" Rodriguez & Joell Ortiz in New York at S.O.B.’s Latin Alternative Concerts

On Wednesday July 11th, S.O.B.’s, the legendary New York City venue for live hip hop and Latin music, combines the best of both genres with a once-in-a-lifetime bilingual rap show featuring Mala Rodriguez, direct from Spain, and Brooklyn’s own, Joell Ortiz. Already Spain’s reining queen of hip hop, Mala Rodriguez, also known as La Mala, is set to take American audiences by storm with her new release, Malamarismo. Joell Ortiz released his debut last month, The Brick: Bodega Chronicles, with a sold out show at S.O.B.’s, and has since become, in the eyes of many fans, a symbol of the return to classic New York rap.

Mala Rodriguez grew up in a working class neighborhood in Seville and fell in love with hip-hop as a teen in the late 90s, butting her way into male dominated street corner rap battles and earning the nickname La Mala (“the bad girl”). The budding rap star moved to Madrid at 19 and released her impressive debut album Lujo Iberico (2000).

Her 2004 follow-up, Alevosía, cemented her status as a heroine to not only women in Spain, but also Latino populations around the world. La Mala’s new album, Malamarismo, was released in the U.S. by Machete this month and represents the artist’s most mature work to date, with guest appearances from Tego Calderón and Julieta Venegas, among others.

Brooklyn rapper Joell Ortiz, signed to Dr. Dre’s Aftermath, is generating serious buzz with his debut album, Brick: The Bodega Chronicles (Koch), but this fierce Puerto Rican MC is by no means an overnight success. Since 2000, Ortiz’s raw talent and work ethic earned him a regular spot at S.O.B.’s Common Ground showcases and landed him The Source Unsigned Hype and XXL’s Chairman Choice.

Ortiz has performed and recorded with the likes of KRS-ONE, Kool G. Rap, Big Daddy Kane, Akon and Immortal Technique. Although he raps in English, Ortiz stays within his Nuyorican roots, with his song “Latinos”, and with his more emphatic statement in a song that also pays homage to his borough, “Mi gente, you know I rep us hard in Brooklyn.”

Doors: 10:00 pm
Show: 11:00pm
Admission: $18 Advance/$20 Day of Show