Telmary Diaz

Telmary Diaz (March 10, 1977), better known as simply Telmary, is a Toronto-based Cuban rapper, musician, and spoken-word artist.

Although now hailed by many as the most authentic rapper in Cuba, Telmary began life quite differently. Born in Cuba to a journalist mother and sociologist father, Telmary initially aspired to follow her mother into journalism. However, everything changed the day she accepted a friend’s invitation to check out a spoken word freestyle event. After her first time on stage, Telmary decided on another direction, seeking music, poetry, and singing as a more fulfilling form of communication.

Telmary has also studied English language and literature, screenwriting, and theatre in addition to journalism. She cites her main goal in any of her endeavors as working towards better communication with her audience.

Cuban music’s hallmark is its ability to draw from disparate parts of a range of musical styles to create a distinctly new whole, and Telmary’s music seeks to honor that tradition. Telmary’s music is indicative of Cuba Contemporary Fusion in that it not only fuses Afro-Cuban and Latin beats, but also modernizes it with hints of funk, jazz, hip-hop, and urban slam poetry. She has developed and honed her style by collaborating with a bevy of other talented musicians. Her unique personal style is known by critics and audiences alike for its deft maneuvering between rapid-fire powerfully spoken verses to soft jazz-inspired crooning and back again. Her work is also known for its very personal and socially conscious content, and its gender-defying success at a traditionally male musical medium.

In 1999 Telmary formed her first band, Free Hole Negro, where she experimented in on-stage mixing and incorporating audiovisuals into live performance. She then joined Interactivo in 2002. Formed by Roberto Carcassés, the band incorporated as many as 14 performers at one time and focused on collaboration and fusion between rock, jazz, and popular Cuban music. She has also collaborated with many other artists, including Cuban artists Pío Leyva (Buena Vista Social Club), Los Van Van, Kelvis Ochoa,Yusa, Kumar, Arturo Sandoval,Descemer Bueno,and international artists Afrika Bambaataa (United States), XIS,DJ Kassim (Brazil), Quadrasonic (Canada),Jane Bunnett (Canada),Rafael Sebbag(Japan),Ojos de Brujo(Spain),Andres Cepeda(Colombia),Dr John,Roy Hargrove and Terence Blanchard(United States)

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