It's not often that a 24-year-old garners international acclaim and musical comparisons to musical giants Nina Simone and Celia Cruz, but Cuban-born Dayme Arocena is no ordinary artist. Raised in Havana, she was hailed a musical prodigy, becoming a trained composer, arranger, choir director, and band leader, in addition to singing. At eight, she began performing semi-professionally; six years later, she became the lead singer of Los Primos. Her charming demeanor has captivated audiences worldwide, particularly with Grettel Jimenez Singer of Paper, in a fascinating interview piece. READ MORE Cuban Artists Are Employing Hip-Hop To Dismantle Racism The Cuban songstress is an avid practitioner of Santería, an Afro-Caribbean religion based on Yoruba beliefs, frequently dressing in a turban, complimented by an all white ensemble, symbolizing the faith. ""Madres", the first song in the Nueva Era album is meant to be a prayer for my two spiritual mothers, Oshún and Yemayá, who are also mothers to the rivers and the seas. It's essentially about mothers and daughters in the world and the strength we need from each other."

She credits the faith for helping her to deliver an otherworldly performance onstage: "My head is definitely Yemayá, practical, yet nourishing and forgiving, but very protective of those I love. My body however is one hundred percent Oshún. She is the orisha of love, beauty, femininity, and sensuality. Her body is voluptuous and it carries joy just like mine. I wasn't always fond of my body." With the practice of Santería came a blossoming of confidence. "I wasn't always fond of my body. I used to be ashamed of how I looked, how short I am, about my skin color. As a result, my spirit was crushed and my presence on stage was tarnished by my own judgment. That's in the past now. I have mastered the art of not just loving but adoring myself. As women, we must understand who we are and what we're made of, accept what nature has given us, and be comfortable with our sexuality. Nobody can resist that," says Arocena. It's this connection with potent spiritual forces that enables Arocena to improvise musically, to blend genres if so inclined, despite preferring jazz music in her free time. "My music is frank," she says. "That's one way I can describe it, and that means anything can happen. When la musa shows up, I welcome her and take whatever she's offering: pop, jazz, Afro-Cuban chants, filin… I take it all and give it my all." Arocena's musical improvisation is also indicative of the new sonic sound emanating from her home country, evident in her debut album Nueva Era, which was released in 2015. "What she is doing is drawing on all this contemporary music that's happening in Cuba. A mixture of salsa, a mixture of jazz, a mixture of hip-hop, neo-soul—that nice little combination," notes NPR music podcast host, Felix Contreras. "And then adding elements of Afro-Cuban rumba with music, with vocals, with dancing styles—all of that, and put in this really wonderful package."