Maria Isa is an emcee/vocalist from the Twin Cities who has been releasing music for over a decade now, both as a solo artist and as part of groups like Villa Rosa. Her last album came in 2014, when she dropped Valley of the Dolls. Now she returns with her strongest effort to date, Sasa.

Produced entirely by upcoming Minneapolis producer J.Hard, it becomes clear very quickly in listening to Sasa that Maria Isa has found someone that really understands her musically. Born and raised in St. Paul to Nuyorican parents, Isa has always sought to blend the music of her family and that of the vibrant Twin Cities hip hop scene, and in doing so, she’s also brought in her voice as an activist and teacher. On top of everything else, she’s also working as both a vocalist and emcee who switches between Spanish and English. There’s a lot of moving parts to what she does, so while she’s certainly made some great music over the years, past projects haven’t always hit that perfect balance over the full course of the album. With Sasa, Maria Isa finally takes that next step and makes that album that hits on all the rights notes and works start to finish all the way through. J.Hard just seems to understand Isa in all the right ways to push her, encourage her, and complement everything she’s doing on the mic. This can mean getting everyone dancing with some salsa while Isa sings some huge hooks, it can mean dropping some trunk-rattling bass while Isa spits hard about social and political issues in her community, or it can mean dialing things in for some intimate R&B, while Isa gets vulnerable and lets her listeners into her personal life. It’s an incredibly well-rounded album, and Isa has never sounded more confident in every little thing she’s doing. She’s got an ear for melodies and hooks, she can spit with style and substance, and she finds great balance between political rhymes, personal poetry, and just having fun and rocking the crowd. As a result, you get an album that you can listen to over and over again.

Maria Isa has already had a long career, but she’s really taken another step with Sasa. It’s fun and challenging, covers a lot of ground, and really lets Isa’s unique voice shine through.