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Gabriela Brito, known as Lela MC, is a 13-year-old Venezuelan migrant whose inspiring journey has led her to become a rising star in Colombian rap.
At just 13 years old, Gabriela Brito, better known by her stage name Lela MC, has lived a life that could be straight out of a movie. After surviving a fire, emigrating from Venezuela, and singing on public transport for spare change, she is now a rising star in the Colombian rap scene.
With long hair down to her waist, braces, and loose-fitting clothes, the seemingly shy Lela transforms into a bold singer, rapping about migration, her passion for music, and issues that concern young people. “The most important thing in a song is the content (…) That the person identifies with the lyrics,” the singer, who has over 300,000 fans on social media, tells AFP in her home in Bogota.
Today, her freestyle videos and performances on social media are met with resounding success. After being “liked” by the famous Chilean rapper Ana Tijoux and sharing a concert with the king of Venezuelan hip-hop, Apache, Lela MC signed a contract with a renowned record label in December 2023. However, her path to success was not without its challenges.
In 2017, Gabriela and her brother, Gabriel, narrowly escaped death in a fire caused by a gas leak, as evidenced by the scars on their arms. The children were treated for severe burns, and Gabriel remained hospitalized for several months, including six days in intensive care. “A miracle of life,” says their mother.
With the passing of their grandmother during the accident, the children, who found themselves alone in Venezuela, left to join their mother, who had recently arrived in Colombia. At the age of six, Gabriela left Caracas, like most of the 3 million Venezuelans who immigrated to Colombia, seeking to escape the severe economic crisis.
Today, Gabriel is 15 years old and acts as a DJ on stage alongside his sister Lela. The young girl’s stage name is actually a reference to her brother: when he was little, he had trouble pronouncing “Gabriela,” so he called her “Lela.”
“Having these marks (these scars) brings me joy. It’s with them that we have come to where we are today,” the teenager assures.
While Lela and Gabriel rehearse in their small apartment in southern Bogota, their mother, Hayleén Volcan, makes small, colorful bow ties that she sells to a boutique in a country where informal work affects 82% of Venezuelan immigrants.
Upon arriving in Colombia, the 35-year-old mother recounts having “spent months selling at traffic lights, coffee, water, peanuts.” Little Gabriela complained and wanted to “go back home.”
She sometimes accompanied her father, Jesus Sanz, who rapped on Bogota’s buses to earn a few cents, until the day she decided to “take the microphone from him.”
“And that’s where it all began,” she remembers. Lela was only eight years old when someone filmed her on public transport performing a song composed by her father about the tragedy of migration.
The performance, which went viral on social media, reached the ears of producer Jairo Peñaranda, “Mctematico,” her future manager, who would propel her artistic career with a first title in 2021.
He set only one condition: that Gabriela and her older brother return to school and receive psychological support. School dropout affects 29.7% of Venezuelan children in Colombia, according to the statistics authority.
As she continues to rise in the Colombian rap scene, Lela MC’s music sheds light on the experiences and struggles of the Venezuelan diaspora, giving a voice to a generation of young people who have been forced to leave their homes in search of a better life.
With AFP
