Fans of cultural cross-pollination rejoice! There’s a new candidate for queen of the transnational dance floors and her name is Alo Wala. On her new EP (dropping next week on Enchufada), the Chicago-born rapper hooked up with Denmark’s Copia Doble Systema (the creators of “viking cumbia”!) to put together a handful of powerful, club-ready tracks, that defy all classifications.
Mixing bass-heavy, modern hip-hop and dancehall beats with Latin and Indian elements may sound like a hard to digest recipe to some, but it all makes perfect sense as a backdrop to her mystical flow–it’s hypnotic. When she suggests that we should “make sweet love until oblivion,” in that adorable accent, I’m all like, whatever you say, highest priestess, your wish is my command. And I haven’t felt this way since I first listened to M.I.A. in ’05.