Daniela Lalita (); born 1992 as Daniela Czenstochowski; (, ) is a Peruvian musician, model, and artist. Around the age of 19, she moved to the United States to study apparel design at the Rhode Island School of Design and did several internships in the fashion industry. She debuted as a model at New York Fashion Week in 2015, then collaborated with Givenchy and Saint Laurent while appearing in international runway shows, magazines, and advertising campaigns.
In 2015, Lalita began studying music technology at New York University, where she was mentored by electronic music composer Morton Subotnick. Between 2016 and 2019, she released electronic music tracks on SoundCloud, performed as a DJ, and worked as a performance artist on interdisciplinary projects combining fashion, theater, film, and music. Her work frequently incorporates symbolic and psychological themes.
In 2022, she released her debut EP, Trececerotres, which entered the UK Physical Singles Top 100. Music videos were produced for all tracks; Lalita designed the costumes and directed several of the videos. The song "Tenía Razón" was featured on the soundtrack of FIFA 23. Since 2023, she has collaborated with Mura Masa and Ashnikko and has performed at international music festivals. Lalita directed the music video for the single "Tiroteo", which was released in 2026.
Early life Daniela Czenstochowski was born in 1992 in Lima, Peru, to Peruvian architect and former actress Pilar SecadaDaniela Lalita's mother Pilar Secada: and Venezuelan singer-songwriter and producer Ilan Chester.Daniela Lalita's father Ilan Chester: She grew up with her mother and grandmother in Lima.
From the ages of five to ten, Czenstochowski worked as a voice-over artist for television commercials and appeared in stage productions. She learned to play the piano as a child and studied ballet until the age of thirteen. Her mother, who had performed with several reggae and fusion bands,Daniela Lalita's mother Pilar Secada played in reggae and fusion bands: including as a chorist in La Liga del Sueño,Daniela Lalita's mother Pilar Secada was a chorist in La Liga del Sueño: often took her to musical performances, which had a formative influence on her. Her father, a follower of the Hare Krishna movement, introduced her to meditative kirtan chanting, a spiritual practice rooted in the voice.
Career 2010–2015: Design studies
Around the age of 19, Lalita relocated from Lima to the United States to study apparel design at the Rhode Island School of Design. After graduating in 2014, she moved to Manhattan, New York. There, she interned with Sarah Gore-Reeves, the fashion director of Vogue México y Latinoamérica, and learned about the editorial side of the industry. She subsequently worked as a consultant for the fashion brand Eckhaus Latta, assisting in garment production and pattern development. In 2015, she collaborated with fashion designer Titi Guiulfo. Due to her growing interest in music, she applied her knowledge of fashion design to the creation of costumes for performances and music videos.
2014–2018: Interest in music
After completing her design studies, Lalita went to the NYU Steinhardt where she studied music technology. Her mentor was Morton Subotnick, a pioneer of electronic music who collaborated with engineer Don Buchla on one of the first analog synthesizers, which Buchla built to Subotnick's specifications. The modular synthesizer, which was named "Buchla" after him, is used by Lalita for her recordings.
She recorded her first track, "hmp", in 2014 and released it on SoundCloud in September 2016. The track was later used by director Lena Greene for the commercial work Beauty Papers Magazine X Comme Des Garçons X Ilan Rubin. In the following years, Lalita issued additional electronic music singles on the same platform and occasionally performed as a DJ. DJ sessions:
2015–2018: Experiences with film and performance art In June 2015, Lalita narrated the episode "Daniela & Francesco" (S1 E6) in the TV series R.I.P., which was written and directed by Lena Greene and Lorraine Nicholson. She also collaborated with Coco Campbell on costume design for a stop-motion animated music video trilogy released in November 2015 for producer and DJ Tommy Trash. In February 2016, she provided the voice-over for the promotional film Introducing Fur by Ezra Ewen. In August of the same year, she participated in the Selkie Series with Ser Serpas and Gia Garison under the name "Swarovski Crystal Meth." This was a performance series curated by Alexandra Marzell at the National Sawdust in Brooklyn, presenting multidisciplinary works by emerging artists. Lalita composed music for the piece. In October 2016, she participated in a puppet show in Brooklyn alongside artists such as Rochelle Goldberg, Jacky Connolly, Ficus Interfaith, Martine Fougeron, and Veit Laurent Kurz and curated by Shelby Jackson and Paul Gondry. A puppet created by Lalita was later exhibited at the "Living Content Live" event, which was curated by Adriana Blidaru at Times Square, New York, in October 2018.
In October 2017, she presented Madre: A Disruptive Environment in New York, a multimedia performance piece developed in collaboration with choreographer Remy Maelen. She stated that she created this project to combine what she had learnt in apparel design with what she was currently learning in music technology. In Madre, she explores themes related to the archetypes of the "Great Mother", inspired by the work of Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Jung. Lalita invited artists, actors, and models such as Grace Hartzel, Carly Mark, Martine Gutierrez, Lida Fox, along with her mother to take part in this work combining elements of fashion, film, theater, music, and visual art.
Lalita composed the score for In Order to Endure Sin, the Slave Master Must Invest Capital for Eternity, a short film directed by Andre Bato, which premiered at MoMA PS1 as part of a live performance by Hirakish and was released online by Dazed in November 2017. The following month, she starred in the horror short film Know Nothing, directed by Carly Mark. This film and photographs of her art performance Madre were part of the exhibition Vanquished by the Fickle Goddess, curated by Antonia Marsh and shown in Venice from February to March 2018.
2019–2022: Guest appearances Lalita appeared as a guest artist in several songs released between 2019 and 2021: The single "AS Acá" by deconstructed club artist duo Amnesia Scanner, the song "AS Tearless" on their album Tearless with composition and lyrics by Lalita, and the song "Premium Defects" by Fakethias, which opened a viral film for the fashion house Mugler. She opened for Caroline Polachek at the Warsaw club in Brooklyn in January 2020 and, in June 2022, appeared at the Sónar festival in Barcelona, supported by Amnesia Scanner.
2022–2023: Debut EP Trececerotres Lalita worked for five years on her debut EP Trececerotres, and released it on the label Young (Beggars Group) on September 16, 2022. The Spanish title is a reference to the apartment 1303 in Lima, where she lived with her mother and grandmother before moving to New York. The EP entered the UK Physical Singles Top 100 and received positive reviews, appearing on several year-end best-of lists for 2022. Trececerotres ranking: In critical reception, the work has frequently been associated with spirituality. Trececerotres and spirituality: Numéro described it as magical and melancholic, calling it "as bewitching as it is frightening". Lalita herself added: "I think that there's a lot of darkness as well as lightness and as well as magic"; it is "ritualistic, vulnerable, sincere, honest, and raw". The album was mastered by Joe LaPorta at Sterling Sound. The single "Tenía Razón", co-produced by Sega Bodega, was part of the influential FIFA 23 soundtrack. Single "Tenía Razón" and the FIFA 23 soundtrack: Lalita directed the music video for the song herself, released in July 2022. She also directed the music videos for two other songs on the EP: "Pisoteo", choreographed by Lourdes Leon and released in September 2022, and the title track "Trececerotres", which was released in February 2023.
2023–present: Further collaborations and album preparation Lalita was featured on the deep house singles "Drugs" (June 2023) Mura Masa's "Drugs" (feat. Daniela Lalita): and "Love" (September 2023)Mura Masa's "Love" (feat. Daniela Lalita): by Mura Masa. The first song also appeared on Mura Masa's album Curve 1, released in August 2024. Clash described it as "the perfect platform for Daniela Lalita's vocal, with the rising Peruvian figure – and Young label affiliate – supplying some finesse." The video in which she plays the leading role was named one of the six best creative music videos of 2023 by 1.4, an international annual award platform for creative short films. In July 2023, she performed her first live set at the Labirinto della Masone during the LOST Music Festival in Italy.
In August 2023, the song "Sacrifices for the Greater Good" by Bobby Krlic, featuring Lalita, was part of the soundtrack of the movie Blue Beetle. In the same month, she co-wrote two songs on Ashnikko's album Weedkiller, appearing as a featured vocalist on "Super Soaker" and producing "Possession of a Weapon".
In February 2024, she was featured on Meth Math's experimental reggaetón album Chupetones on the song "Trenzas", and also appears in its music video. Two months later, Tristán!'s Music EP was released, which features her on the art pop song "Pinky Ring". Tristán! is part of the Spanish label and collective Rusia-IDK, which Lalita contacted to work primarily as producers on her next album. In an interview with Mixmag in November 2024, Mura Masa said that he was also working on it as a producer. In September 2025, Lalita performed during Mietze Conte's DJ set in Brooklyn. She co-produced "Seoul Glow", which was included on Chase B's mixtape Be Very Afraid (Vol. 1), released on February 27, 2026.
The single "Tiroteo", written and produced by Lalita and Mura Masa, was released on April 29, 2026. Its music video, directed and edited by Lalita, was filmed in Peru, and features her mother in a supporting role. According to Rolling Stone, "Tiroteo" was one of the best new music releases of the week. In May 2026, Lalita was the DJ at the Met Gala afterparty to celebrate the opening of the Ray-Ban House.Lalita was the DJ at the Met Gala afterparty to celebrate the opening of the Ray-Ban House: Additional singles, "Tac Tac"—written and produced by Lalita and Mietze Conte—and "Aurora" (feat. Dinamarca), were released on June 2 and September 18, 2026, respectively.
Artistry Musical style Daniela Lalita's musical style has been described by critics as a fusion of several genres, including folktronica, art pop, experimental electronic, avant-pop, Avant-pop style Latin pop,Latin pop style: electroacoustic, industrial, dark pop, and experimental folk. It blends energetic club beats and pop elements, avoiding traditional verse-chorus structures, and is influenced by labels like PC Music and NUXXE, whose co-founder Sega Bodega co-produced Lalita's single "Tenía Razón". Lalita's music is seen as part of a global trend toward a return to tradition in electronic music, in which DJs and producers of club music are increasingly drawing on folkloric and centuries-old musical traditions.
Influences