Argentina Sessions: Trueno

Argentina is a complex country. As an old song says, its history was made "with blows and slaps". Located in the southern part of the Americas, east of the Andes mountain range, it shaped its current profile with the arrival of millions of immigrants, mainly from Europe. From Italy and Spain. In the area closest to the port of Buenos Aires, these immigrants settled and their legacy mixed with that of the locals, descendants of the natives...thus, tango was born, one of the most representative Argentine musical genres. Tango has had illustrious names such as Aníbal Troilo, Carlos Gardel, Roberto Goyeneche, Astor Piazzolla, Enrique Santos Discépolo, Homero Manzi, Horacio Salgán, Rubén Juárez and many more. Many Italians settled in the neighbourhood of La Boca, in the southern part of Buenos Aires City. Those who founded the Boca Juniors club, the most famous in the country, were Genoese. Boca's supporters are known today as "xeneizes", which is a dialect word for "Genoese". La Boca has been historically neglected in the development of the city, despite its fame. Here is where we can find Boca's stadium, La Bombonera, famous all over the world for its chocolate box shape, its blue and yellow colours. Another famous feature in La Boca are the conventillos, cheaply-built communal houses where immigrants lived when they arrived in Argentina at the beginning of the last century. These houses are multi-colour, thus giving La Boca another distinctive characteristic. The neighbourhood of La Boca, one of the favourite spots for tourists visiting the Argentine capital, was the birthplace of Trueno, one of the most important names nowadays in the local urban music scene. Trueno is a 21 year old man whose real name is Mateo Palacios Corazzina. He is a Boca fan and has developed a close attachment to his place of origin. In fact, a conventillo is whereTrueno did his performance for the audiovisual series Tiny Desk on NPR, the public radio station in the United States. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C-WmZQABLQ Trueno entered the world of music through the support of his father, Uruguayan rapper Pedro Palacios, who is known as MC Peligro, and is the current leader of art group Sur Capital Clicka. Trueno gained some prestige by competing in neighbourhood freestyle battles. He has so far only one formally released album, "Atrevido" ("Cheeky"), published by a small independent label, Neuen, and distributed by Sony. He became known for several songs that he performed with his friends and generation mates. His song "Mamichula", in collaboration with Bizarrap and Nicki Nicole, has more than 400 million views on YouTube. That video, in its first six months, had over 220 million plays. His lyrics are often referential to his life and place of origin. He identifies himself as an artist from Comuna 4, which is the official zone name for the southern part of BA that includes La Boca, Barracas, Parque de los Patricios and Pompeya. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUteQQCMa_k Trueno opened a strong debate when he said that trap is "the new rock and roll". The discussion, of course, is not yet closed. Adrián Korol, director of RAE Argentina to the World Based on an original idea by Alejandro Pont Lezica