The legendary Ivy Queen — often referred to as the Queen of Reggaetón or La Caballota — once said in an interview, “In the life of every woman, there’s a point when you blossom and when you flourish.” And for Ivy Queen, after decades of cementing her place as a pioneer of the genre, that time is now.
Born Martha Ivelisse Pesante Rodríguez, Ivy Queen first became recognized in the reggaetón scene back in the ’90s, when the genre was still considered underground. She was the first female member of the all-male rap collective formed at the studios of The Noise, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. And her first live performance — where she rapped “Somos Raperos Pero no Delincuentes” (“We Are Rappers Not Delinquents”), wearing what would then become her signature style of oversized jeans, a T-shirt, braids, and long acrylic nails — launched her on a legendary career. She has since created music that has empowered generations of women, inspiring today’s reggaetón feminist wave and artists like Karol G, Becky G, Natti Natasha, RaiNao, Young Miko, Villano Antillano, and more.
Today, La Caballota is in her blooming era and finally receiving her much-deserved flowers. Just look at her accolades in the past few years, from hosting Spotify and Futuro Studios’ “Loud,” a podcast that reveals the true history of reggaetón, to being honored at the 35th edition of Premio Lo Nuestro with the Premio Lo Nuestro Legado Musical Al Genero Urbano Award last year, to receiving the Icon Award at the Billboard Latin Music Awards for her contributions to the male-dominated genre.
We recently caught up with Ivy Queen backstage at San Juan’s Distrito T-Mobile right before rehearsals for Dick Clark’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest in Puerto Rico. The reggaetonera looked more peaceful than ever with a white candle lit right in front of her. Ivy refers to herself as a very spiritual person, and she doesn’t go anywhere without a vela blanca. (In October, for example, she appeared on NPR’s Tiny Desk and lit a candle during her performance that had an image of Bad Bunny on it.)
“The vela represents light and those that have passed,” Ivy Queen tells POPSUGAR. “For instance, my father passed away, and I feel his spirit is always with me. My father was a musician. He used to play guitar . . . when he passed, I was at a concert and I had this feeling before when I was taking a bath [earlier that day], that I had to visit him at the hospital. Through my mind I kept saying, ‘Wait for me, wait for me, please papi, wait for me.’ I just had that [intuitive feeling].”
Ivy explains that the candle also serves as a spiritual tool she uses to cleanse any space that she enters to protect her energy. It was something she learned very early on in her career, as she navigated a genre and a world that was entirely dominated by men.
Part of that navigation came via the stars — literally. In the early days of her career, Ivy started diving into astrology to understand her strengths and her weaknesses as she moved up in the music industry. “I learned the elements. I learned my birth chart. I asked my mother what time I was born,” she says. “It was around the ’90s, [and] I used to love Walter Mercado. Every time his show would come on, they’d show the wheel and I was like, what the f**k is this? So, I started to learn my sign and I was always ruled by my sign. I know it’s a water sign. I know what signs don’t match when it comes to business.”
Ivy’s sun sign placement is in Pisces; her moon is in Sagittarius; and her rising is in Scorpio.
“With the Scorpio, I have to protect my energy,” she says pointing to the white candle. While Mercado was one of the only mainstream figures at the time who had an entire program dedicated to Latine spirituality and astrology, he wasn’t the only one who inspired Ivy’s spiritual journey.
“My favorite artist was Celia Cruz. She came from Cuba, which is one of the houses of the spirits. It comes from Mother Africa — la madre tierra. So literally I learned watching these people,” she remembers. “Walter was also a Pisces. I was like, let me see if he only talks about the good parts of that sign because he’s a Pisces but no. These are stuff I wish that they taught us at a young age to embrace. You know the moms and abuelas that were curanderas — I was raised by that.”
At 51, Ivy Queen looks better than ever. Her skin is still youthful and radiates from within. Her long blonde extensions hit past her hips. Ivy also still sports the long and artful acrylic nails she’s become known for, but her most noteworthy trait is how she carries herself with grace, confidence, and poise. She credits her spirituality to playing a huge role in how she’s learned to embrace her divine feminine energy.
“You have to attract the energy,” she explains. “If you feel like you’re all f**ked up, vieja y jodida [old and messed up], your body will react to that. La mente es bien peligrosa, pero tambien es bien poderosa [the mind is very dangerous but it is also very powerful]. Like, [it’s about] how are you going to use your powers, you know?”
It’s no surprise that Ivy is a big believer in the law of attraction and manifestation. For her, that comes in the form of writing and praying — to God, to the Angel de la Guarda, and to her ancestors. La Caballota has also learned to be still and pay attention to the signs. This year, she wants to finally check some major goals off her bucket list.
“I will be touring [this year]. I wanted to start in Puerto Rico because I’m from here. Then I announce the tour in the US — the dates,” she says. “And then I decide if the story of my life is going to be a series or a movie. I will be producing it.”
Right before Ivy Queen rang in the new year, she already noticed some signs confirming that 2024 is going to be the year she spreads her wings and sees all those goals manifest into reality.
On Dec. 30, her daughter landed in Puerto Rico, a day before Ivy Queen performed at Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve, and gifted her a monkey plushie with a little hat and the Puerto Rican flag. The reggaetonera decided to take the plushie with her everywhere for good luck, and at the beach, she noticed a black and white feather that appeared out of the blue. She also noticed a crow standing on a branch right behind the plushie. For her, these were all signs.
“I was asking for 2024 [to be the year] I need to elevate. I was asking the spirits like Venus because she’s the Goddess of love, I was asking for signs . . . send me a sign,” she says. “I see it as maybe the feather is a sign that I’m flying to another step. I want to be moving a lot, and birds, they go everywhere. So, I pay attention to signs and I put my own meaning behind it. I took it like, OK 2024, I’m going to be busy and I’ll be doing well.”
Considering la reina’s track record for manifesting all the career milestones she’s set for herself, we have no doubt that 2024 will be the year of Ivy Queen