“Bestia” was
born a few months ago. It was a first glimpse at Lao Ra’s debut album
NU9VE, where the artist cut herself open in order to invite us to
reflect on the complexity and simplicity that simultaneously coexist in
human beings, in this case, making an allusion to the Superman theory
described by Nietzsche. It's a sensual and sophisticated single that
serves as a wake-up call to our instincts.
Now, attuned
to the idea of not repressing what stirs us inside, the artist releases
“Tóxica” with Don Patricio, a single where both artists narrate from
their point of view how a relationship of “neither with you, nor without
you” is experienced. As alluring as it is dangerous, as addictive as it
is abrasive, a relationship whose end, far from that of a romantic
comedy, is already written.
According to Lao Ra: “Patri
loved the original song when I presented it to him. I told him a little
about what the vallenato was about and that’s how ‘Tóxica’ was born. We
wrote the whole thing that same day and later we invited some vallenato
musicians to record the accordions and the ‘ayomberos,’ which would be
something like the ‘quejios’ in flamenco.”
“Tóxica” is a
nod to a Colombian music classic: “Los Caminos De La Vida,” a song
originally performed by the vallenato group Los Diablitos, whose sample
forms part of the single’s instrumentation.
“’I’ve
been wanting to use this song for a long time. There’s something in the
melody of the accordions that always moved me. It reminds me of my
childhood in the Bogotá of the ‘90s, returning home on the school bus,
navigating the capital’s traffic jams, while “Los Caminos De La Vida”
played on the radio,” Lao Ra shares.
Created by the
Cuban producer Sindicato, the video recreates an aesthetic very similar
to that of a work of modern art, to which several elements that
symbolize and represent Colombian culture have been added. The
aguardiente, the wax palm, Gabriel García Márquez’s famous yellow
butterflies, and the artistic universe of the renowned Colombian painter
Alejandro Obregon, are perfectly portrayed from which could be without a
doubt Lao Ra’s artistic imagination, one where that chic and elegant
perspective that defines her music is reflected.
About Lao Ra
Lao Ra
describes her music as elegant pop whose eclectic sound is inspired by
the places where she’s lived: London, Los Angeles, Madrid and Bogotá.
The result is a multisensory collage where energetic rhythms and
powerful lyrics reside at the heart center.
Influenced by
Catholic imagery and the memory of the war against drugs that prevails
in her natal city of Bogotá, Colombia, she released her first single
“Jesus Made Me Bad,” which in addition to drawing comparison to M.I.A.,
put her music on the map.
Through Latin
rhythms and raw lyrics, her vibrant storytelling is a nod to great and
empowered female leaders, such as Solange, FKA Twigs, Chavela Vargas or
Madonna. In 2018 she released her singles “Me Gusta,” “No Pressure” and
“Patrona,” with which, wisely mixing Spanish and English, she further
embraced her Latin American roots.
She then
collaborated with the renowned producer Dillon Francis on the single
“White Boi,” and also formed part of the FIFA 2019 soundtrack with her
song “Pa’Lante.” Afterwards, her talent continued to garner the
recognition it deserved, this time by C.Tangana, with whom she brought
out her more sensual and brooding side on the single “Picaflor.”
The
multi-faceted artist has also collaborated and written for other artists
such as Guaynaa and Chung Ha on their recent collaboration “Demente,”
at the same time that she created Sample Packs for the music library
Splice.
In 2022, Lao
Ra’s music has continued traveling the world, even arriving on the
stages of Rock Al Parque (Colombia), LAMC (New York), and Festival BAM
(Barcelona), among others. In addition, as a prelude to her first album
NU9VE, she released the first single “Bestia,” followed by “Tóxica,” a
song in collaboration with the Canarian artist Don Patricio. Recently,
her music made the leap into the world of film, given that “Alcarràs,”
the Golden Bear-winning movie by Carla Simón and a representative of
Spain at the Oscars, incorporated her song “Patrona” as the star of the
soundtrack.
