The word mixtape has plenty of different interpretations. It used to be that mixtapes were actually DJ sets recorded on cassette tapes, but with the coming of the digital music age, the name remained the same, but the definition expanded. Nowadays, people call mixtapes many different things, some of which are not necessarily mixed and most of which were never taped. Here we try to cover them all. In this column, Juan Data gives you a worthy one every week.
DJ: Dengue Dengue Dengue!
MIXTAPE: Dengue Dengue Dengue! Mixtape Vol. 2
Peruvian ñu-cumbia duo Dengue Dengue Dengue! appeared all of a sudden out of nowhere and they generated so much online buzz that I have my doubts if they still need an introduction or not. Just look at their record hits on soundcloud: thousands of plays in just days for an artist that showed up barely a year ago! How did they achieve this? I have no idea, but it probably has something to do with a well thought marketing strategy (those creepy home-made masks they wear) and heavy networking. Not to dismiss their music, of course, a bass-centric electronic cumbia that bridges the Zizek’s avant guard to Peru’s own psychedelic chicha.
On this second mixtape they released, they mix plenty of that with some other tracks by global luminaires of the ñu-cumbia movement including Argentine pioneer DJ Taz and Denmark’s Copia Doble Systema (and a Colombian roots classic by Calixto Ochoa that blends in perfectly). In just about 45 minutes, including a funny intro, they provide a well-crafted tour through Lima’s most innovative scene and by the time it ends you’ll too be infested with the Dengue fever.