November 13, 2024 |
It’s hot and sweaty in Miami – Venezuelan-born, Miami-based artist MJ Nebreda has club-goers jumping. With a sound dripping with the heat of Raptor House – a genre plucked from the underground scenes of ’90s-era Venezuelan perreo-pop, electronic and reggaeton – this South American darling is quickly becoming a staple of the international club circuit. From Colour Factory in London to Silencio in Paris and Paragon in New York City, partiers are quickly becoming accustomed to her high-energy, Latin-infused tracks which promise dizzying nights overflowing with euphoria.
One only needs to look at Nebreda’s diverse catalogue to get a sense of her range, and how her background has shaped her. On her breakout song, Adicto A Mi, she fuses ’90s house music with chopped vocals in a slick, unabashedly cool ode to the New York club scene, while Perreo Contra La Depresión is a deconstructed take on reggaeton and dembow. Frida Kahlo is a party-ready Raptor House track complete with backing vocals reverberating the lyrics “pussy tight” throughout the track.
It’s no surprise, then, that Nebrada’s latest EP, out today, is equally diverse. On Corazón Vol.1, Nebrada combines a rich Venezuelan culture and drum patterns to create a new sound palette that feels just as fit for the bedroom as it does for strutting through the streets in a killer fit or dancing it out at Primavera Sound (where Nebrada performed earlier this year). From Soy Sentimental – a smooth odyssey through feelings of not wanting to hide your desires, to the ballad-like Tormenta and the high-paced Iconica, there’s a steady beat that runs throughout the project that’s sure to make listeners bounce.
Fresh off the release of Corazón Vol.1, we caught up with Nebrada to discuss the new EP, the influence of Venezuela’s underground club scene on her sound and which tracks she recommends for those just jumping onto her music now.
1. Who is MJ Nebreda?
That’s a really hard question to answer mostly because I don’t really have a strict definition for it. I think MJ Nebreda is an artist that loves to make music and show it to the world in any and all ways [that] they can.
2. Three words to describe your sound?
Big, drums, bitch.
3. For anyone discovering your music now, which song would you recommend they listen to first?
Depends what they like I feel like I have many different sides to my music some people like the softer some people the more club some people the more dembow songs. I would go for Arepa or maybe Frida Kahlo.
4. What were your main inspirations for the new EP?
I was really inspired by the general climate of the club world, but also my own perspective that I’ve been kind of working towards all these years and I think that with the years it has become more clear where I am in terms of this world of Latin beats, and it’s fun to be able to really be in a place and just explore within that sonic perspective so yeah, just a lot of Latin club from years ago and from today are the main inspirations.
5. How did your Venezuelan heritage and the underground club scene influence the sound for Corazon?
I think I’ve been very enriched by the community of Changa music or Raptor House. There’s been a lot of people that I’ve met producers that I’ve worked with like safety trance, and like Pacheco (phran) in the album as well as DJ Baba before. There’s just a lot of people that have helped me become who I am and that’s ultimately allowed me to also find that I fit in with them in many ways and that I’m not just like doing this alone like I’m a part of a bigger thing so I really think that that Venezuelan electronic music is not only what I’ve always naturally been drawn to, but also where I have found a community of people trying to explore this sound and keep going because we all really believe in it in many different ways in many different types of takes.
6. Which song on the EP was the most challenging for you to create?
Probably the last two, which are the more emotional ones, where I just kind of lay my heart out completely and sing to my vulnerabilities. I cried while recording both.
7. You’re exploring more personal themes in the EP, about escaping the confines of gender norms. What’s the best advice you’d give to anybody in a similar position?
I think it’s to follow your intuition and love how you want to love and who you want to love. Don’t let society tell you what you should do based on superficial things.
8. How do you feel your sound has developed since you started making music?
I think I’ve become better at asserting myself in any and all ways that I can. My sound has become more clear and unapologetically what I want. I don’t follow what would be the “cooler” thing to do, I follow my intuition and what sounds drive me the most.
9. Your go-to rider essential?
Ice tea, Diet Coke, chocolate.
10. What’s your superpower?
My ADHD, LMAO. Also my weakness TBH.
Photography courtesy of MJ Nebreda.
