Dressed in the "pollera", the ample traditional Bolivian skirt, and wearing the typical bowler hat over her black braids, Alwa nevertheless offers "rebellious music".

The one whose first name means "dawn" in the Aymara language is just making her stage debut and recently gave her second concert in the atrium of the main public university in La Paz.

A first disc should be released in mid-2022, she explains to AFP.

Born in El Alto, a city adjoining the capital La Paz, she was the first Amerindian to devote herself to this musical genre little known in Aymara society, where melancholy rhythms predominate.

"I don't care if people get excited about my music / Just tell my mom that fear won't stop me / She can't beat me / Also tell her that I'll live on rap," she says in a verse from his first song.

Alwa, the first Aymara rapper, in front of a mural in El Alto, Bolivia, on April 19, 2022 Aizar RALDES AFP

"In my texts, I express my feelings about things, my opinion on the situation we are currently experiencing, we have all suffered injustices," Alwa, who prefers not to give her full name, told AFP.

"She is great"

Even though Native Americans make up nearly half of Bolivia's population, part of society continues to despise "cholas", a colloquial term for indigenous women in the country.

"I think rap comes from that, from that feeling of rebellion, of rebelling against something you don't agree with," she says.

Aymara rapper Alwa during a concert in La Paz, Bolivia, on April 22, 2022 Aizar RALDES AFP

Born into a traditional family with no musicians around her, let alone a rapper, she studied advertising and marketing at university but says her "dream has always been to sing".

During her concert at the University, about fifty spectators approach the stage, watch her rap.

They raise their hands, applaud.

"She's great, I think she's a spectacular performer, the way she looks, the way she dresses," says Jesus Choque, a 23-year-old student listening to her for the first time.

Alwa, the first Aymara rapper, on the heights of El Alto, in Bolivia, on April 19, 2022 Aizar RALDES AFP / Archives

"It's the first time I've seen a woman in + pollera + sing on a stage, carrying the name of Bolivia high, it's great, it's something very beautiful", adds Carlos Jonas Sirpa.

The young woman begins to make herself known.

In the street, we stop to take selfies.

"She's awesome, I listened to her for the first time in Chile, I thought she was Peruvian and in fact she's Bolivian! I saw her on Tiktok, she's awesome!".

Alwa (d), the first Aymara rapper, takes a selfie with fans after a concert in La Paz, on April 22, 2022 in Bolivia Aizar RALDES AFP

Modest, Alwa believes that she still has a long way to go.

"I'm becoming a rapper, I'm not yet".

© 2022 AFP