In late April, we profiled some of the best and brightest new artists coming out of Bolivia – a list we put together with the help of Bolivia’s own Aviónica. After that post, a reader directed us to Futuro del Universo Vol. 1, a compilation of Bolivian electronic music that made us want to dive a little deeper. That’s why we reached to the Oi Mas Bass collective and asked them to curate a part two of our Best and Brightest list, with special focus on electronic music producers.
Oi Mas Bass brings together artists from different areas, centered on digital arts, and has been active for nine years already. It also functions as a record label, and its members promote events, like the weekly La Bass parties that have been running non-stop for four years. They are active members of the Bolivian electronic scene and they are constantly working to grow it.
To make this list, they ran through around 278 Soundcloud candidates, ultimately picking the ones they felt represented “the most active artists in the local scene, including DJs and live acts, but also people responsible for making all kinds of things that benefit the art community.” Check out their selections below.
Paul Jove a.k.a. Pituko
This American/Bolivian artist has been doing some great stuff since 1996, between his amazing analog productions and his art space/vegan restaurant, where he used to drop some of the most epic techno and global music parties. He’s now on a journey to Europe for a five month tour promoting his new music, which I’ve heard and is awesome. He’s also the man behind San Pedro Music, formed by young local producers and DJs, spreading fresh music in the country’s main city.
Ex Genova
Ex-Genova is a well-known DJ and music producer from Santa Cruz. He’s the founder of one of the biggest local crews/labels –Perla Records–and has been the director of a festival called Music Selecta for about ten years. This guy is always searching for a unique music aesthetic, releasing beautiful new music every time.
Animal Print
Animal Print is formed by DJs and brothers Lecter and Marco Cuba. They started their production career in 2009. In over 14 years as DJs, they have released their music under European and American labels like Resopal Schallware, Fade, Antura, Berlin Aufnahmen, and more. These guys used to run a huge festival called Lapaztok, where a couple of local talents started their careers. Now they are about to release their first vinyl on a German label.
Octavio Souza
This young artist was born in Brazil, but he’s been a Santa Cruz resident for several years. He’s one of the most solid DJs in the scene, and an amazing selector and performer. He’s releases music under the Italian label Prospect Records. He has a unique and eclectic taste, and he is always focused on making his DJ sets as exclusive as possible by making live remixes or combining tracks with cheerful breaks and seismic rhythms.
DJ Quien
He’s been a DJ and producer for several years, continually involved in the bass music scene. He’s the co-founder and owner of the OMBRECORDLABEL record label and the OIMASBASS Digital Art Collective, one of the biggest digital art collectives in South America. He’s been releasing beats across many different genres and labels for the past seven years. For five years, he has run Proyecto Kiebre which is a multiplatform for new Latinx artists.
Op3rador
Op3rador is a Venezuelan guy who blew up in Bolivia in 2005 with tons of musical projects and all kind of arty, creative stuff. He’s one of the most active live acts around and one of the most diverse multi-genre musicians in the scene. His latest EP, released by the local label OMBRECORDLABEL got the attention of everyone involved in the music business in Bolivia and South America.
JOC-H
This kid is definitively the biggest surprise of all the new electronic music producers. With no more than two years in the music business, he’s released massive hits on international labels like Le Club Records (Italy,) Wanna Dance Music (Spain,) Sleazy G (England,) Elektrik Dream Music (Greece,) EDM Underground Label (Greece,) and many more. He also plans to release new beats under huge labels by the end of this year.
Ivan Leopardo
Leopardo is also a young producer – one of those amazing things that happen once in a while in this country, showing us all a level of freshness and talent without making commercial music at all.
Villa Victoria Soundsystem
Villa Victoria Sound System is maybe the most amazing tropical bass/cumbia DJ and producer in the Bolivian music scene right now. He released an amazing first EP with the people from Folcore, and he’s now about to release a full album on a big international label.
Espíritu Espíritu
He’s got a fresh sound and a different approach to electronic music; he’s a breath of fresh air in this EDM world. This guy’s been making music for many years, but he just launched his new stuff and started playing at a couple of amazing venues, showcasing his sampling skills.
Imilla MC
She may be the only girl on the list, but she’s been representing female power for a long time in Bolivia! This girl is the most representative Producer/MC right now, taking all the hip hop elements to the limit. She’s been traveling a lot and rapping her way through the macho local hip hop scene, destroying every possible doubt about WARMI POWER.
*Warmi means woman in Aymara.