After struggling to carve her own space in the music industry, Roxiny is finally ready to release her debut EP Rituals. The young singer is a Dominican-born New Yorker with a warrior’s spirit, whose hauntingly beautiful voice roars on her recent single “9 Months.”
An independent artist and activist, Roxiny is also a part of a flourishing diaspora of indie Dominican musicians. In the Santo Domingo and Dominican-York music world, there’s a wave of emerging artists whose sounds reimagine traditional Dominican rhythms or create something completely new with source material from different cultures and places. As one of the latest artists to join this growing community of up-and-comers, we tapped Roxiny to make a playlist detailing some of her favorite rising Dominican artists. The list includes singers like Maluca and Las Acevedo (aka Mula), who recently headlined New York’s Bodega Island Festival, the “biggest and dopest indie, merengue, alt, bachata, punk music festival in the world.”
The playlist also includes performers like Alex Ferreira, a Dominican pop rock singer who has performed alongside Fito Paez and Natalia Lafourcade, as well as electronic producer Volt Phonic, whose sound will take you on a journey.
Roxiny isn’t only a singer; she is also an activist fighting to develop her artistic identity while uplifting the voices of other women. All proceeds for her single “9 Months” will go to organizations that combat violence against women. It is fitting, then, that she shared this playlist to continue highlighting like-minded artists, including feminist anthems like Lido Pimienta’s “La Capacidad” featuring Las Acevedo, in which Lido celebrates her femme strength.
Let Roxiny guide you through her selections, and stream the playlist exclusively via Apple Music below.
Las Acevedo – “Lamento Borincano”
“I discovered Las Acevedo a few years back on a compilation album tribute to one of my favorite voices, Chavela Vargas. I fell in love with their voices, and thought this was such a cool and quirky take on Chavela’s emotional, gut-wrenching song.”
Twin Shadow – “Five Seconds”
“I think one of my super proud Dominican moments came when I discovered Twin Shadow was Dominican too. His music has that sexy cool energy reminiscent of Prince. I’ve danced to ‘Five Seconds’ on repeat many late summer nights in my room with the lights off.”
Volt Phonic – “This Life”
“Volt Phonic makes me feel like I’m entering a dream. So good. Giovy Perez uses such beautiful textures to achieve his sound. It’s this cool experimentation of breath, psychedelia, and synth-pop.”
Tangowhiskeyman – “Atomic Bomb”
“This song is just all around badass. The vocals are beautiful; the guitars feel like anxious whaling banshees. I love this one.”
Maluca – “Trigger”
“I love this sexy track by Maluca! Go girl!”
Adriel Music – “Jevita (feat. Jeremy Garcia)”
“Another one. I feel like I’m lying under palms listening to the ocean when this song comes on…and that’s always nice during cold NYC winters when I really start to miss the DR. I think it’s cool how Adriel combines his sound with a lot of the traditional music of the island, and does it well.”
Alex Ferreira – “Me Pierdo Contigo”
“#SWOOOOOOON those lyrics…Alex Ferreira is an indie/alternative artist who’s worked with Natalia Lafourcade and others. I think his music is really interesting and captures an energy that’s really unique to him.”
Las Acevedo, Lido Pimienta – “La Capacidad”
“Another song with Las Acevedo – this is a beautiful collaboration with Colombian-Canadian Lido Pimienta called ‘La Capacidad.’”
Playa o Radio – “Graby’s Moon”
“I feel like if Interpol and Heroes del Silencio had a love child on a beach somewhere in the Dominican Republic, that child might sound something like this.”
