Music: Brujeria from da Bronx

La Bruja (photo by Rosalia Rivera)

Dance music bible, Mixmag Magazine from the UK, has a surprise in their current August 2006 issue: In their Urban Tunes page they single out a new release by underground Bronx poet and performer La Bruja (in collaboration with DJ Precision) and name it as their "Compilation of the Month."

From their five-headphone review:

Brujalicious mixed by DJ Precision (De La Luz records)
Former New York model strikes gold on break-out mix album
La Bruja (aka Caridad De La Lux) is pretty enough for most ladies to wonder if her talents match her looks. Well, doubt no more - having worked her socks off as a poet, activist and actress in New York, the ex-Levis model can also rhyme in both Spanish and English with sheer grace. 'Brujali­clous' beautifully infuses upfront hip hop and reggaeton with a unique blend of lyricism, all honed on the spoken word circuit. Highlights including a quirky cover of Madonna's 'La Isla Bonita' and more traditional Puerto Rican-inspired cuts like 'Boricua, Boricua'. Mixed seamlessly by DJ Precision and with guests including Jadakiss, Tony Touch and B-Real, this really shouldn't be slept on.

Pretty cool for a home-town girl! We've always had a soft heart for La Bruja's brujeria because she has done so much for the Latino lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in New York over the years (I remember her electrifying performance at the Pa'Fuera Pa'Lante Latino LGBT Northeastern Conference and that was more than 7 years ago!).

More recently she was featured in the Bronx's own Fruta Extraña Television after performing some of the songs from the album at the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance Out Like That! Festival. She also talks about the album and her community activism and work with Que Pasa online.

You can watch a video of her new single, Mi Gatita Negra, here, hear some tracks over on La Bruja's MySpace page, or, better yet, support her by buying the album here.