Erika L. Dos Santos Ramos (Madrid, 1997), known artistically as Erika Dos Santos and Erika2Santos, is a Spanish rapper.[1][2] She has been called a "pioneer" of women's freestyle and battle rap in Spain.[3][4]
Erika Dos Santos | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Erika L. Dos Santos Ramos |
| Also known as | Erika2Santos |
| Born | 1997 (age 26–27) Madrid, Spain |
| Genres | Hip-hop, freestyle rap, battle rap |
| Occupation(s) | Rapper |
| Instrument(s) | Voice |
| Years active | 2016–present |
Biography edit
Erika Dos Santos was born in Madrid in 1997, into a family originally from Cape Verde.[2] She lives in the San Cristóbal neighbourhood of Madrid.[1] In 2016, Dos Santos gave the talk Cosas que hacer antes de morir at a TEDxYouth conference in Madrid.[5] That same year, she won second prize in the Sanse Urbano festival, behind fellow rapper Alberto Robledo Bustos.[6] In 2018, she participated in the Spanish edition of the X Factor television programme, obtaining four "yeses" for her performance and in which she was compared to Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj.[7][8]
Dos Santos has participated four times in the Red Bull Batalla de Gallos.[7] In 2017 she became the first woman to make it through the competition, reaching what at the time was called "The Last Man" (Spanish: El último hombre).[2] This led the competition to change the name of the event to "The Last Chance" (Spanish: La última oportunidad), a name that has been maintained in subsequent editions.[2] In 2019, she was a semi-finalist in the Batalla de Gallos.[7] She was one of the first two women to make it through to the semi-final, along with fellow rapper Sara Socas.[9][10]
She has also developed social projects that use rap as a form of social intervention.[3][11] In 2018, she and Sara Socas gave workshops for teenagers at risk of social exclusion in high schools in the Community of Madrid.[9] She has also promoted the Cypher School project to promote tolerance through rap, poetry and freestyle in La Parcería.[2][12]
In 2023, on the occasion of International Women's Day, Dos Santos was one of eight women honoured by the Efeminista media for their women's rights activism.[2]
References edit
- ^ a b "Erika Dos Santos en el Festival Joven". SomosSur (in Spanish). 10 June 2016. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f de Grado, Laura (8 March 2023). "Erika Dos Santos: Cada vez hay más chicas en el freestyle y se normaliza su presencia". Efeminista (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 April 2024.
- ^ a b Estalella, Adolfo (2024). "Intérpretes". Estalella.eu (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 April 2024.
- ^ "Guadalajara tendrá una gran fiesta de Carnaval para menores". El Dia Digital. 21 February 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
- ^ "Theme: Share your passion". TED (in Spanish). 20 November 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
- ^ "Hip-Hop y el deporte de la mano con el encuentro anual Sanse Urbano 2016" (in Spanish). 30 May 2016. Archived from the original on 28 June 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
- ^ a b c Fernández, Noemí (7 November 2019). "Las nuevas voces femeninas del rap en español". Los 40 (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 April 2024.
- ^ "La "grandeza" del rap de Erika se lleva los cuatro 'sí': "Eres una potencial Nicki Minaj"". Telecinco. 26 April 2018. Archived from the original on 26 April 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
- ^ a b Romerales, Laura (1 October 2019). ""Me han llegado a preguntar si las batallas de gallos son solo para chicos": dos mujeres en el mundo del freestyle". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 April 2024.
- ^ Cantó, Pablo (11 December 2019). ""¿Que las mujeres hermosas están en tu país? ¿Entonces por qué las estáis dejando morir?"". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 April 2024.
- ^ López, J. (27 August 2019). "El final del verano... de la Villa". La Razón (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 April 2024.
- ^ "Erika Dos Santos". Community of Madrid (in Spanish). 23 September 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2024.