Last year, Venezuelan tropical bass label Cocobass declared the death of producer and old peasant Jairomendez through the release of his last album El Final. But, is he really dead? Who killed him? Is Lakra his murderer or is he his new persona? Details are sketchy, but we know that Jonathan Montoya, the mastermind behind both these projects, is back with a new EP.
Montoya just released Éxodo, his first EP as his new alter ego, Lakra, and the music is a departure from the music he’s released as Jairomendez. Gone are the tropical vibes, the nods to house and tribal. Lakra’s sound is darker, and it leans towards sample-based hip hop (some of the songs feature snippets of vocals by Lil Jon, Nas, and Flavor Flav) with heavy presence of strings and choral samples, and he even references juke, synth pop, and distorted rock.
RIP, Jairomendez. Welcome, Lakra. Listen to Éxodo here: