- It's been seven years since the Portugese label Príncipe began promoting the batida sound to an audience beyond Lisbon's migrant outskirts. After establishing a sonic identity with its first release, an EP by DJ Marfox, the label helped launch the careers of artists like Nídia Minaj and DJ Nervoso. It also released music from artists paying tribute to Marfox with stage names like DJ Nigga Fox, DJ Fofuxo and DJ Lycox. The spiky polyrhythmic crosscurrent of the new Afro-European sound heard in the 2016 track "La Party" by LiloCox, AKA Ricardo Vieira, stood out among this new wave of producers. Released on the Mambos Levis D'Outro Mundo compilation in 2016, it set the tone for an exciting sonic progression.
Vieira's debut EP, Paz & Amor, is the next step, offering a sound softer and more accessible than what we've heard from him before. "Vozes Ricas" ("Rich Voices"), delivers on its title promise with synth patches that sound like vocals. Simulated moans are surrounded by the familiar crunch of a dance rhythm from the outer bairros. The ambient current and looping keyboard melodies of "Fronteiras" unexpectedly venture into deep house and acid jazz. Only the title track has a bass line, as other tunes lean more heavily on the frenetic, anxious percussion that makes Vieira and his Piquenos DJs Do Guetto ("The Little DJs of the Ghetto") peers (which include DJ Maboku and DJ Firmeza) sound fresh.
TracklistA1 Vozes Ricas
A2 Ritmo & Melodias
B1 Paz & Amor
B2 Samba
B3 Fronteiras