Chico Blanco our New Discovery
From the Internet drips the primordial soup of the increasingly difficult to cal contemporary pop culture, where the germs of Macintosh Plush, Sadboys and hypnagogic pop wriggle and slither around. At the blink of an eye, new and brief ecosystems appear which are impossible to cartograph, characterized by an exuberant meme-ing, where both Saruman and Lady Gaga are attracted towards the ground by the gravitational pull of Shooting Stars and a childlike incarnation from the past of Cardi B ruins every social occasion with a high-pitched ā… my momma saidā.
It was on the space between this phenomenon and that very influential interview on the eve of the latest Primavera Sound, featuring Yung Beef, Bad Gyal and C. Tangana, who discussed the new generation of independent spanish pop music artists and their power to generate social, economical and political agency that WIDEās attention was caught by Chico Blanco: a rapper and producer from Granada who comes into the foreground thanks to his indie ethos, a very high production quality and the music scene which heās pushed forth.
Chico Blanco is the following number to VVhiteboy, Paulo Coboās first artistic persona, who founded the White Mobb collective along with blackgetdamn and a variety of collaborators spread throughout his youtube channel history, on a repertoire of productions aimed towards the urban genre:
“ā¦ I started out making beats because I really dig rap and I wanted to get into beatmaking. I already had an interest in looking up music on the internet and listening to classics. But it was around the time I turned 11/12 that I started making my own tracks. After some years on a rap group, those of the guys who produced the beats opened up whiteappletv, a channel to put up our tracks, fresher music. X.lamama made the official opening of the channel and from there to Scary Movie we dropped a whole bunch of tracks, forming what now is known as White Mobb CoƱo.”
“My musicās mostly a reflection of how I am, but I donāt think my lyrics are exclusively mopey.”
“I think my writing is sorta bittersweet, like the things Iāve lived through, sometimes good, sometimes not that much and sometimes content. Though itās true that some of my previous seasons have been a bit sadderā¦ I think this is due to the moment I was going through, which is natural (I think).”
Maybe we got too caught up on his previous works along with the White Mobb – like Sad Strange 6ixteen and Cuando Ćramos Raperos Vol. 2 – which featured a rather reflexive and kinda brooding mood. As he made the leap from VVhiteboy to Chico Blanco, we can expect more tracks like his latest two releases, the hyperactive āTe he visto en el clubā and the irreparably danceable āWTF is in my cupā.
We asked him what got him up to this change of image and his perspective on the shift in music between the age of Frank T, Nach and Los Violadores del Verso to the new emporium of trap and post-reggaetĆ³n. If one is to look attentively to his answer, itās easy to find some resonance on with the notion of the ā30 year nostalgic cycleā – not to say āeternal recurrenceā – and some other ideas on how under becomes establishment whilst everything is happily voided of all content:
“Well dude, what happened is just what always happens. A genre becomes successful, transgressive and new stars are created. Then they relax, dedicating to earn cash and do the same thing for years. Society evolutions and one day something transgrssive emerges which comes from the old-timey stuff but rejects all of it. New stars come up and so it goes on and on.”
“I canāt really say Iāll be bent towards electronica, since iāve been trying to get into funk carioca for some time now. I think, as always, (my next work) shall be a weird fusion that maybe we wonāt even see coming. Andā¦ you ask me about the next game changing artists? Well, I donāt really see many of themā¦ or anyone who convinces me, anyway.”
Thereās still some time to go before we see him reaching the public profile and favouritism that artists from the under-on-ascent Spanish scene like Yung Beef can take for granted, but Chico Blanco and his friends have shown quite a bit of crowd-gathering muscle with their DJ sets, which generally offer some high caliber entertainment on a scale a bit more discreet than renown acts (although that doesnāt stop them from filling up their venues). He explain how a tardeo usually goes to our (damn) tourist ears:
“āTardeoā is just something around afternoon, to let the afternoon go. As an event itās electronic music on different spots around the city, at the afternoon, for free. I started these because I wanted to spread around the work of skilled local djs and for people to spend a while listening to good music in unusual places. An underground thing where everyone is welcome. Thus far, these have all been quite cool, both as musically and as for the crowdās warmth and receptiveness. In the end, the place gets full and people wonāt stop dancing, and everyone including the djs has a good time. Thatās all that matters.”
This may not be the most sophisticated event ever, but it makes our anarchist spirits tingle with joy: an independent even for the general public, with no industry or advertising apparatus with the sole purpose of sharing and wasting time, which is kinda what life is all about.
When it comes to his production technique, Chico Blanco likes to work ITB, as he comments:
“Well, dudeā¦ I use just about any kind of VST available, but nothing too far-fetched. My sample library is, indeed, rather extensive, as Iāve worked on it for some years, and I always find new surprising sounds. I look for samples everywhere, especially before, on my hip-hop years. My digginā technique is fairly digital. I used Spotify a lot (laughs), but that really get you to really weird artists that arenāt available anywhere else. So you can pull out some real nice cuts.“
On an editorial note, we must admit that we were quite pleased with the mature and convincing media image Chico Blanco has built for himself. And kinda amateurishly asked him if he was planning to on tour, with humility up front, he answers:
“ā¦ I gotta say Iām kinda flattered that it looks like I go on tours and that sorta stuffā¦ but currently I donāt even got much of a reception in my own coutnry, ya know? Soā¦ Latin America? Thatād be far off (laughs).“
Finally, hereās a tiny selection of the songs the songs that he finds the most meaningful in the process of becoming a producer. Great for some between-the-lines listening:
Triple XXX ā La vida es una puta mierda
Allan Fitzpatrick ā We do what we want
Weāre very pleased about the work that Chico Blanco and the White Mobb collective have brought forth into the eyes of the internet, and we find that his urban project, his tardeos and his production level veritably make them a force to be reckoned with, and we expect to be hearing a lot more of āem! Hereās waiting for your upcoming releases, chaps!
