La Materialista — Yameyry Ynfante Honoret, born in Santiago de los Caballeros on 19 March 1985 — is a Dominican dembow singer and actress, one of the first women to headline the genre. Her «Las chapas que vibran», a song she never meant to record, became her breakthrough, and in 2018 she became the first woman from Dominican urban music to sign with «Universal Latin Music».

A name taken from a song

Her parents enrolled her in fine arts classes at eight, and she later left law studies for music. She turned professional in 2006 with the group «Alia2». The group already had a song called «La materialista» and needed a female voice for it; her brother, who ran the label «Rompiendo Records», put her forward. When the song caught on, people began calling her the girl who sings «La materialista», and the name stuck. With her brother’s backing she went on as a soloist. In 2010 she was among the voices on the collective «El regreso del rap», alongside MelyMel, Milka la Más Dura, Villanosam and Shelow Shaq.

«Las chapas que vibran»

In 2013 she released the album «A otro nivel», seven months in the making, and spent 30,000 dollars on a video for «Tú no tiene ná». Neither took off. What did was a song improvised in the studio between jokes about the vibrating chairs of dance halls: «Las chapas que vibran», with a video shot in under six hours and no script, passed a million views in a month. In 2014, taking part in «Listín Diario»’s campaign on the content of urban lyrics, she said she regretted that such a song had made her famous, and argued that urban artists only put a melody to what is said in the barrios, and that the real problem was education. The song went on to become her signature, eventually earning a remix with Belinda and Jojo Todynho.

Screen and stage

She has acted in Dominican film — «Lotoman 2.0» (2012), «Biodegradable» (2013), «Lotoman 003» and «La diabla en ruedas» (2014) — and in 2013 sang at the «Miss Venezuela» pageant. In 2023 she finished fourth on the Telemundo reality show «La casa de los famosos».

«Universal» and after

In October 2018, after her songs were presented at a music convention in Amsterdam, she signed with «Universal Latin Music». The first release under the deal was «Machucando», with Shelow Shaq, and she was announced for the «Mega Bash» concert at Madison Square Garden that December. The same year the «Comisión Nacional de Espectáculos Públicos y Radiofonía» banned her «Nunca maniquí»; she apologised to its president and recorded a new, approved version. Her collaborations include «Te lo compré» with Chimbala, «Delirio» with Mozart La Para, «Papi qué bueno tú ya» with Arcángel and «Ya no sale el sol» with Jowell & Randy, and Villanosam brought her onto his «Blanca con culo» remix. In 2022 she released «Confesiones» and «Desacatate», recorded in Portuguese in Brazil and has been nominated several times at the «Premios Soberano».

Legacy

La Materialista belongs to the short list of women — with MelyMel in rap and La Insuperable in dembow — whom Dominican urban music names as its pioneers. In 2014 she took part in the public debate over the content of urban lyrics, and «Las chapas que vibran» remains the song most identified with her.