Tokischa

Emerging in the late 2010s with a hedonistic take on trap and dembow, Dominican rapper Tokischa made her commercial breakout in 2021, releasing high-profile collaborations with reggaeton hitmakers like J Balvin (“Perra”) and Rosalía (“Linda”).
Born Tokischa Altagracia Peralta Juárez, the Dominican rapper grew up in the Los Frailes district of Santo Domingo, studying fine arts and dramaturgy as a teenager. While working as an aspiring model, she crossed paths with photographer Raymi Paulus, who encouraged the then-20-year-old to focus on her vocal talents. Impressed with her first studio sessions, Paulus signed her to his Paulus Music label to begin her solo career as a musician.
Tokischa started out with a confident, trap-driven sound: she debuted in 2018 with “Pícala,” which racked up over a million streams in its first week of release, before closing the year with the Quimico Ultra Mega-featuring “Qué Viva.” Through 2019 and 2020 she moved into the spotlight with a range of collaborations. Along with contributing the single “Perras Como Tú” to the soundtrack of the film Miss Bala: Merciless, she worked with the likes of Eladio Carrión (“Twerk”), Rochy RD (“El Rey de la Popola”), and Jamby El Favo (“Empatillada”).
Quickly gaining attention for her unique vocal style and heavily-sexualized verses, the artist shifted toward dembow and reggaeton styles in the early 2020s, kicking off 2021 with multi-million-streaming singles “Tukuntazo” (with Haraca Kiko and El Cherry Scom) and “Yo No Me Voy Acostar” (with Yailin la Mas Viral and La Perversa). Her breakout moment came later that year with the J Balvin collaboration “Perra.” A play on “dog in heat” imagery, the track drew mixed reactions online due to its controversial music video, but it nonetheless garnering tens of millions of streams by year’s end. A second major-label collaboration with Rosalía was even more successful. The duo released “Linda,” a barebones, back-to-back banger, to close out the year. In 2022, she continued this commercial breakthrough with Marshmello-produced floor-filler “Estilazo,” second Rosalía collaboration “La Combi Versace,” and even a single with pop icon Madonna (“Hung Up”). The raunchy “Delincuente” featuring verses from Anuel AA and Ñengo Flow, soon became one of her biggest hits to date, garnering over 100 million streams by year’s end. ~ David Crone