In this new Remezcla Musica feature, we’ll introduce you to some hidden delights: some locally-known, but internationally-ignored noise makers. We’ll analyze their awesomeness (according to nosotros) and wonder WHY they’re relegated to collective zzz’s across the board. In today’s installment of Slept On, we spotlight Seo2, Anita Tijoux’s former half of her Makiza duo, a worthy if not slept-on giant.
Earlier this year Chilean femcee Ana Tijoux jumped to worldwide notoriety after her second solo album 1977 was released in the US by Nacional Records (and subsequently took iTunes by storm). Very little is known abroad, however, about Miss Tijoux’s previous rap group, Makiza, with which in the late ’90s she reached remarkable local success and helped shape the rich and prolific Chilean hip-hop scene.
In Makiza, Ana–back then Anita–shared the mic with another rapper, Seo2, who’s also quite talented but lacked the crossover appeal and looks of his female partner. And that’s why he’s been unfairly slept-on by the international crowd. He doesn’t seem to care too much about that. He’s content with his solid reputation in Santiago’s underground scene, where he never stopped releasing new music after Makiza’s break-up, catering mainly to the hardcore purist b-boys.
Por Puro Amor Al Rap is Seo2’s newest opus (courtesy of Artillería Pesada) and it was released in free-to-download format. This is the first time his music is (legally) available for listeners from all over the world. A collection of 14 tracks for the lovers of the good ol’ boom-bap rap with–thankfully–none of the decadence, violence, misogyny, and absurd bling-blingitude that has ruined the genre around here. Check out how South American hip-hop heads keep it real with just ingenious rhymes over dope beats.
DOWNLOAD (legally!) the first stateside taste of Ana Tijoux’s equal half–Seo2– and his newest album, Por Puro Amor Al Rap.
And here’s some visual proof of the dopeness, Seo2’s “Paseo por el suelo,” ft. Nauck, Bronko Yotte, and DJ Caso.