Dominican multi-instrumentalist Diego Raposo plays with contrast on YO NO ERA ASÍ PERO DE AHORA EN ADELANTE, SÍ. Melding jungle breakbeats, fuzzed-out electric guitar, and frantic bass with melancholy downtempo production, Raposo’s new LP, which he bills as his debut, stands in stark contrast to 2018’s Caribe Express. That mixtape drew more obviously from his Caribbean roots, utilizing congas, dembow riddims, and merengue. On his latest, the question of identity is not so clear-cut: He’s still brandishing the Dominican Republic’s red, white, and blue, but his freak flag flies above them.
The album is built around oscillating moods. Emo club tracks made for perreando y llorando mix freely with hyperactive cuts born for raves and mosh pits; gabber kicks give way to sticky-sweet pop punk. In “NORMAL,” fellow quisqueyano producer yendruy aquinx’s voice piles up in layers of Auto-Tune over lush synths; the energy shifts on “AL CONTRARIO,” where Chile’s AKRIILA belts through Auto-Tune over rapid-fire jungle breaks and alt-rock guitars. Extreme vocal processing is one of Raposo’s signature tools; he strikes a balance between icy digital effects and human warmth as he re-pitches and distorts his guest singers.
Ecuadorian indie-pop singer Kablito’s voice is turned into frothy hyperpop in “QUÉDATE.” Miami electronic upstart MJ Nebreda channels her best neoperreo diva on “EN LA DISCO,” a slow-burning scene-setter that culminates in a slow-motion club throb. In the wistful opener “19.322239, -68.540659,” queer Mexican alt heartthrob Blue Rojo, who worked with Raposo on last year’s playful “NO TE KIERO OLVIDAR,” performs angelic, Arca-esque vocal runs over glitchy electronic flourishes. Despite being just a minute long, the song feels like it could go on forever, so it’s fitting that the title’s coordinates map a point just northeast of Raposo’s native island in the wide expanse of the Atlantic Ocean.
The shifts that follow that calm, dulcet introduction show just how mischievous Raposo can be: “EL UNDERGROUND” is a lightning-fast rave anthem that underpins mediopicky’s seductive vocals (“Tengo hambre/Quiero tu sangre/Soy un vampiro/Y tu eres mi carne”) with rapid-fire kick drums; then “A&R” goes from pop-punk to screamo in less than a minute. However much these moments stick out, they fit right in with the album’s Caribbean punk ethos. And while it might seem surprising to hear Raposo making rock music, it shouldn’t: This is the producer who brought to life Venezuelan popetón golden boy Danny Ocean’s drum-heavy reinterpretation of Caracas alt-rock heroes Caramelos de Cianuro’s “Rubia Sol, Morena Luna.”
It’s instructive to compare Raposo’s eclectic album to Data, the producer project that superstar reggaeton beatmaker Tainy put out earlier this year. In that cohesive set, the Puerto Rican Luny Tunes acolyte kept the party going with polished song after polished song. But Raposo, in contrast, takes a willfully patchy approach to the dancefloor. YO NO ERA ASÍ PERO DE AHORA EN ADELANTE, SÍ revels in its inconsistencies: It’s a defiant statement that Spanish-language pop can be anything it wants to be.
