Kasey Rose Avalos (born March 19, 1992), known professionally as La Goony Chonga, is a Cuban-American rapper and singer. While in college, she posted videos of her

freestyling Freestyle rap, also simply known as Freestyle, is a style of hip hop music where an artist normally improvises an unwritten verse from the head, with or without instrumental beats, in which lyrics are recited with no particular subject or structure ...

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

and began recording music. She released her first two studio albums, ''Santeria Pussy'' (2013) and ''Santeria Pussy 2'' (2015), after dropping out of school. After working as a stripper for three years in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, she moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to record and release her first Spanish-language album, ''Dinero'' (2018), followed by her first full-length album, ''Dimen5ión'' (2019). Her EP ''Descontrol'' was released in 2021.

Life and career

Kasey Avalos was born on March 19, 1992 in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, and is Cuban-American. Her first language is Spanish. As a child, La Goony Chonga wrote poems and songs with her friends at school in a slam book. In 2012, while in college for advertising, La Goony Chonga began posting freestyles to

under the name Twiggy Rasta Masta, her

Tumblr Tumblr (pronounced "tumbler") is a microblogging and Social networking service, social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and is owned by American company Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content ...

username at the time. She also began recording songs in her home, and also released a video for her first song, "I Don't Play with Fuckboys", in 2012. Motivated by comments accusing her of lying about freestyling, she soon dropped out of college to pursue music full-time, and, in 2013, briefly moved from Miami to

, where she performed live for the first time at the Ham on Everything party. La Goony Chonga released her debut studio album, ''Santeria Pussy'', in 2013, followed by her second studio album ''Santeria Pussy 2'', in 2015. She worked as a stripper from 2014 until 2017, when she became pregnant. In 2016, she changed her stage name to La Goony Chonga, inspired by her own song "Goony Chonga Barbie", and started primarily making

Latin trap Latin trap is a subgenre of Latin hip hop music that originated in Puerto Rico. A direct descendant of southern hip hop and trap, and influenced by reggaeton, R&B and urbano music. it gained popularity after 2007, and has since spread throug ...

music. She identifies as a chonga, a subculture of women that she has described as "a lifestyle and a reminder of who I am and where I come from" and as an aesthetic defined by hoop earrings, lip liner, nameplates, and Chinese slippers. La Goony Chonga released her debut EP, ''Free Bankroll Chonga'', in 2018. After moving to Los Angeles, La Goony Chonga got in contact with producers Freak City, with whom she made her third studio album and first Spanish-language album, ''Dinero'', a trap and

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 ...

record. The album's release was postponed for a year due to her pregnancy and it was released in September 2018. Her first full-length album, ''Dimen5ión'', was released in 2019. In October 2019, she was featured on the song "Encore" from

Brooke Candy Brooke Dyan Candy (born July 20, 1989) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and tattoo artist. Raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles, she rose to prominence after starring in Grimes' music video for " Genesis" (2012). Following its success ...

's album '' Sexorcism''. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, she started a YouTube series, ''Chongafied'', in which she turned friends into chongas. In December 2020, she made a cameo in

's music video for her song "Cum". On July 29, 2021, she released the

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

reggaeton EP, ''Descontrol'', the title of which was inspired by two songs by

Nicky Jam Nick Rivera Caminero (born March 17, 1981), known professionally as Nicky Jam, is an American singer. He is best known for hits such as " X", " Travesuras", " El Perdón", " Hasta el Amanecer", and " El Amante"; the latter three are from his 20 ...

and

Daddy Yankee Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez (; born February 3, 1976), known professionally as Daddy Yankee (), is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor who rose to worldwide prominence in 2004 with the song "Gasolina". Dubbed the "Honorific ...

both titled " Descontrol".

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

's ''

Alt.Latino ''Alt.Latino'' is a radio show and podcast about Latin alternative music and Latinx culture, produced by NPR. The show launched in 2010 and is hosted by Felix Contreras and Anamaria Sayre. It features music and interviews with Latino musician ...

'' named the EP's title track one of the best songs of 2021. La Goony Chonga performed as a supporting act on

Pabllo Vittar Phabullo Rodrigues da Silva (born 1 November 1993), known professionally as Pabllo Vittar (), is a Brazilian drag queen and singer. Life and career 1993–2016: Early life Born in São Luís, Maranhão, São Luís, Phabullo is a fraternal twi ...

's 2022 tour.

Musical style

La Goony Chonga raps in both English and in Spanish. Her music has been described as

neoperreo Neoperreo is a subgenre of reggaeton with some degree of popularity in Los Angeles, Mexico City, and Chile. Among the most prominent acts of the scene are Tomasa del Real from Chile and Ms Nina from Argentina. Within the United States, neoperreo ...

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- ...

, and reggaeton. She is inspired by

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

, citing her controversial attitude and

freestyle music Freestyle, or Latin freestyleKlanten, Robert (1995). ''Die Gestalten Verlag: Localizer 1.0''. Die-Gestalten-Verlag. . Quote: "The other unavoidable influence n NYC hard housewas latin freestyle. A blend of hip hop, synth pop and salsa, latin fr ...

as influential for her. She is also heavily influenced by

Ivy Queen Martha Ivelisse Pesante Rodríguez (born March 4, 1972), known professionally as Ivy Queen, is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer and actress. She is considered one of the pioneers of the reggaeton genre, commonly referred to as the Queen of Reggae ...

, stating, "When you think of reggaeton artists–women–you think of her." Other influences for La Goony Chonga include

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...

Trina Katrina Laverne Kearse (née Taylor; born December 3, 1974), is an American rapper. She rose to prominence in the late 1990s for her collaborations with Trick Daddy on the singles " Nann Nigga", " Shut Up", and " Take It to da House". In 2000, ...

Selena Selena Quintanilla-Pérez (; April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995) was an American singer-songwriter. Known as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Tejano Music", her contributions to music and fashion made her one of the most cel ...

, Pitbull, and

Celia Cruz Celia Caridad Cruz Alfonso (21 October 1925 – 16 July 2003), known as Celia Cruz, was a Cuban singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during the 1950s as a singer of , earning the nickna ...

. Mexican singer Sailorfag has called La Goony Chonga an inspiration.

Personal life

La Goony Chonga's son, Mazi, was born in 2018.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chonga, La Goony Living people Rappers from Miami Rappers from Los Angeles Cuban women rappers Cuban reggaeton musicians Latin trap musicians American female erotic dancers American musicians of Cuban descent 21st-century American women rappers 21st-century American rappers Hispanic and Latino American rappers American trap musicians Southern hip-hop musicians 1992 births Neoperreo musicians