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For a look at more exclusive photos from our special edition, pick up the December/January issue of HOLA! USA - available to subscribers now and on newsstands December 6.
Natti Natasha is currently one of the most famous singers in the industry. Her music has broken records in sales, and that’s in addition to having explosive collaborations with today’s most popular artists. Although she’s found great success, she has never forgotten where she comes from as well as the lessons her parents instilled in her. In an intimate conversation with HOLA! USA for the December/January issue, Natalia Alexandra Gutiérrez Batista opens up about her childhood and the difficult time she had when she first arrived to the United States from the Dominican Republic in order to chase the “American dream.”
It was not an easy journey for Natti to be where she is today. Although she grew up poor, she remembers she was always happy with her family in the Dominican Republic. Still, the Best Female Artist of the Year at the 2019 Latin Billboard Awards reveals that the situation was fragile at her home when she was younger. “It was a time when the country’s economy was not doing well.”
The 32-year-old performer, who will celebrate a birthday on December 10, remembers how her dad never lost hope and how his life lessons have stayed with her. “My dad is an excellent teacher, super smart. I have an incredible amount of admiration for him because he has written books on math, calculus and physics," the cover star tells HOLA! USA. "He has always worked honestly. And I remember something he said and still says, ‘God will provide,’ and that is something he instilled in me.”
Natti left her home country to follow her dreams, and she confessed that she was living undocumented in the United States for some time. “Yes, I was undocumented. It really wasn’t planned because I arrived with a visa, and it expired while I was in the US.” To survive, the La Mejor Versión De Mi singer took on any job that would come her way. “I cleaned the house where I stayed; that was how I paid my way, by cleaning. [I also worked] in a factory, and I remember that they had me do different things. One day, I was on the cosmetics production line; another day, I was wrapping packages.”
Her resilience and knowing she was destined to have this career are big reasons why she has amassed millions of fans around the world, and she is undoubtedly every man’s dream woman, but no one currently has her heart. "I’m in love with music, with my career," she shares. "It’s been so much work to get to where I am. I still have a long way to go. I love what I’m doing, and I feel that everything has a moment.”