Members: Jefferson Mora
Raíces: Caracas, Venezuela
Sounds like: Trap and R&B to lift your spirit.
You should listen to Trainer because…he’s a promising upstart in Latin America’s booming trap scene.
Scrolling through Trainer’s social media accounts, you’ll stumble across 60,000+ Instagram followers, flyers for a seven-country Latin American tour, and prolific stream of music videos. Where the hell did this kid come from?
Born in Caracas, Jefferson Mora (aka Trainer, aka Piña Fresca) is part of a new stream of trap artists trickling out of Venezuela, spearheaded by rapper Akapellah. In a sea of one-off singles and endless collaborations, Mora recently released Untitled, a seven-song EP of cold, titanium-edged trap where he puts his bars and skills behind the decks on display, interspersing U.S. aesthetics with irresistible Venezuelan sass.
Lyrically, the 21-year-old rapper and producer narrates his reality in Venezuela, no doubt drawing inspiration from the complex political situation plaguing the country. But Mora flips the script, centering joy with the hope of offering a vehicle for local fans to deal with the trials of everyday life. “Besides portraying typical Venezuelan charisma, [my music] generates ambition in me. That’s why I talk so much about the things I want that we can’t access, because of the whole situation in Venezuela,” Trainer told Remezcla.
After a lukewarm venture into boom-bap hip-hop, Trainer was introduced to trap in 2013 by fellow Venezuelan rapper Episteme, who challenged him to make a Spanish-language version of Waka Flocka Flame’s “Hard In Da Paint.” The pair has since formed a crew called Eleuce, which includes peers like Big Soto and Lecon. Together, they release their own music, make their own videos, and style their looks with a little help from friends, making for a well-oiled, self-sufficient trap machine.
With nonstop touring, Trainer has found himself rising fast in the local trap scene. In addition to touring the country, which is extremely difficult, even for seasoned bands and artists, he and Big Soto have embarked on a Latin American tour, which has taken them to Colombia, Argentina, Ecuador, Chile, and Peru, with upcoming dates in Mexico and more to-be-announced shows in Central America. Phew! Through this journey, he’s connected with like-minded scenes he never knew existed, and expats to whom he’s more than happy to bring his music.
Though he’s found his strong suit in trap, Trainer isn’t afraid to experiment. A long-time fan of R&B, he’s flirted with the genre on tracks like “No me pidas” and “Atiéndeme.” But his most successful venture so far is “Nube,” a glossy love letter to a potential paramour. “Ven ve,” one of his latest singles, is also a stylistic break; the track treads into funky house-lite territory, like a rush of summertime flowing through your headphones.
As social media-savvy as he is, Mora plans on surprise-releasing his first full-length soon, so keep your eyes peeled. Trainer and the whole Eleuce crew are blowing up, so make sure you catch up.
