Rock Sin Subtitulos presents Los Chikos del Maiz Live

Los Chikos del Maiz, one of Spain´s most controversial rappers, are taking London by storm in their debut UK show at Tufnell Park's The Dome next Friday 12th June.

A band and an album like this were absolutely necessary. This had to be done by someone and Nega and Toni El Sucio from Valencia, Spain were the ones to do it. They decided to accept the mission and bring politics back to the epicentre of Rap, a message that connected them with some of the greatest names in the genre, from Public Enemy to The Coup and Dead Prez.

Since they started in the mid-90s, Los Chikos del Maíz have inspired a whole new generation of sharply polemical MCs, who have chosen to let their songs speak of something more than street life and gangster poses, instead addressing social, political and economic issues. Openly, directly and calling for action.

It has not been a bed of roses. They have been involved in all manner of controversies, enough to fill a book on the limits of freedom of expression and the dangers faced by those who choose to use it to the limit. And now, after all these years of scrapping and Hip Hop, the duo seem to have established themselves not only as the most important point of reference in Spanish political rap, but also as one of the most influential groups in Spanish-language rap.

With La estanquera Saigón, the right album at the right moment, Los Chikos del Maíz bring to the table their artistic maturity, reached through mixtapes and albums like Miedo y asco en Valencia and Pasión de talibanes, which also serves as the perfect soundtrack for the atmosphere of discontent and social changes now taking place in Europe, capturing the zeitgeist masterfully. Nega and Toni have become two of the scene’s most inspired MCs with La estanquera Saigón, making good use of the revolutionary manual: say it loud and clear, so that the world will hear and the enemy will fear you.

Few before them have managed to combine so effectively the discourse of struggle and change with a catalogue of great songs to be sung with fists pumping.