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Lady’s First! with Blazing Up and Coming Recording Artist, Soliris

Posted on 30. Sep, 2009 by Lissette Barros in Interviews

By: Lissette Barros

She is “Soliris, the Illist, Lyricist” as she puts it down. This Puerto Rican beauty is a native from the great state of Massachusetts — not the Bronx or Brooklyn, but a state where most people don’t picture lesbian, latina rappers busting from the scene. It’s also not common to hear the words “lesbian rapper” but throughout the history of hip-hop, there have been plenty of rumors about it. From M.C. Lyte & Queen Latifah, right down to Monie Love, these women have been respected and acknowledged throughout the Industry for being pioneers and inspirational for younger generations to follow.

Soliris is one of these women. She reminds me of the Salt-N-Pepa’s song, “Push it”  where they say, “Cmon girls, lets go show the guys that we know, how to become number one in a hot party show!”. She raps with dynamite on the tip of her tongue, as I witnessed a few days ago at 5 Pointz in Long Island, Queens. I caught her walking by in the middle of a photo-shoot across the  street from me. There were bunch of dudes coming on and off the mic at the block party and as soon as their set slowed down, she gave her CD to the DJ and just grabbed the mic knowing she was about to end the nights festivities by surprise. You couldn’t help but lock your eyes into her persona. You knew she was about to surprise anyone close enough to hear the music. Soliris has the ability to make the doubters, believe ,and the haters loosen up. It’s one of her many endearing qualities.

In the late 90’s, she was part of the group, .COMM where she opened up for Industry giants like: Fife Dog of a Tribe Called Quest, Lil Jon, Jagged Edge, Busta Rhymes & Ja Rule. Although her travels with .COMM had achieved great success, Soliris quickly realized she wanted to take her career to the next step —  this time as a solo act. The following year, she did just that while fine-tuning other talents besides writing lyrics. The level of creativity she developed brought her to produce her own tracks. This also allowed her to become more intimate with her music and become more independent as a solo artist.

Looking back and seeing how far she had come, inspired her to start her own movement called, “Womanz World”. Soliris’ journey has included an array of performances - from battling on the streets to winning a competition on MTV’s TRL Live, hosted by 50 Cent himself. She leaves everyone perplexed at the speed she can rap and will leave you asking her where she will be performing next. She has the right stuff to take it to the next level and has no plans on slowing down. She is the future of hip hop and to those Latinas feeling misrepresented in the game, I anoint you your new Mami on the Mic.

Photo Credit: (1)Lissette Barros (2)Victoria Holt

Tags: Lissette Barros, Soliris