Telmary Díaz Fernández

Telmary became known as a member of the rap group Free Hole Negro, and later for her work alongside singer-songwriter William Vivanco, eventually becoming one of the central figures of the Interactivo group directed by Roberto Carcassés.

In 2004 she decided to launch her image as a solo artist, with a concert she titled Que como tengo la tierra tengo Yemayá, which took place at the Casa de las Américas, on April 16 of that year, an occasion when she was accompanied by her Interactivo bandmates.

Fusion is a term that applies well to Telmary's musical work, a rapper par excellence, although she prefers to call herself a "street poet," and she is very skilled at articulating a mixture of sounds and ways of speaking, in which rumba and all Afro-Cuban heritage also converge, reggae, prayers, triphop and jazz poet, rock and roll, jazz, and much more, establishing herself as a very interesting mark within the best contemporary popular creation. Her songs seduce and invite dancing, and at the same time invite meditation on contemporary reality.

Telmary has participated in numerous record productions such as albums by Yusa, Francis del Río, X Alfonso, Gema and Pavel, and Aceituna sin hueso. Her work was decisive in the CD Goza Pepillo, which won the 2006 Cubadisco Grand Prize.

Her solo debut was realized in 2006 with the CD A diario (BIS Music), produced by Yusa and Roberto Carcassés, an album of fifteen songs that featured the collaboration of more than 50 musicians, among them her inseparable friends from the Interactivo band, and guests such as members of the Spanish group Ojos de Brujo, Javier Ruibal Jr, Haydeé Milanes, Athanay, Kumar, Mayito Rivera from Los Van Van, and Descemer Bueno, among other acclaimed artists. The album was released almost simultaneously in Cuba and Canada.

Telmary has performed on stages in Europe with the Interactivo band, and as part of the promotion of the CD "A diario" has performed in Canada and Japan.

When referring to Telmary, the keen and knowledgeable Cuban journalist Joaquín Borges Triana, in his article Cuban Female Rappers – A Natural Force, stated: For me, she represents among Cubans what is closest to the figure of what internationally has come to be called a jazz-poet. In her discourse, you feel that alongside a moyubba, phrases in Spanglish integrate themselves, elements of improvisation and a type of versification that does not insist at all costs on rhyme for rhyme's sake but rather pursues a deeper poetry, that is always telling us something. While the urban topics of street profile are fundamental in her poetic work, when necessary Telmary displays a solid intellectual formation.

Those who have had the experience of appreciating one of her live performances agree in the opinion that Telmary, with her sensuality and her sharp and sincere way of speaking, pouring out arguments like a waterfall, makes germinate, turned into music, an infallible balm for the human spirit.

Rezo, the first song she wrote entirely on her own, opens the album with an invocation to Elegguá in the voice of Descemer Bueno. "Songs to the orishas are one of the roots of Cuban hip hop, along with improvisation," says Díaz, referring to Afro-Cuban rhythms and the improvisation of décimas, typical of peasant music. For her, those who cultivate the genre on the island should be inspired by these indigenous manifestations and not by American rappers.

Fiesta was born from friendship. Telmary arrived at Athanai's house—"the white rapper," as she calls him—in Spain, and he greeted her with: "Fiesta, so you feel it." "It came out very organically. I told him 'it's a chorus,' and we locked ourselves in the studio and recorded Fiesta."

Pa' que vuelva he wrote in one go in a telephone booth in Madrid. Dedicated to Frank, a drummer who is now her partner, and enriched with the saxophone of Ariel Bringuez, it arose from heartbreaking news. "I found out he had stayed in Canada," she recalls about what Frank told her from the other side of the Atlantic. "Then he told me: 'Let's stay together and you'll see that life is going to unite us.'"

An old love, William Vivanco, accompanies her performing Mr. God. Composed by both, the song includes part of the lyrics in English, a language that Díaz learned when she studied English Language and Literature at the Pedagogical Institute of Havana.

Marilú, composed by Juan Formell, has new arrangements by Díaz for A diario and the voice of Mayito Rivera, from Los Van Van. "My mother's name was Marilú, she was a journalist for Radio Rebelde, and she passed away in 1985. She was a friend of Formell's and always danced to this song," comments the singer, who since childhood wrote poetry and dreamed of being a journalist like her mother, although she also had abilities for sciences and even won a national Physics competition.

Sueño brujo, with the Spanish group Ojos de Brujo, mixes flamenco with hip hop. Fusion fascinates Díaz, who in addition to calling herself a "street poet" accepts being called a jazz poet because the improvisation and freedom of jazz fascinate her. If there is anything she prides herself on in her differences with classic hip hop interpreters, it is performing always with live musicians. She also departs from the aggressiveness of most hip hop lyrics.

"You want me to turn red and scream. With my femininity I'm going to make them listen to me the same way; balance is the key word," she says, refusing to imitate male rappers.

The sensuality of her voice, the hats, scarves, turbans and artisanal garments she wears, the same ones she made with her own hands and that at one time helped her pay the rent—in dollars—in Cuba, reaffirm that she enjoys being a woman.

"The sensual part comes naturally to me. It's the good thing about not having studied music. I'm not trapped by any tone or technique. I'm a person of words," she confesses.

Her taste for "acting out" the words when she sings has opened doors to films like Habana Blues, by Spanish director Benito Zambrano, and to Alborada Carmesí, a Colombian suspense film shot in part in Havana by journalist Luis Hernán Reina.

Discography
A Diario (2007)
Libre (2014)
Love Art Revolution (2016)
Fuerza Arará (2018)
Maradentro (2021)

Films

Todas las noches terminan en el Malecon (2001), Dir. Cecilia Araujo, Brasil.
MalaHabana (2002), Dir. Guido Giansoldatti, Italia.
Musica Cubana (2004), Dir. German Krall, Alemania.
Habana Blues (2005), Dir. Benito Zambrano, España.

Awards and Recognition
Nominated for the 19th edition of the 2018 Latin Grammy Awards, in the Best Salsa Album category. Album: Fuerza Arará (Casa Discográfica y Editora Musical Producciones Colibrí).
Cubadisco Award 2015, Category Debut Album and Fusion Music (With Interactivo)
Cubadisco Award 2007 Best Hip-Hop Album for A Diario.
NOW Magazine's "Best of Toronto" Awards 2007, Best Latin Artist.
Juno Award Winning 2008 "Best contemporary Album for "Embracing Voices"by Jane Bunnett.
Cubadisco Award 2014 for Best Hip-Hop Album for Libre.