{"id":13099,"date":"2023-03-03T00:00:30","date_gmt":"2023-03-03T05:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazineampm.com\/?p=13099"},"modified":"2023-03-03T16:37:58","modified_gmt":"2023-03-03T21:37:58","slug":"trampantojo-malaka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazineampm.com\/en\/trampantojo-malaka\/","title":{"rendered":"Trompe l'oeil \/ Malaka"},"content":{"rendered":"

Social networks in Cuba were a catalyst to plunge us (more) into globalization. The consequences of this process are many but I will restrict myself to one corresponding to the field of language: the use of neologisms. Thus, today we hear terms such as <\/span>gaslighting<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>red flags<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>poser<\/span><\/i>. And, although I do not like to serve as a mouthpiece for unnecessary anglicisms, I remember that when listening to <\/span>Trampantojo<\/span><\/i> of Malaka, I immediately qualified it as a <\/span>mainstream<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, for many of us <\/span>\u2014<\/span> and by we, I mean the millennial generation.<\/span>\u2014<\/span> the term tells us little. The word is a compound concept in its language of origin, formed by <\/span>main<\/span><\/i> meaning principal and <\/span>stream<\/span><\/i> \u2014<\/span>current. The final translation that Google comes up with is conventional and that's where the idea comes from. But more than a concept, <\/span>mainstream<\/span><\/i> is a label that qualifies a commercial product.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trampantojo<\/span><\/i> (Di Benedetto Productions, 2022) is the artist's first album released in the middle of last year. At <\/span>interview with <\/span>OnCuba<\/span><\/i><\/a>Malaka herself expressed that the phonogram fully represents her. On the occasion of this statement, it seems to me very pertinent to analyze the image of the artist and her work.<\/span><\/p>\n

I landed on his Instagram profile by chance. Without listening to her music, I consumed the content. Overall, I came away with an alternative, unprejudiced and empowered image. Her unrestrainedness in addressing and exposing her sexuality while standing up for her right to respect (I love the hashtag she uses #RespetameAsere) put her a step far ahead of many artists on this Island. The girl had something to say. She managed to convince me, from there I went straight to YouTube to listen to the album.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

First I found <\/span>Lengua (Tongue)<\/span><\/i>, the <\/span>single <\/span><\/i>that began to mark the change in his career. I was a bit dismayed that such a controversial and current message (the relativity of sexual behaviors associated with homosexuality) was musicalized with such obsolete formulas; however, I established a kind of analogy between the old school and the new ideas. It was a different optic. But after listening to the nine tracks that make up the album <\/span>Trampantojo<\/span><\/i>The conclusion was that the artist did not know how to do anything else.<\/span><\/p>\n

The proposal is a loose amalgamation of <\/span>trap<\/span><\/i>and rap, with less presence of the latter element, where Malaka (or its producer) takes <\/span>beats<\/span><\/i> of songs that, to top it off, were <\/span>hits<\/span><\/i> and reproduces them with two or three arrangements to avoid a copyright lawsuit. So the formula is as follows: 2000's reggaeton (with all those special effects of gunshots and sirens that I thought were outdated) and latin trap impregnated with modulations. <\/span>low fidelity<\/span><\/i> of the synthesizers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n