Ana Tijoux is sitting across from me in Austin. She looks a bit tired, but says she’s feeling ready for her last performance of the weekend and about to jump on her first North American tour. Tijoux, one of Chile’s most established hip-hop MCs and daughter of a former political exile, has been enjoying talking with new fans from across the States and checking out numerous bands during her stay. She’s here to promote her forthcoming U.S. debut, 1977—a solid shot of relaxed yet intelligent hip-hop.
While music has been keeping her constantly on the move, she tells me the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that devastated her home country three weeks prior has her mind drifting elsewhere. “For me, it’s very strange to be in North America right now after the earthquake.” Being so active on the performance tip in Santiago, Chile, Tijoux was actually in the middle of a show when the earthquake hit. “My friend was going to finish his part and I was going on stage and it was so strong that everybody was screaming and it was collective hysteria,” recalls Tijoux, who immediately went searching for her parents and son to discover that they were all right.
In the days following the disaster, Tijoux heard the calls for volunteer nurses and firemen, but knew she would have to offer something else to her country. As she says, “Hip-hop in Chile is one of the most important [things] in all of Latin America.” And so Tijoux called upon all her friends in the Chilean hip-hop community and helped throw a series of fundraiser shows, which attracted a huge turnout. While organizing this effort has left her fatigued upon her arrival in Austin, utilizing hip-hop for good causes has made the work worthwhile. “We made so much money so the mission is accomplished,” she says.
Long before the earthquake shook Chile, this activist MC who raps about politics and love alike has made it a point to connect with the people of her country –particularly the youth. ToTijoux, hip-hop is entirely about communication. “I am 33 years old right now, but a lot of young women come up after the concert to me [like], ‘what can I do?’” she explains. “And I love to have conversations… very important. Because when I began, nobody said nothing. I think that it is very important to have that in hip-hop culture—that’s for the community too.”
Exactly a week after our interview in Austin, Ana Tijoux is in Chicago, performing on the small stage of Martyrs’. The crowd is pretty deep and getting into Tijoux as she breaks a sweat sharing her tracks like the horn-laden “1977.” Perhaps only part of the crowd understands her raps in Spanish, but it doesn’t matter because the energy is felt. And in between each song, she takes time to talk to the crowd with the help of her friend Rodstarz from Rebel Diaz, at one point mentioning that both of their fathers were locked up in the same Chilean jail as political prisoners.
As Tijoux told me back in Austin, hip-hop for her is like going to a psychiatrist. So those of us in the States fortunate to catch her first North American tour were happy to listen as this dynamic MC releases her many reflections via an airtight flow not to be missed.
Words and Photos by Max Herman
