Maria Isa

Maria Isa Pérez-Hedges is a Boricua (BO-REE-KWA) singer, songwriter, actress, rapper, activist, youth worker, and international recording artist born in Minnesota and raised on St. Paul’s West Side barrio. She was raised by the influences of many different rhythms of Afro-Latino-Indigenous culture and channeled it into performing arts and activism at a very early age. Isa has been trained by the masters of the Afro-Boricua Diaspora from the island of Puerto Rico (Paracumbe, Tito Matos, Los Ayalas) New York City (LP21), Chicago's Humboldt Park (Evaristo "Tito" Rodriguez), and Master vocalists trained in concert choral (William White), jazz (Mila Llauger), Afro-Latin and Hip-hop lyricism.

Since 2009 Isa has served as CEO for her independent label SotaRico, distributing over 13 of her projects bridging her music mix and upbringing of Minnesota and Puerto Rican culture into a fusion of sound. Isa received the National Hispana Leadership Institute’s “Rising Latina Star" award for her outstanding work with Youthrive Live! On behalf of working and educating incarcerated youth throughout the state of Minnesota while hosting several Nobel Peace Prize laureates. Maria Isa's music has been heard on several network shows on NBC, ABC, MTV, STARZ, Telemundo, VH1, E! Bravo and wrote and produced music for the Fast & the Furious Video Game. She is known as one of the top artists in the Twin Cities featured on every major publication in the state of Minnesota and has performed nationally and internationally with her original music.  

Maria Isa has performed alongside and opened for artists such as The Roots, Bad Bunny, Common, Moby, Bomba Estereo, Sheila E, Kendrick Lamar, Wu-Tang Clan, Las Cafeteras, Atmosphere, Pedrito Martinez, Ana Tijoux, La India, LP21, Redobles de Cultura and many more. She is to the founder, producer and co-host for Latina Theory: Spanglish Podcast, known as NPR's one of the Top LatinX Podcasts in the Country to listen to.  

Maria Isa's latest album, Sasa, is dedicated to her mother, women of color in politics, and the future leaders of the world. Sasa was produced entirely by Minneapolis hip-hop and r&b producer J.HARD and is known to be Maria Isa's finest work to date.