Danay Suárez (born Danay Suárez Fernández, 1985) is a Cuban R&B and
hip hop
Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
singer. She has gained attention in Europe, mainly in France.
Early life
Danay was born in
Havana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Banlieues Bleues festival 8 April 2011 and has appeared on national television in France.
She got her start in the music industry in 2007 with a cold call to Cuban fusion king
X-Alfonso
X-Alfonso (born c. 1974 as Equis Alfonso) is a Cuban hip hop music, hip hop and afro-rock musician, who played with Audioslave in a concert in Havana on May 7, 2005 in "Tribuna Anti-imperialista".
Life and career
X Alfonso has been playing musi ...
. Her work with X-Alfonso led to her discovery a few years later by
Gilles Peterson
Gilles Jérôme Moehrle MBE (; born 28 September 1964), better known as Gilles Peterson (), is a broadcaster, DJ, record label and festival owner. He is renowned for his genre-defying approach to music with jazz at its core. From this base he ...
.
Gilles Peterson included her on the first Havana Cultura album. She has also released a CD under her name.
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
named her one of their 10 "up-and-coming"
reggaeton
Reggaeton (, ) is a modern style of popular music, popular and electronic music that originated in Panamanian reggaetón, Panama during the late 1980s, and which rose to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s through a plethora of Puert ...
artists in an August 2014 article.
In 2017, she was nominated for four
Latin Grammys
The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from anyw ...
in various categories, including Best New Artist and Album of the Year.
Musical style
Billboard magazine
''Billboard'' (stylized in lowercase since 2013) is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events and styles related to th ...
describes her music in 2017: "Her sound, a sonic fusion of what is considered American hip-hop and Jamaican reggae", noting it has taken the singer years to perfect her style.
Discography
* ''Polvo de la Humedad'' (2011)
* ''Palabras manuales'' (2017)
* ''Vive'' (2021)