I’ve just spent 3 weeks in Puerto Rico with a holy shit cast of characters. I haven’t been down to the island in almost five years because of the general apathy that’s become commonplace en mi islita, but the timing was right and I think Puerto Rico may finally be ready for change.
Within days of my arrival I found myself in the midst of some of the top dawgs of the reggaeton and electronic music scenes and I wanna take a few to hip ya’ll to whats gwarnin out there. Its way too much for one post so I’ve broken it up into three that will air this week.
First off, shouts out to Toy Selectah who was also in town to work on some tracks for Calle 13 and Argentine reggae artist Fidel Nadal. At Toy’s invitation, I found myself at Visitante’s home recording studio where C13 have been working on their new album. Hand’s down, what the boys have built is the most beautifully decorated and acoustically engineered studio I’ve ever stepped foot in. Cherry oak walls engraved with logos from their various releases, persian rugs, top notch gear, blah blah blah. I got to hear what Toy was contributing and what is coming down the pipe is explosive. Visitante their producer, Ismael their drummer and Mark, the dread in the video who doubles his duty as guitarist in the video and the carpenter who’s been building the studio, are all hella cool peoples and you should definitely peep this new single Calma Pueblo which has been riling up the religious censors.
Yo soy el que quiere que coman, aunque no tengan hambre – Residente-Calle 13
I’m the one that wants you all to eat, even if you’re not hungry
I feel like with that line alone Rene’, better known as Residente, summarizes one of the most disenfranchising aspects about life on the island and the reason that his band is so popular. It’s what my friend Yari calls The 100×35 Mentality. There is a serious apathy plaguing the island when it comes to embracing change. New is completely disregarded until its cool and there are very few artists (or members of the general populace) that break norms there. C13 has consistently pushed the envelope. As do we..
Toy Selectah and I played together to a capacity crowd of 550 party people, on a monday night. The resident DJ has been building the night for 4 years and leans toward hip-hop and dancehall. I played about 45 minutes of dancehall cumbia mashups, crunk cumbia refixes, panamanian plena and hip hop in spanish. I’m happy to announce that it was received fairly well received by most of the audience, the bartenders and even by the resident DJ (*you’ll never kill a top 40 hip hop crowd with all new underground sounds, but do dare yourself to try).
The part of the audience that comes to dance liked it more than the guys that were there to drink and pose off but I’d definitely say it was the first time for almost anyone in the room to hear this stuff and something went right because I had alot of hits on FB the following day as a result.
At the end of the night, we had an honest conversation with the DJ about having built something that could change island. He could be the one to introduce a world of new latin sounds to the island, to which he replied… that’s really not my thing. And therein lies the problem on the island. They need more leaders like c13 to set trends and propel them forward. The people are getting tired of la misma mierda. The strike at the University of Puerto Rico en April was a perfect example that the people want things to be done differently. They are willing to stand up for change. What they need is a movement, and in my next post I’ll tell you more about how I’m getting that ball rolling.
Dutty Artz is very pleased to announce the debut official release from Dominican underground superstar Rita Indiana. For those unfamiliar with Rita’s vibe download her La Hora De Volver here, courtesy of Remezcla. Perez Hilton is a fan saying: ”Super caliente! We are obsessed with it – and HER!!!!!!!”
Her Dutty Artz single features two songs. One, called ‘No Ta Llevando El Diablo’ (translated as ‘The Devil is Taking Us Away’) is Rita backed by her band Los Misterios. It’s an angry blast of punk mambo with Rita singing about grannies smoking crack over distorted guitars, guira and 808 boom added by Shadetek and Rupture. The second track ‘Los Poderes’ is Rita solo over Shadetek and Rupture’s rework of a Bannana Clipz riddim (Bannana Clipz is Dutty Artz own Chief Boima and Bersa Discos Oro 11). Over a mix of digital and live hand-drumming contributed by Ivory Nunez playing an interpretation of Dominican Palo over Bannana Clipz 4×4 beat Rita sings a haunting tropical voodoo ballad.
The release will be available July 6th in all fine digital retailers including iTunes, Juno, Amazon and Boomkat. In the meantime, soak your eyes in these:
COME FOR THE CASH AND STAY TO DANCE TO THE SOUNDS OF
BAILE FUNK + CUMBIA + BRASIL + BHANGRA + KUDURO + BASS + TREBLE + EVERYTHING ELSE IN-BETWEEN
FRIDAY MAY 21, 2010
11 PM ON AT B.EAST NYC
171 east bway
FREE
Here’s DJ N-RON’s M-C-M1 Mixtape to get you hype for the free party. Head over to Spannered, where it was originally posted for download link, tracklist, + info.
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Fucking big chune. Dutty Artz familia Uproot Andy kills it again on the remix foot. If you don’t know the original already you will hear it out of a car near you soon. Super 2x double marinated remix wherein Los Rakas re-vocaled Hold Yuh Riddim by Brooklyn’s Ricky Blaze (vocaled by Gyptian under the same name) then Uproot Andy took the remix acapella and re-did the beat in his inimitable NY Tropical style. New Yorkers if you are anywhere around us this summer you are gonna hear this again and again. And again. Also check the vocals over the original riddim here.
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So I know ya’ll got up on Whatagatapitusberry via the interwebs but did you do the extra credit assignment and start diggin for more tunes from Del Patio? Don’t worry about it if you didn’t, there’s always more bandwidth over at the fail blog.
Sensato and Saweso are two Bronx-based Dominican MC’s with a great ear for club music. Wayne Marshall has already contributed alot of thought on their first smash and Toy Selectah’s remix has been on a lot of DJ’s playlist in the past 6 months so I don’t need to get into the fact they have more than 4 million youtube views. They’ve been cranking out hilarious videos for their songs at at a breakneck pace and its paying off. Pitbull and Lil Jon jumped on the ‘berry remix and Voltio is on this next joint which is banging in the latin clubs in NYC and the Dominican Republic. I watched a video of some of their live performance in Puerto Rico longside the top dogs in reggeaton and their stage game is the real deal. He’re’s a new 140 bpm jawn that’s bubbling in NYC right now feat Sensato and Voltio.
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Two things I find interesting from both these guys and Los Rakas are that they let go tons and tons of music online and they both let the accapellas go out alofoke to see what happens in remixlandia. This sort of ‘Just let go’ approach is something alot of artists are scared to do and I think it shows the confidence of both duos. It takes alot of swag to say ‘my verse is dope, sit that on whatever beat you want, I’m still gonna sound fly.’
Hit up watagatapitusberry.com and alofokemusic.org and stay up on their new stuff and more artists from la republica. I’ll be here trying to get both them and Los Rakas on a track together and getting them to play at Que Bajo?! this summer.
Ghostleg, our VJ friend in Australia re-ups the visual remix of some United Fruit Company propaganda he started on for New York Tropical, this time with Uproot Andy‘s Vale La Pena remix.
- Chief Boima’s Techno Rumba EP is out today! Download/listen/enjoy the special #RUMBA mix Boima made to celebrate the release. Hit up iTunes, Amazon or Boomkat & do your part. Tracklist after the jump -
Today on Mudd Up!, 7-8pm, WFMU, we will be airing an exclusive all-vinyl mix from Los Angeles’ DJ LENGUA! It’s cracking, full of latin crate-digger gifts, visionary cumbia, overdriven Colombian psychedelia, and more.
For an intro to Lengua, check his rebajada-style Mota mix or this nice interview… and tune in tonight.
In a few weeks DJ Lengua will be joining us in-studio for a live interview to discuss the music and his participation in the Museo del Barrio’s Phantom Sightings show.
Ernest Gonzales, the man behind the wrestling mask/moniker Mexicans with Guns sent this one over earlier today. “Me Gusto” is raw, a terrific dancefloor scorcher. Purchase the vinyl or mp3 package which dropped today w/ Chico Mann on vocals and Ghosts On Tape remixing on the flip.
Dutty Artz podcast series brings some springtime treats deep from the Peruvian Amazon via the digger par-excellance, Sonido Martines, who spends incredible amounts of time & energy in obscure corners of Latin America searching out mindblowing music. Brother is far offline. So it’s great to hear that he’s gonna chime in over at La Congona regularly and will be selling some of his cumbia 45s soon…
This mix is a collection of vinyl rips: pure Amazonian cumbia! “El Sonambulo Orientalista (the Sleepwalking Orientalist)” includes songs from the gold and silver age of Peruvian cumbia, with groups from cities like Pucallpa, Tarapoto, Iquitos. Times when the western Peruvians wanted to present themselves via the modernity of amplified guitar strings, folkloric dress, and petro-dollar fantasies…
Nowadays the region’s tropical sound is different: other searches, other standards, the same business… but let’s save that for another post. Enjoy!
Sonido’s photos (below) show the works of Ashuco. “His paintings can be seen in bars, brothels, hotels, and various other spots around the city of Iquitos.”
El Hijo de la Cumbia has a new video out: La Mara Tomaza. This is a version of classic tune “La Negra Tomasa”, whose tropical mutations Sonido Martines blogs about here.
Bay Area DJ Disco Shawn was on my radio show this Monday, which he kicked off by playing H.D.C.’S Mara Tomaza (from Bersa Discos #1 as well as El Hijo’s debut album, Freestyle de Ritmos, published on Soot).
In addition to great tunes, Shawn shares consistently fascinating observations on cumbia, tribal, and what’s catching his ear from the UK: you can stream it here or grab the podcast (his show will be available as podcast next Monday).
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Here’s another dope mix from Stefan Clef, the final installment in a series of well received mixes. This one heats up and burns down strong, unhurried and solid.
Here’s a new remix from Uproot Andy and Geko Jones. I’ve heard “Manuelita” a few times already, usually during the early hours of the night, warming and shaking up party people. Here’s what Geko said about “Manuelita” to The FADER’s Ghetto Palms…track is a remix we’ve just made of a traditional style Colombian bullerengue song. Doing these kinds of remixes blending folkloric music with club music is one of the sounds that has come define our party and this kind of remix has itself really become traditional for us over the last year or so.
Gex and Andy are currently on tour, coming thru your city or a city near you. Que Bajo?! sound system pushing forward with Boima tomorrow in San Fran!
The album drops September 15th, and on the 17th Que Bajo?! is throwing a party with special live performance by Jahdan, accompanied by super producer extraordinaire and deejay Matt Shadetek. Jahdan & Matt are also getting ready for some touring and special performances later this Fall and into the Winter. Dates and details will be here soon. For now, come enjoy the party! On the same night, we are also blessed with the appearance of the great Eddie Stats of The FADER and GHETTO PALMS series. Eddie Stats is sharp, efficient, and just ridiculously good behind the decks. DJ Rekha of Basement Bhangra will also be live with tunes for the all around dance floor massacre. Dutty Artz family/Que Bajo?! resident deejays/two of the wickedest sound men I know Geko Jones and Uproot Andy will be in the building serving their usual, tremendous heat, along with some blazing refixes. facebook RSVP here.
Checking in (from backstage at a capital-J jazz festival in the Austrian Alps) to say — cop La Yegros now and brace yourself for heat to come, because we’re putting the finishing touches on an EP from Rita Indiana y Los Misterios.
what to expect? As she sez: “musica tercermundista con drummachines mal manejados, sintetizadores hechos en casa, bent toys y mucho mambo.”
F%#k translations, let’s dance!
here captured live in sultry mode, best use of gardening metaphors:
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Fucking big chune. Dutty Artz familia Uproot Andy kills it again on the remix foot. If you don’t know the original already you will hear it out of a car near you soon. Super 2x double marinated remix wherein Los Rakas re-vocaled Hold Yuh Riddim by Brooklyn’s Ricky Blaze (vocaled by Gyptian under the same name) then Uproot Andy took the remix acapella and re-did the beat in his inimitable NY Tropical style. New Yorkers if you are anywhere around us this summer you are gonna hear this again and again. And again. Also check the vocals over the original riddim 
