La Shica

An alternative flamenco act from Madrid based around vocalist and dancer Elsa Rovayo, La Shica performs a style of music derived from flamenco as well as copla that incorporates aspects of both hip-hop and pop. Born in Ceuta, an autonomous city on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, just east of the Strait of Gibraltar, Rovaya moved to Madrid at age 15 to train as a bailaora (i.e., flamenco dancer). Though she worked for years as a dancer in the tablaos of the capital city, she also harbored singing ambitions. Ultimately, she met and befriended fellow tablao performer Fernando de la Rúa, a flamenco guitarist from Brazil. The two decided to from a musical group, initially calling it Dios los Cría. Around 2004 Rovayo decided herself to music rather than dancing and, putting her tablao work behind her, shaved her head in the process. Now called La Shica (the name a reference to Rovayo's small size), the band began to attract a following in Madrid; an October 2005 interview with Flamenco-World.com was helpful, framing them as an up-and-coming alternative flamenco group. La Shica later signed a recording contract with Warner Music Group and released the full-length debut album Trabajito de Chinos in 2008. The album includes a pair of notable collaborations — "Carnes Paralelas" with Miguel Poveda and "Vicio" with Miguel Campello, the vocalist of ElBicho — as well as lead single "Zíngara Rapera," for which a promotional video was filmed.