¡Ay, mamacita! ¿Le gusta el moombahton?
// February 6th, 2012 // No Comments » // Uncategorized
In some circles, it’s all the rage. In others, it’s hated like the plague. Some see it as catchy and groovy. Some see it as soulless and bland. Whatever your opinion, however, there’s no denying it’s a rapidly rising rhythm.
It’s moombahton.
The story of how it all began’s been told many times before. The short version is simple: a Los Angeles DJ named Dave Nada was playing a crowd of high school kids, and while his big thing at the time was Dutch House, they listened to slower music like reggaeton. So he took the Afrojack remix of Chuckie & Silvio Ecomo’s “Moombah”, slowed it down 20 bpm… and the crowd went wild, and a genre was born.
Moombahton is a portamentau of “moombah” with “reggaeton,” and describes a style of dance music between 105 and 112 bpm with simple construction, chirpy synths and a Latin-inspired beat. An off-shoot called “moombahcore” incorporates brosteppy wobbles and darker sounds into the mix while keeping the BPM low.
Personally, I’m not a fan of the original “moombahton” track, but since Dave kinda sorta invented the genre, I’d be loath not to include at least one of his works. He’s been at his best when paired up in the studio with Matt Nordstrom, and their collaborative works are aptly released under the name “Nadastrom.”
Now, the reason I got into moombahton myself was via the production of another L.A.-based dude, the young Dillon Francis. While his early releases were some above-average brostep, he was one of the first to jump on the moombah bandwagon and nabbed the aesthetic faster than pretty much anyone else on the scene. His beats were musically clean yet oh so dirty, and while sometimes his drops have disappointed (I’m looking at you, I.D.G.A.F.O.S.), he’s got the right mentality for the scene and only keeps getting better.
Recently, the blogs have been all abuzz over a guy called David Heartbreak, or Heartbreak for short. Capable of making some luscious grooves (nicknamed “moombahsoul”) and also some unabashed party music, most of the sources I’ve been looking at treat him like the next big thing.
Lastly, it’s my personal favorite producer in this style. It’s funny how small of a world musically producers seem to occupy. Noted DnB trio Evol Intent’s Ashley Jones has had a very successful side project as the funk-tastic house producer Treasure Fingers. Bandmate Nick Weiller wanted a bit of some solo action too, so he’s been making some great tracks under the alias Bro Safari. Moombahton’s often knocked as being overly simple, and so what I love about Bro Safari’s work is that he makes it interesting without ruining the simplicity of it all.
Moombahton’s still a genre in its infancy, and hasn’t quite hit mainstream consciousness. But if it’s big enough for Hard Miami to devote an entire day to it… well, I don’t think we’ll be hearing the last of it anytime soon.
