Since entering the scene with “Nasty” in 2015, Gigolo and La Exce have mastered the art of incorporating various textures into their music, creating hybrid styles that combine the sound elements found in trap, reggaeton, dancehall and R&B.
The Puerto Rican musician-composers of Dominican descent’s particular style instantly conquered airwaves, scoring early collaborations with artists like Arcangel and De La Ghetto as well as New York City’s prominent trap figures Lito Kirino and Kapuchino.
Born Ronald Tejeda Santos (Gigolo) and Jean Carlos Ferreira Suero (La Exce), the two navigated the music scene in Puerto Rico independently before teaming up. Producing chart-topping tracks like “Griselda Remix” with Arcangel and Byrant Myers, “Te Robo Remix,” with Arcangel and De La Ghetto, “Decibel,” featuring Amenazy, “Sexto Sentido,” alongside Bad Bunny and, most recently, “Rasta Barbie Remix,” with Arcangel, Myke Towers, Farruko, and El Alfa—Gigolo and La Exce are claiming space as a force to be reckoned with.
Recently, the duo was put up to the test by one of the movement’s most vital voices, El Guru, during an interview for “La Formula Radio with El Guru” on Apple Music. Specifically, they were asked to create seven songs within seven days. Accepting the challenge, they made Aguadilla, Puerto Rico their headquarters for their “Lock Down Camp” as they call it, and brought on board some of the eclectic minds at Artillery Music, working with tastemakers like Nelly el Arma Secreta, MVSIS and M. De La Cruz.
“That intensity, anxiety, that emotion, revolving our first project and wanting to do our best is what I think made quality material and the EP,” Gigolo shares to Remezcla through email. “In this camp, we realized that we could do brutal things, big things, under pressure. When we were in camp, that pressure that you have to do it in one day, that intensity, took us and pushed us beyond the limit.”
The duo considers this project a reflection and a fusion of their past, present and future. Out through Rimas tomorrow, Las Torres opens with “Entrevista,” a side eye to basic journalism on a soft-driven track that illustrates their independent realities in the form of an interview and a concept birthed from the initial reactions to the beat.
“We always see it as it’s speaking to us, it’s saying something and, at that moment, we heard the rhythm tell us: What has been your influence on the music?” La Exce wrote. “We want to be interviewed and not asked the same questions. [We want to be asked] more intimate questions, and that’s what we try to carry in that song.” The artists carry their responses intimately, displaying who Gigolo and La Exce really are.
The traditional malianteo made an appearance within the seven uniquely singular tracks with “Blanco o Negro.” “We felt the need to bring something raw to the EP,” La Exce continues. “More than the essence of the EP, we wanted it to be sweet and sour, with a bitter touch with that song that is raw and something sweet for the girls, that I have something of both in each song.
In “Imposible,” the artists opted for sharper snare choices and hi-hats often found in trap while simultaneously keeping a smooth space for their melodies.
The debut EP also includes already released tracks like “Luna” featuring Myke Towers, and “Rasta Barbie (Remix)” with Arcangel and Towers. The duo will also release a documentary film alongside the project, highlighting their time in Aguadilla’s camp while showcasing the ongoing work and motivation that drove this project’s creation.
As versatile artist and producers, Gigolo and La Exce understand their uniqueness as a strength, best described by Gigolo: “All these years, we have prepared ourselves to make commercial music and non-commercial music, like many different rhythms, both dancehall, reggaeton, trap, R&B… and that is the essence we have in the EP: Variety. The raw, rude music, without losing our essence.”
