The word mixtape has plenty of different interpretations. It used to be that mixtapes were actually DJ sets recorded on cassette tapes, but with the coming of the digital music age, the name remained the same, but the definition expanded. Nowadays, people call mixtapes many different things, some of which are not necessarily mixed and most of which were never taped. Here we try to cover them all. In this column, Juan Data gives you a worthy one every week.
DJ: Maracuyeah
MIXTAPE: Yo No Soy Virgen Pero Hago Milagros
Funny thing: the last time we posted a mixtape by a female DJ it was by Germany’s Viva La Virgen. This time around it’s a DJ duo from Washington DC and their mixtape is titled I’m not a Virgin but I Work Miracles. Is it just a coincidence or can we speculate about a trend developing among the few women that are becoming recently active in the ñu-cumbia/global bass scene as DJ’s and party promoters? In both cases the virgins evoked (albeit ironically) are the ones from the Catholic creed, the type of virgins that appear to random people on a toast or a puddle of cat pee and grant miracle cures.
These non-virgins here are Mafe and rAt who together spin music under the Maracuyeah moniker and this is their first published mixtape. It opens with virgin-themed old cumbias and from there it takes us on a 43-minute long trip across the Caribbean and all the way to the Southern extreme of the continent, including plenty of ñu-cumbia modern classics, some old-school reggaetón, moombahton and then a twist toward the most bizarre side of old-school dance-pop (The Sacados, Magneto). The transitions sometimes are a bit abrupt, sometimes messy and sometimes really imaginative and on point and they fix those inconsistencies with them getting on the mic and dropping some lo-fi announcements, plugs and shout-outs with lots of delay. Overall it’s a lot of fun as I imagine their parties must be and I recommend you check them out if you’re in the DC area.