Born in La Havana in 1985, singer and rapper Danay Suárez started writing and performing as a teenager. She soon became a member of the local hip-hop scene centered around the Agencia Cubana del Rap, and began collaborating with like-minded artists such as Los Aldeanos, Papá Humbertico, Raudel, and especially X Alfonso. In 2008, she was invited to join the Havana Cultura project, which allowed her to tour extensively in Europe and record Havana Cultura Sessions with British DJ Gilles Peterson and Cuban jazz pianist Roberto Fonseca. Polvo de la Humedad, her first solo album, appeared in 2011. Signed by Universal Music Latin, Suárez spent the following years impressing audiences at festivals around the world with her mixture of hip-hop, jazz, and Cuban traditional rhythms. Her long-delayed sophomore effort, Palabras Manuales (2017) was rewarded with four Latin Grammy nominations. ~ Mariano Prunes