Resistencia by DJ Raff
“His best record ever”
Tom Ravenscroft BBC 6 Music
‘Essential Tracks Of The Week’
Worldwide FM
Meshing afro-latin percussion with hypnotic beats, punchy bass and sampling vocals of the indigenous Mapuche people of Chile, Resistencia is DJ Raff’s electronic interpretation of Resistance inspired by our inescapably saturated world of advertising, consumerism and divisive politics.
DJ Raff first made his name in Chile where he helped to lay the foundation for what is now considered one of the most important hip-hop scenes in Latin America before progressing to producing electronic music.
In the aftermath of the bloody 17 year military dictatorship that took over the country during the 70s, it wasn’t long before MCs and hip hop producers solidified an underground scene. Through his creative sampling, big beats and arrangements, DJ Raff propelled the scene forwards and his ability to seamlessly blend hypnotic electronic beats with traditional Chilean and Latin sounds have earned him a place among Latin America’s most highly regarded DJs and producers.
At 12 years old he started experimenting with a double tape deck and an old turntable to make loops and beats, not knowing he was on his way to forming the hip-hop and electronic music scene in Chile. Fast forward a few years and DJ Raff’s name now appears as a DJ/sound engineer/producer on over 50 hip-hop releases in Chile, including that of French-Chilean rapper Anna Tijoux’s group Makiza.
In 2011, DJ Raff released his game changing track ‘Latino & Proud’ on Nacional Records (Bomba Estereo, Ana Tijoux) which featured on EA Sports FIFA 2012 and was the theme tune for Comedy Central’s Emmy Award- winning series ‘Broad City’ in the US. Despite the success of his hip-hop productions, he gradually became more interested in experimenting with evocative instrumental music and so his journey into electronic music began in the early 2000s.
DJ Raff is an engaging performer who has has DJ-ed/played live shows at major events in South America and Europe like Sonar Barcelona, Mutek ES, Lollapalooza (US, Argentina, Chile) and RBMA Mexico. Red Bull invited him to mentor at the RBMA Bass Camp academy in Chile and his last album, ‘Movimiento’, a collection of electronic tracks drawing on dembow, brazilian and tropical influences, was released in 2017 on Nacional Records. The album earned him a nomination for best electronic music artist at the Pulsar awards in Chile.
The artwork for the EP is by renowned Chilean artist Iván Navarro whose installation, ‘Homeless Lamp, The Juice Sucker’, reflects the EP’s theme of resilience and resistance in the face of adversity.
released December 7, 2018