On our Radar: New music from Brazil, Puerto Rico, Ecuador & Panama.
06 June, 2019“On Our Radar” as we find it’s not just a place for “up and coming” artists. There’s simply an abundance of new Latin sounds we want to share with our readers and so “On our Radar” will also contain “new to us” tunes from artists new and seasoned alike.
Brazil/Colombia/Spain: Florentino, MC Bin Laden, and MC Buzzz, ‘Na Fuga’
Thanks to Twitter, and The Fader on there, we got turned on to this fire new track by Florentino, a Colombian producer by way of Manchester, who gifts us a baile funk featuring Brazilian and Spanish rappers MC Bin Laden and MC Buzzz.
The high-energy song, Florentino told Fader’s Bryan Hahn, is akin to “the feeling of freedom that comes from the mechanical banging of riding a motorcycle on an open road with friends, the freedom that comes from making noise and not caring what people think.”
Puerto Rico: MIMA and International Dub Ambassadors, ‘ÑAM-ÑAM’
Puerto Rican creatives united: Yarimir Cabán Reyes―better known as Mima―and Gisela Rosario Ramos―better known as Macha Colón, successfully combined their fertile creativities to produce the music video for “ÑAM-ÑAM,” a song that has been part of Mima’s repertoire for a long time, but now in a definitive form thanks to a musical collaboration with heavy roots group International Dub Ambassadors.
The song is based on a fragment from a poem by Luis Palés Matos (1898-1959), a much-loved Puerto Rican writer. The themes of race and inequality are also in Mima’s and Colón’s minds, and thus they endow it with a tone that, though ludic, evokes the limbo in which the island-nation finds itself. Between the impeccable dub and reggae arrangement, the imagery inspired in the paintings of Dominican plastic artist José García Cordero, and input from Mima and Colón, this video pays tribute to the trans-Caribbean love Palés Matos always expressed.
Puerto Rico/NYC: Ani Cordero, ‘Pan Pan (Con Mantequilla)’
Puerto Rican folk pop singer-songwriter and activist Ani Cordero‘s new single is all about anti-colonialism and the ongoing crisis in Puerto Rico. The track features the Puerto Rico-based, feminist music group Émina as the backing band, who add saxophone, congas, keys, backing vocals and their unique energy to the song. “Pan Pan (Sin Mantequilla)” marks the first single from Cordero’s forthcoming album El Machete.
Ecuador: Mateo Kingman, ‘Tejidos’
Can a hip hop song be mythical? We think so. Mateo Kingman grew up in Macas, a small town in the Ecuadorian Amazon, where he was immersed in the Shuar culture and Amazonian mythologies. Before he focused on music, Kingman’s passion was running and he represented Ecuador’s track and field team in the Pan American Games. But when he lost an Olympics qualifying race, he found solace in making music. Back in the Amazon, Kingman began experimenting with the guitar, drums, and traditional instruments.
Of the new track, Kingman says, “‘Tejidos’ corresponds to the most cosmic part of the album. It is a dialogue between the traveller and the snakes/vehicles of the universe; the moment before the disintegration of the being; the first contact with the stars and the void. I like the idea of transmitting a deep message transported by a light and versatile vehicle. In ‘Tejidos,’ we explore with a dancing musical cadence. It’s an experiment to connect with your body through dance and at the same time reflect on your inner world.”
Panama: Sech feat Darell, ‘Otro Trago’
A funny thing happened when we were listening to Spotify’s ‘Viva Latino’ playlist this week. This artist, Sech, was all over it, and we had to know more about him. Not surprising, he comes from the birthplace of reggaeton.
Born in Río Abajo, Panama, he’s been on tracks with everyone from the likes of Colombia’s Maluma, Puerto Rico’s Farruko, Colombia’s Farina, and Argentina’s Cazzu. Sech got his start as a producer and stepped in front of the microphone in 2017 when his song, “Miss Lonely,” won him accolades and a record deal with Rich Records, by catchin the attention of fellow Panamanian producer Dimelo Flow.
He’s got a fantastic voice and his songwriting goes beyond the cliche often heard in the reggeaton world. Listen to his song with Puerto Rico’s Darel below.
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