From reggaeton to progressive disco, the Venezuelan songstress is bringing an explosive energy to bring in the warmer weather.
Barbara Doza is a venezuelan songwriter and pop singer based in Miami who’s been generating buzz around her debut EP Malandra. Doza has been through hell and back, escaping the means of imperial violence and climate catastrophe, but has never given up the dream to write and perform music. Despite being a constant wanderer, she’s also been a songwriter since she was 9 years old and while she’s experienced more violence than most, Doza has managed to channel her experiences into more joyous music.
With Malandra, Doza is capturing the lively spirit of the Puerto Rican streets that raised her and sharpened her musical prowess. Doza immigrated there from Venezuela as a child, but was forced to relocate to Miami after Hurricane Maria. Doza had to restart from square one multiple times, but it wasn’t until she arrived in Miami where she got the proper footing to kick her music career off.
The result of years of living and culminating her experiences is Malandra, a project that captures this sense of wandering, from a lively angle. Doza has managed to stay adrift and seize this feeling of moving forward with vibrant pop beats and carefree lyrics.
As a debut, Malandra properly showcases Doza’s influences and range of genres. From the reggaeton inspired melody on “Papi” to the clear disco groove and bounce embedded into the structure of “Delito”, there’s a lot of refreshing moments that shine a brilliant light for certain moods.
The spirit of adventure shows especially in the songwriting. “Japon” is a fun little pop tune that has a lot of energy in the drums and piano melody and it’s exactly what it sounds like. A song all about wanting to go to and perform in Shibuya.
Though some tracks fall into the more uninteresting category, Doza makes up for the few rough spots with fully inspired instrumentals and a pen that matches her coruscating personality. Malandra is a fun debut that’s perfect to accompany all upcoming summer shenanigans.
Stream Malandra out now and connect with here: