Candy Bars: A Taste of the Dominican Republic

There's just something about Domincan women. From Fab, to Jay, hip-hop loves the flavor of Dominican Eye Candies and MCs let it be known in their rhymes. Tahiry Jose, Mizz DR and Carolina Catalino are some of the key players changing the model game, putting the Dominican Republic on their sturdy backsides. The trio of Hispanic bombshells range from petite (Carolina), to curvaceous (Mizz DR), to the downright voluptuous (Tahiry), and all three produce Mitchell and Ness fantasies that make us wish they would throw it back. XXLmag.com shared some Dominican-flavored Candy Bars with the three beauties and got their feedback on D.R. references in lyrics. The day has come for more Spanish chicas that don't like to roam and do more than cook rice and stay at home. — Christopher Minaya (@CM_3)

XXLMag.com: “Dominicano, all the plugs that I know/Driving Benzes, with no benefits/Not bad, huh? For some immigrants.” – Jay-Z, “Otis”

Carolina Catalino: I was born in Santo Domingo.

Tahiry Jose: I was born in the United States.

Mizz DR: I was born here. I was born in Jersey.

"I leave government spies and murderers/Wrapped in plastic like Dominican furniture/I put the iron in you, like the center of Earth's curvature." – Immortal Technique, “Stronghold Grip”

MD: [Laughs] I swear those plastic covers had my ass burning. Oh my God. And, they used to stick to my legs. I used to hate visiting my grandmother.

TJ: Wow, it reminds me, for some reason, of my grandmother’s house. But then, if I really think correct, my mom had some light suede couches. And, she used to be like, “Do not waste my couches.” And, they were so sticky and hot. And then, she had the nerve to not have no AC either. So, I mean just imagine 89 degrees, window fan, plastic all over the furniture [Laughs].

CC: When it’s hot, it’s crazy because you burn your ass off. You know? [Laughs] Because it gets super, super hot, especially in D.R..

"Had them Dominican connects/I'm so Dyckman, Shoutout to Tahiry block/ Remember me? Range Rover, canary rock." – Fabolous, “Mr. R.I.P.”

TJ: Well, I come from 136 and 137. I would say 136 because that’s my old school block. That’s when I was wearing pinstripe little shorts and I’m roller-skating on four wheels, and I had two ponytails. And then 137th street, that was from the ages of, maybe, 10 and up. Just always very hype, always beach chairs out, drinking the Henny straight, hood, the fire hydrant always poppin’. So, I mean nothing, but for the Dominicans.

CC: Dyckman is the hottest right now, in New York, for Dominicans. I used to live around there, maybe two blocks down from there. Before it wasn’t like that. Now, it’s more popular.

"Had a Washington Heights friend, who bring that white in/Set up a meeting, her dude caught a flight in." – Fabolous, “I Miss My Love”

TJ: It’s not that I plead the 5th, but I mean. You know. The streets, like I always said, stay same forever and a day. Um, but, I know nothing about the dope game [Laughs] Uptown [Laughs].

"I used to cop in Harlem, all of my Dominicanos/Right there up on Broadway, pull me back to that McDonald's." – Jay-Z, “Empire State of Mind”

TJ: Oh (Uptown on Broadway), it’s amazing. It’s full of warm people, the best food ever in life. It’s always just so hype. I mean as soon as the temperature hits 70, we out there in chancletas [open-toed sandals]. I’m not going to lie [Laughs]. But, it pretty much never sleeps. You can get what you wanna, how you wanna, when you wanna. At what time you wanna. You can get whatever you want Uptown. So, I love it. I’ve been in Jersey for the last eight years, but I do nothing in Jersey except for maybe walk to the bank and go to Duane Reade because it’s a little more organized. I don’t find the toothpaste in the hosiery section or something. But, I do everything up there. My hair, my nails. You name it. So, it’s kind of like I moved out, but for some reason I even take my clothes to the same cleaners I did as a child, where I don’t even need a ticket. I just drop it off. So, I just can’t get out of it, you know? Everybody just knows what to do with my stuff. Like my hair, I don’t have any issues. She’s been doing my hair for the last 12 years. The cleaners, like, I drop it off. It’s just so easy [Laughs]. It’s my hood.

MD: The environment in the Heights is just like a Little mini-D.R.. Everybody there’s Dominican. Like, it’s straight Dominican. You have like people hanging out on the corner playing dominoes. You got people, till four o’clock in the morning, standing outside your window, talking about how bad D.R. is or how good D.R. is [Laughs], while you try to go to sleep to go to work [Laughs]. I mean it’s like a party everyday.

We definitely on the come up. It’s gotten a lot better. We have a thousand restaurants now, and they’re not only Dominican. You don’t only find white rice and black beans or beans in the hood. It’s still full of its culture, but we’ve embraced a lot of other cultures.

"Yo, its P to the H-O, I finish the job/Plus my Dominican broad/ Making me chili con queso." – Phonte, “Hiding Place”

TJ: (Cooking) is embedded in us. I remember my mom putting the chicken, and that meant “Bitch, cook.” And, I would have to do that. If not, I’d get in a lot of trouble. And then, when I got older and I would have money in my pocket, I would buy her the rotisserie chicken cooked, and she’d smack me with a pan or something like to learn. It’s embedded in us from the very beginning. It’s something like we’re just born to be ride or dies and just to be very nurturing and caring and being in the kitchen and washing dishes and a whole bunch of other stuff (Laughs).

CC: Well, it depends. I don’t like cooking, but I know how to cook. Once in a while, I’ll do it. It depends on the guy. Like, if he’s cool with me, I might do it once a month (Laughs). I really like somebody cooking for me. I don’t like cooking; I hate cooking. I’m lazy (Laughs).

MD: No, I hold it down in the kitchen for my man. Make sure he gets his arroz con pollo [rice with chicken], habichuela [beans]. Everything (Laughs).

“Work 8 to 3, then from 4 to 9 school/Dominican girl who knows more than mangu.” – Fabolous, “In The Morning”

TJ: Wow. Hardworking (laughs). Well, I mean I work five jobs, five days a week. I mean not that I hate, but I’m going back to even where we come from. Our parents, they migrated. Like, they work really hard, and if you walk around and turn any corner on Dyckman or Washington Heights or even Harlem, there’s always a Spanish Dominican bodega owner, or we own a lot of clubs and lounges now. We’re just very hardworking people.

MD: Yeah, I do both. Yeah, I go to school for pharmacy. I do that at night, and then I work at a hospital during the morning. And, I do the radio on the side. My parents are very old-fashioned, so they taught me specifically how to be a go-getter.

CC: Right now, I’m a sales manager for a company, so I basically work around that time. I manage my own schedule, so I don’t have to be in eight hours. I basically work like five hours and then the gym and then shoots and all that. I hate school, so I’m not studying; I already finished, so I’m done with school.

MD: Mangu [mashed plantains] con salami con la cebolla [onion] y con el queso [cheese] (is my favorite). Ya tu sabe [You already know], queso frito [fried cheese].

TJ: Actually, my favorite Dominican dish is yuca [cassava]. Mangu, to be quite honest, I don’t even know how I am not a fan. But, I like my yuca, my tre golpe [Dominican combination plate], my queso, [cheese], salchichon [sausage], huevo [egg] y yuca. You could never go wrong as dinner, espaguetis con arroz [spaghetti with rice]. All the dishes that we I just love.

"Go Uptown, New York City bitch/Some Spanish girls love me like I'm Aventura." – Drake, “The Motto”

TJ: I like Aventura. I might have been the only Dominican in Washington Heights, the other day, that didn’t go to the concert. But, of course, I like me some Aventura. There’s nothing like going back to your roots. I’m a hip-hop head to the fullest, but anytime I’m Uptown, I’m listening to Miriam Cruz. I’m even going back to Los Hermanos Rosario [The Rosario Brothers]. So, of course I love Aventura. Who doesn’t?

MD: I don’t love ‘em, but I like their music (Laughs). But, I’m not a bachata [genre of Spanish music] fan. I’m more like a merengue [genre of Spanish music] fan, so I go for Omega (singer) and like my dembow [genre of Spanish music]. Prendelo, prendelo, prendelo [chorus to a Spanish song]. (Laughs).

CC: I love Aventura! I worked with them before, and they were like the hottest thing. Now, it’s Romeo (Aventura's lead singer) because Romeo now is solo. But, yeah, we all love Aventura.

"Y'all don't understand/I never seen so many Dominican women with cinnamon tans/ Mierda, this is the plan." – Will Smith, “Miami”

CC: Cinnamon or caramel, that’s what people say. I’m lighter than cinnamon because cinnamon is more like brown, brown, brown, so I think I’m caramel.

TJ: I call myself banana. Nah (Laughs). I’m so yellow, when I have no tan. But, yeah. I consider myself cinnamon. But, it’s important for everybody to know we come in so many different shades.

MD: Yeah, cinnamon, caramel type. Know what I’m saying? [Laughs]

"I like the cocky bowlegged ones/Like White and Dominicans/Hispanics and Asians/ Shake it for Nelly, son." – Nelly, “Shake Ya Tailfeather”

MD: Aw, my dancing is on point. My dancing is on point, just as my sex is (Laughs).

CC: 10. From 1 to 10, I’m 10. Yeah, I can dance whatever you play.

TJ: (Laughs) I was looking a little stiff in that Fab joint. I’m not going to lie (Laughs). I looked at it, and I said, ‘Damn! Fab didn’t tell me to retake that shit?’ I think the older I’m getting, I’m getting a little too cool (Laughs). So, all you get from me is the sexy two-step and maybe a wiggle or a lil’ making it clap. But, I’m alright. I have some rhythm. Don’t Kim Kardashian – Oh. Nevermind (Laughs). I’m probably like about 7.

CC: We might not be the best (dancers), but we might be within the top three out of all the other countries ‘cause we can dance (to) everything. We’re just born with that rhythm.

TJ: You got the Brazilian bitches that look like they got not one joint in their bodies (Laughs). So, of course, they can.

"In D.R., where we are. I go up, she go down/ I go down, she go up/ See-saw/ Reverse cowgirl like yee-haw/ Gone take my tee off/ Take your tee off/and I hit it like I teed off/ In your thighs, I give you Chinese eyes then knock your chi off.” –XV, “Passport”

TJ: Aw, you really going to make me say that. Aw, shit (Laughs). Aside from when I have my makeup on, I have my chinky eyes when I’m cumming (Laughs). Shout out to that verse.

MD: I guess (my eyes are low when I’m) smiling and having sex.

CC: Ay mi madre [Oh my mother]. Can I say it? Maybe, when I’m having sex.

"Jessica get so wet/ Few bottles of Moet/ She ain’t told me no yet/ My Dominicans be the baddest ones” – Fabolous, “I Got That Work”

TJ: Uh, I feel honored to be Dominican, and I’m glad that finally people recognize that women come in all different shapes, sizes, colors, and that it’s OK to have curves. But, I think a woman is a woman, no matter what ethnicity it is. I think beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Domincans, to Fab in that verse, are the baddest ones; that’s just his opinion.

MD: Yes ‘cause we bring the whole package. We're beautiful. We're smart. We're hardworking, and we definitely know how to take care of our men.

CC: Como en la cama [Like in bed?] Yo creo que si [I believe so]. I think we are. I mean I got to include myself, obviously (Laughs). Like, I always want to have the control, for example. Everything I do, I always want to be the best one out of everybody else. I never want anybody to forget about me. Like, if we do something one day, you will have to think of me all your life. Y si me tengo que tirar del abanico, me tiro [If I have to jump on it from the ceiling fan, I’ll jump] (Laughs). I’ll do all the crazy stuff, obviously with somebody that I really like. ‘Cause if I don’t like you, forget about it; I don’t care. You can have all the money you want, and I don’t give a F. But if I like you, then it’s going to be a lot of fun.

”I’ll make the proudest of all Dominicans swing flags for Puerto Rico/And kill any blanco gringo referring to Chino as chico.” – Chino XL, “Nunca”

MD: There’s nothing wrong with it. Like, I hosted like a Puerto Rican day parade. We're all Spanish. There’s no hate.

TJ: To be quite honest, I stay in Puerto Rico (Laughs). So, I think I’ve been to Puerto Rico, last year, maybe four times, Dominican two times. I think we're all the same. I love me Puerto Rico.

Venezuelan and Indian, Rican and Dominican/Japanese or Portuguese, a quarter Brazilian and/ White and Korean, Black and Pinay/I could find out later, It don’t matter/You’re fly, it really don’t make a difference to most of us guys/We just need an excuse to get close and say, 'Hi.'” – Murs, “DSWG (Dark Skinned White Girls)”

CC: Some guys care, and some of them don’t. I used to go out with this great guy, and when we first started dating, everybody was like, “Oh you got to be careful; she’s Dominican. Be careful with your money and all that.” Some guys kind of care when you’re Dominican ‘cause we have that stereotype. You know? But then, there’s the other guys that really like Dominicans because we’re supposedly crazy and cook and know how to take care of ourselves. So, yeah.

TJ: I think certain men are attracted to Dominican women, period. Um, a lot of my friends –I hear that all the time. “Oh my God. She’s Dominican.” But, I think we all just go through a phase. I remember when like Asian women were like the shit. And then, “Oh my God,” Black women were like the shit. And now, all of a sudden, Dominican women are the shit. Next week, it’s strippers. You know what I’m saying? It’s like at the end of the day, to me, a woman is a woman, no matter what background she has.

MD: Nah, I mean sometimes guys really like that. They like their Spanish women. It’s like when you say you’re Dominican, they get this little glare (Laughs). And, the first thing they ask you is, “You know how to cook?” (Laughs)

“Hide my weed stash/ Dominican chick, shit I got her from Fab.” And then, “Boy, you got to throw me one/ Remember that Dominican?/Yeah, nigga. You owe me one.”

TJ: I don’t think (getting passed around) has anything to do with being a Dominican woman. That was a good bar ‘cause Fab is always talking about Dominicans. Guys are so creative. Jesus.

MD: Nah. Uh-uh. We alright; we got respect. At least me, I don’t play that shit.

CC: Some girls are crazy like that.

"At 15, I sold my first bag of dope/ Used to stick Dominicans, burner under the coat/ Getting like 15 grams, a half key/At 15, man, a nigga just glad to be.” – Shyne, “The Life”

TJ: Well, I guess it’s the story of the hood. I guess we got robbed a whole lot (Laughs).

“Got her a Chinese manicure, hair done by Dominicans, all for what?/So I could be in a dark corner, all in the butt/at the bar, alcoholing her up.” – Jay-Z, “The City is Mine”

CC: The Dominican salons are crazy. I got to say they're the best, best, best beauticians in the world ‘cause they know how to manage your hair. Usually, we have curly hair, so they really know how to blow it out so you can have it all straight. They burn your head and everything, but it works. And, it’s always bochinche [gossip], people talking about everybody else and drinking and music so loud that you can’t even talk. It’s like a party in the salon (laughs). And then, you got to spend the whole day there just to get your hair done, but it’s worth it. I can never do my hair with somebody else, besides Dominicans, unless I’m shooting a video and they got to do my hair. But, it’s never the same, never ever ever.

TJ: It’s something about the way they blow-dry your hair, straight flat; you don’t need a flatiron. I look like I have an alisador even when I don’t, which is a relaxer [Laughs]. And, we have a thousand beauty parlors.

MD: Oh my God! In a Dominican salon, you can hear everything from anybody’s problem in their houses to who died yesterday. Like, it’s like a chismes [gossip] spot. You hear about everybody’s business.

“Dominican, Asian, Brazilian/Big booty white girls who like girls want me to hit again/Black and Puerto Rican, you freaking for the weekend.” – T.I., “Everything On Me”

TJ: Just from my sexual experiences, you just got to bring the freak out in me. I don’t give a fuck. Shit, I get chinky already (Laughs).

MD: I’m a freak (Laughs). I don’t know about everybody else.I guess it depends on the girl, but I can tell you I’m a freak.You got to be creative. I’m creative as shit. I’m just wild.

"I’m rolling with some tall ass niggas like Dikembe. We out in the Dominican. It’s muy caliente.” – Sir Michael Rocks, “I’m Doggin’”

CC: It’s a beautiful country, beautiful girls everywhere.

MD: D.R. is a beautiful, cool, calm country. Like, you could just enjoy yourself. The people are beautiful, especially D.R. people. It’s like you walk into somebody’s house, and you walk out full of shit. Like, they feed you all the time, throughout the day (Laughs).

TJ: D.R. is amazing. In D.R., when you party now, it’s not like back in the day. Everybody’s just on some shi shi foo foo, unless you go to the hood (Laughs). But, everything is great, the weather, the food, the people. It’s home.