When this album dropped in my mailbox, I had never heard of Telmary. A Diario is her first solo album, but it seems she's no newbie in latin music; she's part of Interactivo, an artists collective which has created a totally new Cuban pop sound, mixing up all kinds of traditional and modern genres. It's timba rap, tumbao hip hop, jazz poetry, calle powerpop, or whatever you wanna call it. Other members of Interactivo are Descemer Bueno, founder of famous mestizo fusion band Yerba Buena, and Roberto Carcassés, Cuba's hottest producer of the moment, and winner of 3 Premios Cubadisco in 2006.
The first thing you'll notice is Telmary's distinct voice: soulful, deep, sometimes fast and aggressive, sometimes soft and soothing. Bonus track "Sola" shows how strong her voice can be; even without instruments, she manages to captivate. On downbeat love songs — like "Pa'Que Vuelva" — she's pure poetry, sexy poetry that is.
She can be dead serious, praying to Santería gods — opening track "Rezo" — but most of A Diario is very joyful and positive, even the ballads. Lyrically this album is on a totally other level than 'just rap'. Street experience, love, religion, life wisdom and tradition are all processed into poetical rhymes, brought with a positive attitude and tons of conviction.
The party gets started with "Fiesta", guest rapper Athanai does a great job on the explosive chorus. I guarantee you won't get it out of your head. On "Ves", producer Carcassés layers exotic breakbeats and a cool bass riff to the super fast raps of Telmary and Kumar — Interactivo member, of course — and he uses the same recipe on "Sin Control".
A Cuban album wouldn't be complete without some timba. "Qu'Equivocao" has salsa-style backing vocals and piano tunes. "You're so wrong about life, my love", she sings; any man leaving this woman must be wrong indeed. "Marilú" is an old Los Van Van song, with fist-in-the-air lyrics and a lovely bolero intermezzo.
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