| Above: La Mala Rodriguez Live in Concert. | On the Right: Video Clip for the single "Tengo Un Trato".

WONDERLANCE: Mala, born María Rodríguez on February 13. It is clear that the number 13 have not brought you any 'bad (mala) luck', though. Are you or have you ever been superstitious? What do you believe in at the most fundamental level?

MALA: I'm not superstitious, I believe in the power of each person, in their personal effort and of course in luck, but we each seek our own.

WONDERLANCE: Your lyrics, as well as poetic, have always been incisively intelligent and ruthless in their commentary. At what point did you realise that music, and especially your great talent for rap, would be your ally and your weapon? In short, at what point it does Maria become La Mala (The Bad One)?

MALA: When I was little I loved dancing, writing and doing all sorts of fun things with my family. We are many cousins ​​... but in my teens I found hip-hop and from there it was that I really wanted to share my thoughts, my ideas, my way of understanding the world with other people. At that moment is when La Mala started to gestate.

WONDERLANCE: Many of the great female rappers of the British and the U.S. scene agree that this is a musical genre in which there’s a general tendency towards some kind of misogyny. Have you suffered discrimination for being a woman doing hip-hop, Mala, and if so, does massive success make things better or worse?

MALA: In the field of hip-hop there is a lot of immaturity... but hey there’s also maturity! What is crazy is the patriarchy that dominates the planet, creating a tremendous imbalance for all. And there's nothing greater than the symbol of the yin and yang and what it represents: complementing each other. We should let ourselves receive help, have a positive, open and receptive attitude, all female qualities that no doubt many of the men who inhabit the earth can develop and thus achieve a more complete sense of being. Success gives you your freedom, your time. I want to know more about everything around me, reflect, take a more critical view of everything, with more consciousness; it all depends on what your concerns are.

| Above: Link to the Video Clip for 'La Niña' (Censored on Spanish TV). | On the Right: La Mala Rodriguez & Nelly Furtado at the Grammy Awards '10.

WONDERLANCE: In 2000, you sign with Universal and the album 'Lujo Ibérico' (Iberian Luxury) sees the light with hits like "Yo Marco el Minuto" (I Mark the Minute), which was included in the film 'Sex and Lucia'. However, your second album, 'Alevosía' (Treachery), has you meeting, for the first time, with the censorship of Spanish television, which prohibited the broadcast of the video for the single "La Niña" (The Girl). As an artist and social denouncer, how did you live this kind of censorship? What reasons were given for this prohibition and how would you refute them at this point in time?

MALA: It's all part of the great moral hypocrisy of our world. "La Niña" (The Girl) revealed something so enormous, it had so much ‘weight’ that not even that kind of censorship could sink it and it didn’t. I appreciate everything that happens to me. Good or bad always leads me to the right place and with the education I need in every moment.

WONDERLANCE: Those are wise words and a healthy attitude, indeed. In 'Malamarismo', launched in 2007, we can perceive a more pronounced experimentation with different types of sounds and rhythms which adds to the quality of the whole album and we find a Mala concerned about domestic violence, an issue that, sadly, takes the headlines of everyday news. Also a visionary Mala, launching a message which, at the same time as being blunt, is also filled with hope. What do you think of what has been called 'the Spanish Revolution'? Do you foresee a permanent change in consciousness taking place?

MALA: Everyone should do what each should do. If the students of this generation don’t take over and make their voice heard no one else will. They are fighting a giant ... Did we really believe that what we had here or in any other country was real democracy? Positive thinking is a major force that we should use to achieve that long awaited change by all of us.

WONDERLANCE: You've collaborated with many ‘high voltage’ artists but perhaps the best known by our readers are Akon, Nelly Furtado and Julieta Venegas. Mala, what would you highlight from your experience working with each of them and who is number one in your list of those with whom you wish to collaborate but have not yet had the opportunity?

MALA: I deeply admire Lauryn Hill. She would undoubtedly be the person with whom I'd love to share a rhythm and make a great song. All artists with whom I worked are wonderful and are great workers because success is not achieved any other way than with talent, hard work and discipline.

| Above: Link to the Video Clip for the single "No Pidas Perdon". | On the Left: Photoshoot for La Mala's latest album 'Dirty Bailarina'.

WONDERLANCE: And we arrive at your latest album, 'Dirty Bailarina' (Dirty Dancer), which starts with the powerful "No Pidas Perdon" (Don't Ask for Forgiveness) in which a sexier and more lethal than ever Mala shows us the dead end of a violence circle and what we truly need in life. What has made La Mala stronger in her path? What inspired you this new work and what single of those contained in the album reflect better your current personal and emotional status?

MALA: Dirty is my most ‘feminine’ album and I've poured everything in it. I have shown the kind of time I was living through and wanted to share everything that I felt with anyone listening ... I show my emotions, my feelings, opinions, ideas, dreams… I transmit the force that fuels me to keep doing what I do. Definitely EVERYTHING inspires me: a conversation, a detail, a sunset, a time in the past, death, life ... I'm working on a project that will soon see the light, is called the Train of the Witch…

WONDERLANCE: Now we can’t wait to listen to that. Where are we going to find La Mala on tour soon, revolutionising her audience?

MALA: Southern Spain, Latin America and the Caribbean, enjoying the good vibe of the people who come to my concerts and building a bridge between my audience and I. And happy!!

WONDERLANCE: And we rejoice, for you and for everyone who attends any of your concerts, because they really are worth it. Thank you very much for sharing your time and your great talent with us and have a great tour, Maria. Oh, and long live La Mala from the 13th, for we need daily rebels, prophets and heroes everywhere.

MALA: Thanks to you! I love you!