You have to take Terror Negro Records founder Deltatron‘s word about his latest release, an LP named Ego Trip; the album is best seen as the Peruvian producer’s avid exploration of self. Deltatron’s unique sound on Ego Trip revolves around a cumbia sun, but is shot through with galaxies of reggaeton and hip-hop – brash, stripped-down monster trucks of songs cut with UGK samples and introduced by Glenn Danzig interviews.
The album shows respect for the producers he taps as collaborators. Again, this is a lineup difficult to find reproduced elsewhere; it includes moombahton OG Dave Nada, talented Bolivian space traveler Sikuri, and NAAFI affiliate Lao. Today we debut the Lao-Deltatron collaboration “Mass Trauma.” It feels like a nocturnally shot crime movie, one in which the protagonists go on a motorcycle chase with katanas strapped to their backs (like the one that adorns the cover of the Ego Trip LP).
Deltatron admits his thoughts were dark while he worked on his part. “I wanted to do something that was strong, something hard. During the days that we were finishing the track, I was watching videos on the internet about killings, things like that. I remember I saw the video of Columbine [High School] and I spent a few days thinking about that. An irrational, violent act that affects a society, an entire collective of people who will never be the same afterwards – that’s mass trauma.”
Lao and Deltatron first met years ago in Tokyo. The connection was immediate, but their first collaboration was not. “‘Mass Trauma’ was the first result,” says Lao, who is looking forward to a trip to Peru in a few weeks to play alongside Deltatron at the forest music festival Selvamonos. “We exchanged files back and forth and each of us put in our own perspective, but we wanted to make something sinister and minimal, and I like how it turned out. I’ve already played it a few times and it connects with people.”
Deltatron’s Ego Trip LP drops May 27 via Terror Negro.