Most Popular

National Features >

  • Phoenix New Times

    Pen Pal

    The nation's oldest Death Row inmate probably won't ever be executed. But he sure loves to write letters.

    By Paul Rubin

  • Miami New Times

    Budget Ballin'

    South Florida's lawless exotic rental car industry keeps rolling.

    By Gus Garcia-Roberts

  • Houston Press

    Crime Doesn't Pay Back

    In Texas, restitution for victims is nothing but a state-sanctioned sham.

    By Chris Vogel

  • Seattle Weekly

    Hot and Frothy

    If you thought Seattle couldn't fetishize coffee any more, you haven't been to a "cupping" yet.

    By Jonathan Kauffman

Buika

By Mark Keresman

Published on September 03, 2008 at 10:06am

Buika (pronounced BWEE-kah) was born María Concepción Balboa Buika on the Spanish island of Mallorca. If that's not spicy enough for you, her parents were political exiles from Equatorial Guinea. Like many a young lass, her early musical allegiances were to Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston. Inundated with many kinds of sounds, Buika gave it a go herself, singing in small venues across Europe. A chance meeting with producers led to involvement in the Euro-rave scene in Spain and Germany. After a time in London, she ended up in Las Vegas, working as a Tina Turner impersonator (no foolin'!). Yearning to do it her way, Spain and the sultry ache of its traditional coplas (Spanish torch songs from a woman's viewpoint) beckoned. Coplas are sort of like the American blues, and when Buika sings them with touches of flamenco and Afro-Cuban jazz, it makes her approach that much more unique.



Broward-Palm Beach New Times Insiders

  • Local food, music and news blasts
  • Free Stuff
Backpage.com