How are you prepping for the apocalypse? For his part, Staycore collective co-founder Dinamarca has been strapped into his Stockholm lair building a five-track survival guide called Holy. On it, the Chilean producer — one of the globe’s more forward-thinking when it comes to mutated reggaeton, as exemplified by the work he turned in on Staycore’s debut release No Hay Breaks — ensures that there will still be a party, even if some psycho breaks out the nuclear codes.
Song titles strike pious notes (will “Holy” and “Religion” give you comfort when the big one hits?) but their sounds are far from Sunday service. The eponymous track drops baile funk bellows on top of anxiety-inducing breaks. On “Religion,” Dinamarca called up Resla, a frequent collaborator with the Staycore crew. True to the song’s title, the duo greets us with animatronic church bells that eventually become the melody for a stripped-down perreo beat. Ride out that strong urge to strap on a gas mask and thrash; this is party music for the end of times.
In contrast, “Juguete” sounds dainty, its key notes tinkling over the full-on drum machine that’s really running the show. The album culminates with “Dinablam,” an amalgamation of the names of its two creators: Dinamarca and Kablam (who rolls with Berlin’s Janus crew). This final track is nothing whimsical; instead it goes for the throat with hard-driving gabber notes and robotic exhales.
Messing with dembow and other rhythms from the Caribbean in the frozen north gives you a unique perspective on global culture. Dinamarca wants us to stay ready in the face of threat, and as one of the more exciting hands in the reggaeton 2.0 movement, we’re inclined to listen to him. Keep this one queued on the bomb shelter playlist.
Dinamarca’s Holy EP is out now via Staycore.